Force India driver Tonio Liuzzi believes blown diffuser assisted at Belgian GP
Tonio Liuzzi believes that the main reason for Force India’s success at the Belgian Grand Prix was the new blown diffuser the team introduced earlier this weekend. Tonio’s teammate Adrian Sutil finished fifth at Spa-Francorchamps while Liuzzi faced some problems with Sebastian Vettel, as he had to fight for the last point in tenth place. Force India first tested its blown floor at the Hungarian Grand Prix but the technology made its debut at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“It has been a great step forward. Before the summer break, we had a little test in Hungary and it seemed to give a good result but in Spa we took, another step forwards and it improved a lot. We have even more development coming in the region of the blown diffuser for the Italian GP at Monza, so we are really happy and never giving up on our fight until the end of the championship”, Liuzzi said.
The blown diffuser blows the exhaust gas in and around the diffuser to improve its performance. More than half of the F1 grid uses this technology. However, some drivers, Liuzzi included, have reported that it takes time to get used to it, as there is a disrupted balance when they come on and off the throttle.
Tonio Liuzzi joined Formula 1 in 2005. His started his career with Red Bull Racing and scored only a single point in four races. The 30-year-old moved to Toro Rosso the following year and stayed with the team until 2007. Liuzzi was not able to perform up to the mark as he scored only 3 points with the team in 2007 and finished at the 18th place in the drivers’ standings. Force India took him as a test driver in 2008 and he was back on track as a full time driver in 2009 with the team. Tonio Liuzzi has been able to score only 13 points up until now and is currently standing at the 14th place. The Italian driver has not been able to score a single podium in his career and has not been able to rise to his peak. Tonio scored 6 points at the Australian Grand Prix and that is the maximum amount of points the driver has been able to score this season.
This is Force India’s 3rd season in the Formula 1 circuit and this has been the best year for the team till date. Force India started in 2008 with Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil. The team had a disappointing debut season, as the team was not even able to score a single point. However, the team was able to score some points in 2009 and started using the Mercedes engine instead of the Ferrari engine. Force India scored 13 points to secure the 9th spot but was still not happy with its performance. Fisichella left the team prior to the 2010 season and Tonio Liuzzi became their full time driver. The team is currently ranked at 6th place with 58 points behind team Renault that is ahead with 123 points. This has been Renault's best season to date. Adrian Sutil is at the 9th place with 45 points behind Nico Rosberg.
“It's quite clear because the diffuser is exhaust powered. It definitely changes the handling of the car and it becomes more sensitive to throttle application, but in a way you can handle it if you have the right tools to make it work”, said Liuzzi.
“Also the driver needs to change his driving style a bit, to be a bit more able to identify the way to drive and change accordingly. It's quite a complex item as well and there are now a lot of difficult items of development, like the F-duct and the blown diffuser, so these things change the way you drive quite a bit”, he added.
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