27-05-2012, 20:41
Rival teams believe a design on the Red Bull car is illegal.
McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus all argue a hole in the rear floor of the Red Bull contravenes rules but it is not known if any will protest.
The design has been on the car since the Bahrain GP and Red Bull were made aware of rivals' dissatisfaction early in the Monaco weekend.
Mark Webber
The Red Bull has a slot in the floor of the car just in front of the rear wheel
Red Bull have said they will not change the car, so are vulnerable to a protest.
Team boss Christian Horner said: "The car complies with the regulations, we're happy with that. It's the nature of F1 that there are complaints when you have a competitive car.
Technical director Adrian Newey added: "It first arose at the Bahrain Grand Prix and we have a letter from Charlie Whiting at the FIA saying he is convinced it's legal."
However, teams are notoriously wary of protesting items on rival cars - they prefer to get them removed by arguing behind the scenes.
In recent years, rivals have questioned a number of items on the Red Bull, but it has tended to be dealt with by race director Charlie Whiting warning them that the design in question should be removed by the next race.
The latest row is about a rectangular hole in front of the rear wheels on the Red Bull.
Article 3.12.5 of the technical regulations says this area must be "uniform, solid, hard, continuous, rigid, impervious surfaces under all circumstances".
Red Bull's rivals believe this hole is illegal because it means the floor is not "impervious". They believe it is there to provide an aerodynamic advantage.
Red Bull pair defend legality of car design
Ferrari and Sauber also use a cut-out in this area but in the case of their cars it is open at the edge of the floor, so it is considered just to be the shape of the floor.
Having it open at the edge means the aerodynamic advantage gained is not as large.
However, there is a view that the hole might be legal as the rules could provide for a hole in the surface of the 'step plane' - a horizontal plane that is 100mm higher than the bottom of the car.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18226959
McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus all argue a hole in the rear floor of the Red Bull contravenes rules but it is not known if any will protest.
The design has been on the car since the Bahrain GP and Red Bull were made aware of rivals' dissatisfaction early in the Monaco weekend.
Mark Webber
The Red Bull has a slot in the floor of the car just in front of the rear wheel
Red Bull have said they will not change the car, so are vulnerable to a protest.
Team boss Christian Horner said: "The car complies with the regulations, we're happy with that. It's the nature of F1 that there are complaints when you have a competitive car.
Technical director Adrian Newey added: "It first arose at the Bahrain Grand Prix and we have a letter from Charlie Whiting at the FIA saying he is convinced it's legal."
However, teams are notoriously wary of protesting items on rival cars - they prefer to get them removed by arguing behind the scenes.
In recent years, rivals have questioned a number of items on the Red Bull, but it has tended to be dealt with by race director Charlie Whiting warning them that the design in question should be removed by the next race.
The latest row is about a rectangular hole in front of the rear wheels on the Red Bull.
Article 3.12.5 of the technical regulations says this area must be "uniform, solid, hard, continuous, rigid, impervious surfaces under all circumstances".
Red Bull's rivals believe this hole is illegal because it means the floor is not "impervious". They believe it is there to provide an aerodynamic advantage.
Red Bull pair defend legality of car design
Ferrari and Sauber also use a cut-out in this area but in the case of their cars it is open at the edge of the floor, so it is considered just to be the shape of the floor.
Having it open at the edge means the aerodynamic advantage gained is not as large.
However, there is a view that the hole might be legal as the rules could provide for a hole in the surface of the 'step plane' - a horizontal plane that is 100mm higher than the bottom of the car.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18226959
Fernando es de otro planeta