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FIA to Debut Tougher Floor Flexibility Tests at Monza

With Red Bull dominating the F1 field so clearly this year, everyone wants to know the secret behind the quickest car in the paddock, the RB6. Thus madness was spread even within the members of the FIA, which have now confirmed that the floor tests in F1 will suffer some sudden changes prior to the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza.

Following Red Bull's incredible performance in Hungary, the FIA agreed to alter the wing flexibility tests in the series, amid suggestions that the front wings of the Red Bull RB6 were bending towards the track much more than the other cars. Consequently, the loads that will now apply to both ends of the front wing will be double as compared to the ones before, with the wing allowed to bend a maximum 20mm.

While those changes were enforced for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, the FIA decided to proceed to even more testing changes. Amid rumors that Red Bull's speed secret lies not in the incredibly flexible wings, but in a quite bendy floor – that allows the front of the car to bend more towards the track, causing the front wings to do the same and therefore producing more downforce with the help of their blown diffuser – the FIA will reportedly introduce more drastic testing procedures for floors.

According to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, “the existing floor tests involved applying 200 kilograms to the front of the floor, allowing flexibility of no more than 5mm.” From Monza onwards however, additional loads will be applied to several locations underneath the car, ensuring that the front end doesn't bend more than usual.

The teams were reportedly informed of the new tests by the FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting. However, according to British magazine Autosport, the only aspects of the new floor tests known so far are that “they will take place 380mm behind the front wheel centre line at points 100mm either side of the car centre line.”
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