As reported last Wednesday, the FIA has responded to Red Bull’s apparently flexible rear wing by further intensifying the scrutineering tests.
We explained last week that, after viewing the footage from David Coulthard’s rearward-facing camera in the Spanish grand prix, the governing body’s technical delegate Charlie Whiting had ordered that new static tests be devised to ensure that teams are complying with the spirit of the rules.
Auto Motor und Sport said last week that the implementation of revised tests had been delayed until Canada, where the long straights at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could again give overly bendable wings an unfair straight line advantage.
The specialist German magazine now says that the FIA has not intensified the load tests as much as originally planned, due to the limitations of the scrutineers’ existing equipment.
What will change from Canada onwards, however, is the allowed tolerance for static wing flexibility; Whiting on Monday informed all the teams that rear wings may only now deflect a total of 2mm rather than 5mm.
