The ACO announced a couple of days ago, that  after the Spa accident there have to be two fog lights of special size and brightness on the cars.

After Audi started to put the rear lights into the upright struts of the rear wing since the R15 model this solution and the influence of the new rule should be questioned.

In the past most of the prototype cars had the rear lights in an area behind the wheels, some more inward, some more below. Audi was the first (as far as I know) who moved them far up from the floor and the question is why.

„Because they can“ could be an answer also „it’s a good looking design“, but professional motorsport follows a different route – form follows function and everything has to make sense.

To move the lights far up brings them out of the danger zone in case of an touch or a hit of another car. It is seen many times, that the area behind the rear wheels is quite often hit and damaged by other cars or a soft kiss to the barrier. As a result the lights are more likely to fail and the team could be forced to a repair stop by the oficials. Extra time in the pits noone can afford nowadays caused by a simple inccident.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see new solutions between todays test day and the big race in two weeks.

p.s.: unfortunately I wasn’t allowed yet to post any pictures.