FiA – Formula One’s governing body – has banned the so-called dual-axis steering system introduced by Mercedes, but not until 2021. Mercedes will be allowed to use the system in the 2020 season. The new rules emerging in 2021 will make the system illegal from that season onward.
The Mercedes dual-axis system allows the driver to alter the outward angle of the front wheels while he is driving by pulling on the steering wheel to straighten the front wheels as he comes on to a straight and then push back on it to revert to an outward position more beneficial for corners.
This will be allowed for 2020 because the rules only state that “the front wheels are adjusted solely by the steering and under the full control of the driver” while the wording will be changed in 2021 rulebook to read “the alignment of the front wheels must only take place through a constant function of a rotational movement of a single steering wheel” – which would effectively make the Mercedes system illegal.