F1 Spa Blog, the wings are all right

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Written by Kate Walker

Sunday, 29 August 2010 09:43

Better late than never, right? The weather has dominated the news here in Spa, and the hot button issues of the summer break have slipped into the background now that racing has restarted in earnest.

While the flexi-wing debate has been overshadowed by the torrential rains, the FIA have done as promised and upgraded the front wing tests to ensure that everyone is playing fair. Red Bull and McLaren have both passed muster, but Ferrari's wing has yet to be retested.

The weather conditions put paid to Red Bull's qualifying advantage on Saturday afternoon – Mark Webber scored the team's 12th pole of the season, but the gap between Webber and Lewis Hamilton in P2 was a mere tenth, not the 1.2 seconds on show in Hungary.

FIA technical delegate Joe Bauer tested the RB6 and MP4-25 on Friday afternoon, and reported that both wings were "found to be in conformity with 2010 FIA Formula 1 technical regulations."

The result will not have surprised anyone in the Red Bull camp – as with the ride-height adjuster debate at the start of the season, Red Bull have confidently asserted from day one that their wing will be found legal, whatever the test. The message has come from both drivers, from Christian Horner, and technical supremo Adrian Newey, all of whom have issued a litany of quotes on the issue.

While Ferrari have yet to see their wing subject to the specialised deflection tests, the team are not worried. Speaking to exclusively to Autosport, Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa said that the team's own tests showed that the F10 – wings, floor, and all – conformed to the FIA's technical regulations, and that all parts had been designed to flex only within the FIA's allowable parameters.

Costa does not expect the scrutineers to find anything wrong with Ferrari's challenger, either here in Spa or in Monza, when the FIA will introduce additional tests on the cars' floors.

During the summer break, FIA technical director Charlie Whiting informed all the teams that their cars would face more stringent tests to the floor from Monza. The exact nature of the revised floor tests has yet to be confirmed, but it is believed that the FIA will be looking at every potential flex points, from joints to the 'tea tray' on the chassis floor.

Regulations governing the skid blocks are also expected to be changed, to prevent any block-assisted flexing. When the teams arrive in Italy their skid blocks must be made of no more than two parts, with each part at least a metre in length.

On Friday, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso told the media that his front wing had not been altered since Hungary, because the team were certain it would be found legal whatever tests were performed on it. "On our part we have not changed anything, we have the same parts as in Hungary," the Spanish driver asserted.

Both Ferrari and Red Bull hope that the flexi-wing debate will soon become a thing of the past. As the title fight intensifies, neither team can afford to be distracted by idle paddock chatter. Kate Walker Girlracer magazine

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