Christian Horner has dismissed suggestions that Red Bull would be one of the teams affected by the closing of a floor test regulation loophole. Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, the FIA announced a new Technical Directive regarding the skid planks under the floor of F1 cars. The suspicion is that some teams have found a method of flexing certain areas of the floor. Under the current regulations, the FIA check the floor at three specific points, with those locations not allowed to flex more than 2mm. From the French GP onward, the regulations have been tweaked to clarify that the board may only bend 2mm across its entire length, with some wriggle room (a rumoured 10 per cent) being allowed. This has prompted speculation about which of the teams have been taking advantage of the loophole in the FIA tests. When asked by Sky Sports F1 if flexible floors are linked to a reduction in porpoising, Horner completely dismissed the connection. "That's total rubbish. I think we're getting our issues mixed up here," said Horner. When referencing suspicions from Mercedes' Team Principal Toto Wolff about the legality of some teams' floors, Horner was then asked if he had any concerns about the RB18. "Zero. Maybe he [Wolff] is referring to cars that are around him at the moment? I've no idea but absolutely no issues or concerns on our floor," he stated.
Horner: More discussion needed on Technical Directive
The wider topic of porpoising was still being discussed in the run-up to the Austrian GP weekend. The FIA had intended to start regulating the oscillating of cars from the next round at Paul Ricard in France. However, this has now been pushed back to the Belgian GP, with the floor flexing test tweaks instead being implemented at the French GP. When asked about the latest Technical Directive, Horner said he would welcome further discussion on the topic, pointing to a reduced problem at the previous race at Silverstone. "The Technical Directive is obviously focused on the bouncing or the porpoising which only certain cars have struggled with," added Horner. "I think it's due for further discussion in the Technical Working Group, which is the correct forum for it. "As we saw at Silverstone, no cars were really affected by it, so the argument being; is it the duty of the competitor to make sure their car is safe, or is it the duty of the FIA to ensure that the competitor runs their car safely?"
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