In 2009 Brawn GP had the double diffuser, in 2010 McLaren had the F-Duct, 2011 saw Red Bull pioneer and perfect exhaust blown diffusers. In 2012 we had Mercedes bring out the Double DRS. Every year in Formula One there is a new development that one team brings out and is touted as a game changer, which naturally teams complain about the legality of such a device, but eventually end up copying.

The Lotus F1 team uses the FRIC suspension.
Photo: Lotus F1 team

It is no different in 2013. The new development this season is the FRIC suspension. FRIC stands for Front and Rear Interlinked suspension, which is being used by Mercedes and Lotus as far as we can tell. The basic principle behind FRIC suspension is to essentially keep the car at a constant ride height under braking, acceleration and during cornering.

This is not a new technology, it’s merely a redevelopment of the early active suspension that Williams ran on their FW14 and FW14B in the early 1990’s, which was subsequently banned for the 1994 season.

The only difference between today’s FRIC system and Williams’ is that the FRIC system is totally passive and it is not controlled by any electronics. Which makes it perfectly legal and falls within the FIA technical regulations.

The FRIC suspension controls the pitch and roll of the car. Pitch is when a car’s nose dives under braking, the weight and balance of the car gets transferred forward. During acceleration the weight and balance of the car shifts towards the rear, the nose of the car lifts up. Roll is when a car corners the weight and balance of the car gets transferred to the opposite direction of the turn. I.e. if you’re turning right, the weight and balance of the car gets transferred to the left and vice versa.

The FRIC system passively controls the pitch and roll of the car by moving hydraulic fluid through a series of pipes, valves and cylinders to keep the car at a constant ride height.