F1 Is Reportedly Giving Up on Those Goofy Wet-Weather Wheel Covers

Earlier this month, Scuderia Ferrari was spotted testing some funky-looking wheel covers at Fiorano on behalf of the FIA. The fenders were supposed to reduce spray, making racing in the rain safer. Now, it looks like the project is being abandoned after the difference was found to be "marginal."

Speaking to Motorsport.com, FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said that while the covers "do have a bit of an effect, they don't have a significant enough effect to say that that's the solution. Therefore, we are back to square one."

On top of making wet racing safer, less spray coming off the back of F1 cars would also ideally make racing more entertaining for the fans, reducing the chances of an event being canceled, shortened, or postponed. Tombazis cites the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix which only lasted three laps (only the first one counted, to boot) before ending due to heavy rain.

With that, I think it's safe to say that the wheel covers have some problems for sure, but I think it's important to note that they're also ugly.

Tombazis also acknowledges this downside. "Clearly, it's always going to be a compromise," he told Motorsport.com. "The wheel covers themselves were quite ugly, but if they had done a significant contribution, then we would have been perfectly happy to install them once a year if that makes a difference between canceling a race or not."

Given the choice between a cool-looking race car and a safe one, I think we'd all rather have the latter. Remember when people were up in arms over the Halo? I'd be willing to bet that Lewis Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu are mighty grateful that the aesthetics crowd lost that fight. That said, it doesn't look like the rainy-day wheel covers provide nearly enough utility to be worth it.

Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com