Red Bull forced to modify its RB8 for Canada

The last Monaco Grand Prix, won by Mark Webber, was also marked by the threat of a technical complaint regarding an aperture located just in front of the rear wheels of the Red Bull RB8. Some of the Austrian team’s rivals deemed it to be in violation of article 3.12.5 of the FIA’s technical regulations, which stipulates that the surface of the floor must be uniform and impervious. However, articles 3.12.9 and 3.12.10 of the same regulation define two specific areas where any closed aperture is formally prohibited. In its interpretation of the regulation, the Red Bull team assumed that if specific areas were defined in articles 3.12.9 and 3.12.10, there was, consequently, some tolerance outside those areas.

If Red Bull’s rival teams have given up on filing a technical protest after the Monaco Grand Prix, a meeting was held in the principality last Monday to obtain clarifications from the FIA. In a note sent this Friday to all teams, the governing body reportedly decided by declaring that any closed aperture on the floor surface indeed contravened the technical regulations: « Following numerous discussions in Monaco, during which it became clear that certain misunderstandings existed, we believe it would be useful to clarify our position regarding the presence of a fully closed aperture on the entire floor surface. It was argued that, since it was not explicitly stated that fully closed openings could not be located [in a specific area of the floor], it was possible to make openings outside of this area. We disagree with this interpretation and consider the prohibition of fully closed apertures in this location to be implicit. »

Red Bull will therefore have to modify the RB8 to comply for the Canadian Grand Prix. However, the results achieved by the Austrian team before this FIA clarification will not be challenged, and neither Sebastian Vettel nor Mark Webber will be stripped of their respective victories in Bahrain and Monaco.