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FIA F1 - Red Bull To Revise Its Floor 'Holes" Application


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Canada, Jun. 5, 2012: Red Bull are expected to revise the much-talked-about ‘holes’ in their car’s rear floor ahead of next weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, after the FIA issued teams with clarification on the matter.

Although rivals chose not to protest the design at the last round in Monaco - won by Red Bull’s Mark Webber - there was much talk over whether the RB8’s enclosed holes in front of its rear wheels were legal.

Other teams had interpreted the rules to mean only floor slots are allowed and the FIA has now made clear that it will consider enclosed holes illegal from the Montreal race onwards.

At Monaco there was much discussion about the legality of the Red Bull's floor, with speculation that rival teams were considering lodging post-race protests, despite the fact that Red Bull have been running the design since Bahrain with the blessing of the FIA scrutineers.

Discussion surrounded the rectangular 'hole' in the floor situated in front of the RB8's rear wheels. Article 3.12.5 of the sport's technical regulations states that, "All parts lying on the reference and step planes, in addition to the transition between the two planes, must produce uniform, solid, hard, continuous, rigid (no degree of freedom in relation to the body/chassis unit), impervious surfaces under all circumstances."

Talk focussed on whether the cut-out on the Red Bull constitutes an enclosed 'hole', hence meaning the floor is not 'impervious', as opposed to the cut-outs in similar places on the Sauber (red arrow in right-hand drawing) and Ferrari, for example, which are open at the floor's edge.