FIA rules on flawed floors

An FIA ruling banning controversial holes in the Red Bull floor before the Canadian Grand Prix relects the intense competition at the front of the F1 grid – and the unstinting efforts of teams to exploit regulatory loopholes.

Red Bull placed small holes ahead of its rear wheels in the search of a small aero advantage, in the belief that – thanks to a grey area within the rules – they were not expressly banned.

Rivals disagreed, but none of their threatened protests materialised after Mark Webber’s Monaco GP win. The FIA took their views on board, however, and swiftly
conirmed a ban.

RBR boss Christian Horner was keen to point out that the car was legal when it won in Monaco: “We felt it was completely legal and the technical delegate agreed with that opinion prior to the event,” he said. “It’s like a lot of areas – the regulations are open to interpretation.

“We discussed our viewpoint and the FIA was happy with it, but it then sought to clarify the position. Effectively, this resulted in that coniguration no longer being permissible.”