What team first began working on the front and rear interconnected suspension? FRIC is said to be responsible for Raikkonen‘s tires‘ lack of dedregation. I‘m sure Raikkonen‘s driving ability also contributed to this as well! I read that Lotus and Mercedes both had been working on this suspension for some time now but that Lotus has gotten it right first. I know that this system is loosely based on the banned early 1990‘s computerized active suspension and that it isn‘t banned because it‘s completely passive. With that said, I‘m very impressed with the engineering that was done to get a car to react basically the same through the implementation of hydraulics as opposed to computers. What I‘d like to know is what team designed this suspension.
Mercedes, Lotus, and Red Bull have all been working on it for the past couple years. Ross Brawn has said that Lotus' system is the simplest, but also the best working FRIC system so far. Their ability to get it so right heavily contributes to how easy it is on tires.
mercedes been using it since 2011. (renault aka) lotus have seem to have an advantage cos pirelli use a renault car when making/testing the new tyres! i think aldo costa thought of it or brought the idea from ferrari to mercedes.
Lotus had a simpler version of the sytem back when they were called Renault and were winning the drivers championship with Alonso in 2006. How far they have developed that in the time since is unknown. Mercedes have had the system on their car since 2011, but haven't really understood how to use it properly until recently. The concept dates back further than the 1990s - Brabham had hydraulic suspension in 1981, during the wingcar era.
