The flexibility of aerodynamic components is an increasingly recurring topic in regulatory disputes. For 2023 the FIA decided to tighten the stiffness tests along the outer bottom, not to be confused with the compliance of the skid-block along the central axis of the single-seater already targeted by the technical directive 039 of last August. The decline of the external fund has been opposed for a long time by the Federation already by means of the tie rods and the rise of the border foreseen for next season, wanting to counteract the reduction in the distance from the ground, in order to avoid the triggering of porpoising.
The 2023 regulation presents an additional article to the 2022 document, in detail point 3.15.7.c. The first version of the regulation for next season established a maximum deflection of 8 mm for the lateral bottom under the action of a vertical load of 250 N per side, the equivalent of 25 kg. In the next update, the maximum allowed deformation was increased to 5 mm, while the last meeting of the World Motorsport Council led to a further correction. In 2023 the tests on the stiffness of the bottom will be even more stringent, since it is allowed a bending of 8 mm under a vertical thrust of 600 N per side, slightly higher than the weight of 60 kg. Furthermore, the deformation will be measured by means of a laser scan.
The updated regulation also specifies the verification procedure more accurately. The load for the test will be applied simultaneously at six points on each side, in an area of the floor between 1260 and 350 mm in front of the rear wheels. A force of 100 N will be applied to each point, so that the resulting total is 600 N per side. The big difference compared to previous versions of the regulation lies in the distribution of force on several pointsthus replicating in a more faithful way the distribution of the aerodynamic load under the single-seater, which in the race is the force that actually causes the deformation of the bottom.
Furthermore, in article 3.15.7.c, the Federation reserves the right to change the procedure indicated if anomalies are found: “FIA may require that the points for applying the loads be moved whether, in its view, such areas or the shape of the fund have been specifically designed to allow greater flexibility of the external fund in the non-tested regions”. Like the teams, the FIA is also taking cover after what it learned in 2022, the first season of validity of a new technical regulation for both the teams and the organizers.
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