The Mercedes rear wing saga will continue with a new episode: an additional test that the FIA is preparing to check the flexing capacity of the rear wing of the Anglo-German team.
Christian horner has revealed in statements to Sky F1 that the FIA is listening to the request of Red Bull Racing and after the qualifying session it will carry out a load test on the Mercedes rear wing.
This wing has raised suspicions in the rival team as a result of the superior top speed of the last races, combined with a mark identified on the inside of the side plates of said rear wing.
“Above 250 km / h, you can see that this is where it starts to move”
And it appears that the FIA has listened to Red Bull and will carry out additional tests to the Mercedes main wing plane. «There will be a load test on the back of the wing. An amount of cargo will be added to the rear of the wing. Divided through the spoiler, it will probably be 70 to 80 kilograms and will be increased in stages, so the deflection can be measured, ”says Horner.
«Above 250 km / h, you can see that this is where it starts to move. Taking advantage of the quality of high-speed photography these days, technicians are intrigued by what’s going on with competitors. That is part of Formula 1, “says the Briton.
Much higher top speed
In the last races, Mercedes He was superior to everyone on the straights, something that was especially evident at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which Lewis Hamilton rallied from last position to victory after an exclusion in Friday’s qualifying.
“It’s great that the FIA is being proactiveThey are analyzing it because our concern is not so much here, where the speed on the straight is not as high as in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, ”says Horner.
“I think the test they are introducing would expose any flexibility in that area. The thing to remember is that the FIA has five people watching this. (Instead) there are thousands of engineers in this pit lane who are looking for ways to exploit the rules »recalls, underlining the potential of the teams compared to the FIA.
“When you see the straight speed of the last few races, we just want to make sure that with so much at stake, the next races will be played on a level playing field », concludes.