Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Red Bull Ring, 2022

“No concerns” over flexibility of Red Bull’s floor – Horner

2022 Austrian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted his car’s floor is not flexing excessively after the FIA issued a technical directive clarifying the relevant regulations.

His opposite number at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, described the clarification as a “shocker” when it came to light during the British Grand Prix weekend.

Wolff said he “believe that some teams have been stretching that maybe too much and that’s going to change before Paul Ricard.” However the FIA today confirmed the enforcement of the new technical directive clarifying the floor regulations had been delayed from the French round until the Belgian Grand Prix, following the summer break.

Horner told Sky it was “total rubbish” to suggest some teams had avoided the ‘porpoising’ problem Mercedes and others have suffered from because their floors flex more than their rivals.

He said Red Bull have no concerns over their compliance with the rules. “Maybe he’s referring to the cars that are around him at the moment, I’ve no idea. But there’s absolutely no issues or concerns on our floor.”

The FIA’s efforts to restrict the porpoising of F1 cars has provoked criticism from several teams, notably Red Bull, since they began when the first technical directive was announced ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Horner pointed out the porpoising several drivers suffered from had lessened at Silverstone,a much smoother circuit than several previous venues.

“The technical directive is obviously focussed on this bouncing or the porpoising which only certain cars have struggled with. I think it’s due for further discussion in the technical working group, which is the correct forum for it.

“Obviously as we saw at Silverstone, no cars were really affected by it. So the argument being, is it the the duty of the competitor to make sure their car is safe or is it the duty of the FIA to ensure that the competitive runs their car safely?”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 Austrian Grand Prix

Browse all 2022 Austrian Grand Prix articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

16 comments on ““No concerns” over flexibility of Red Bull’s floor – Horner”

  1. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
    8th July 2022, 17:55

    I think it’s hilarious that Mercedes is doing exactly that what Red Bull and Ferrari have done for years, even though they said it was pathetic time and time again.

    Throwing mud against a wall and see what sticks. Except this time, they’re actually using their FIA-contact to do it for them.

    Instead of looking internally for a fix, they blame two entire teams of cheating ‘somehow’.

    1. Come now, repeat in a whisper after Christian “No Concerns, No Concerns, No Concerns”….

    2. The FIA have found “some teams” are doing something that is against the regulations and have clarified that it isn’t allowed. Where’s the controversy there?

  2. As no one truly understands what makes these cars work – it’s interesting that the difference between porpoising and not could be purely down to the thickness of the floor and it’s capability to bend.

    1. if not mistaken, fia already named ferrari and reds for their use of floor citing how they made it due to wording not specifically banning of some parts’ placement. which fia said was illegal and rule wasnt intended to be used that way. it is very possible that is what makes their cars from fully bottoming out. leaving some cushion effect to keep flow going. if thats the case and declared illegal, i hope mercedes and others ask for redbul and ferrari’s all points to be stripped off for driving with illegal cars all this while, while mocking others.

      1. You are mistaken. The FIA has not singled out any team in particular.

        1. you are right, i read multiple articles about this, and all said to be pointing to red bull and ferrari are the not named teams who fall foul of the rules. also the two teams are against the changes! they argue about mid season change is not good, but they were the ones did everything in the past to change rules and actually got some rules changed mid season! now crying wolves.

          all the evidence and the noise pointing to both ferrari and redbul’s magic planks under the car, now we know the purpose.

        2. also saw this article which provides some more info. (i used google auto translate )
          https://f1i.autojournal.fr/magazine/magazine-technique/technique-f1-silverstone-red-bull-ferrari-affaiblies/

          1. Quite interesting article, even though it repeats Horners statement that they even comply with the new directives.

            What’s interesting though is that the alleged flexing in part of the floor seems to be okay in the rules (letter versus intent). This reminds me of the double axis steering by another team.
            In that case FIA allowed it for the season but banned it the next year.

    2. I don’t see why.

      If you can get the floor to bend at speed (higher aero load) then presumably you can use that technique to bend up part of the floor at speed to allow more air flow through to stop the stalling. Also you can use the same trick to bend part of the floor down to the ground to get higher downforce.

      I’m stupid compared to an f1 engineer so I have no idea how you actually do that, but I can understand the concept and how powerful it could be to create performance.

  3. If there are no issues regarding the floor why kick off about it. Redbull will not have to change a thing and they’ll still be quickest.
    Me thinks Christian is not being 100% truthful……….again.

  4. This explains Horner’s over-the-top reaction a couple of weeks ago to the news of an FIA review of the regs. He was panicked about the discovery process and now it’s happened.
    I’d rather the FIA allow the other teams to be allowed to use the same solution but the budget cap probably makes that unrealistic.

    1. there are chances of more noise from red and ferrari. because air tunnel time mid season adjusted, and they will have not much for them to test new parts to compensate. also the budget will be their argument very likely… they ll say we spent all the dev money for this car etc, all their upgrade parts were done or done for this purpose car bla bla bla. there is a reason horner is panicking and trying to look cool at the same time… i wonder if the rule change tests etc approved and enforced, and redbul/ferrari loose a chunk of time due to porpoising, what kind of jokes will come from the paddock let alone wolf… easy fix :) raise the ride height add more wing?

      it will be fun or boring next half season. lets see…. mercedes are ever more closer to reds at performance at a critical time.

    2. @johnrkh “over the top reaction?” “panicked?” Come on. And what “solution?” You’re not being realistic.

  5. In the category: if you can’t beat them, just call them cheater…

  6. Except no one, anywhere has mentioned Red Bull by name. There is a widely held assumption that cars built by Newey and his team will have a liberal interpretation of the regulations, because almost every single one of them has had. Some of those interpretations have been allowed and some not.

    No one knows if that’s the case here, but also no one has accused anyone of anything.

Comments are closed.