Alfa Romeo slates "joke" FIA flexi-wing test changes

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo slates "joke" FIA flexi-wing test changes

Flexi-wings have come under scrutiny since the Spanish Grand Prix

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Friday 21 May 2021 13:10

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Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur has labelled the FIA's changes to rear wing load testing a "joke" and suggested teams that have done a "good job" will be penalised.

After Red Bull's rear wing was seen to be flexing at the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA issued a technical directive informing teams that load testing will be ramped up from France onwards in order to ensure no team exceeds the maximum flex limit.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated the cost of changing the components to comply with the new tests could cost up to half a million dollars.

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Vasseur agreed the cost would be an implication of the change but insisted the team would not face a race against time to introduce a new wing.

"We will have time to do it, but it will cost us a fortune," said Vasseur. "Honestly, we are all fighting to save money to speak to reduce about one person on track, and then we have these kinds of things, it’s just a joke."

Ferrari revealed it had been exploiting the threshold of the wing's flex within the regulations whilst a number of other teams run to the extremities of the limit, like Alfa Romeo, and Vasseur believes those who have maximised their package will be disadvantaged.

"I think it will affect everybody because at the end of the day we have the regulation," he added.

"Even though some teams won’t agree because they don’t want to disclose their own game, at the end of the day we have the regulation with the maximum deformation and the load and I think we are not more clever than the others and everybody was sticking to the limit and the FIA decided to change the limit.

"It’s a bit surprising that they changed the load and deformation in the course of the season.

"It’s not the introduction of a new test or a new way to do the test it’s that they change the value, and this for me if I remember right is the first time we see something like this.

"Because, if you are at the limit, if you did a good job, you have to produce new wings and in terms of cost-saving, it’s a huge, huge effort."