F1 News
After Mercedes question Red Bull's rear-wing, FIA introduce new test
- GPblog.com
The FIA will introduce new tests for flexible rear wings starting from the French Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes suggested Red Bull Racing have a rear wing that flexes more than allowed and the FIA has now developed a new test for that.
Mercedes strikes back
After the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton called out that Red Bull has become faster on the straight because of a flexible rear wing, which would not be legal.
Christian Horner denied this, stating that the FIA had no problems with Red Bull's rear wing. However, that doesn't appear to be quite the case after all, as according to various media outlets, including Motorsport-Total.com, have got hold of a letter that was sent to the teams, in which a new test is announced.
Test in France
The letter states that the teams are all currently complying with the current test, but the FIA is going to use a clause in the technical regulations to introduce a new test. This is because 'it is suspected that parts of the bodywork move when the car is in motion', in which case the FIA is allowed to introduce a new test according to article 3.9.9. of the technical regulations. Some of the new tests have focused on the rear wing bending backwards at high speed.
As there will be teams that need to make adjustments to meet these guidelines, the FIA has given teams time to adjust. Therefore the current rear wings may be used up to and including the Turkish Grand Prix (if it goes ahead). From the Spanish Grand Prix onwards the new tests will be introduced and the team will have to pass them.