McLaren pulling their socks up for Monza
Team McLaren has made some changes to the front portion of the floor of their car in order to ensure that the car fulfils stricter flexi tests at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix.
Many teams asked for clarification from the FIA about the amount of flex allowed in the front wings and the floor of the car after the front wing plates of Red Bull and Ferrari were seen running very close to the Hungaroring track at the Hungarian Grand Prix. More downforce can be achieved by placing the front wing lower and this was asserted to be one of the main reasons behind Red Bull’s success at the Hungaroring.
Stricter wing tests were executed at the Belgian Grand Prix however; more tests will be introduced at Monza in order to monitor flexing in that area of the car. “Firstly we haven't had to make any modifications to the front wings in terms of body work flexibility. The front wing options are a dedicated solution that we've had so far this season”, chief engineer Tim Goss told the media.
“As far as the bib [front part of the floor] is concerned, the new aspect load test is a little challenging and we've had to make some minor modifications to make sure that we're well inside the limits that the FIA has set on that”, he added. The team therefore, took this opportunity to make minor performance upgrades as well. However, most of the teams will have to adjust their cars in order to clear the tests and perform at their best.
Tim expects most of the teams to make some changes to comply with the off-set bib test. “As far as articulated planks are concerned - there are a number of teams that run floor skids in multiple pieces - and the FIA have tried to ban articulated skid blocks. I imagine other teams would have to make modifications to comply with that”, he said.
Meanwhile, Jenson Button has claimed that Red Bull’s wing was not flexing at Spa Francorchamps as much as it was in Hungary but Goss believes that lesser cars were running on wings that were more flexible. Jenson is sure that McLaren will perform better than the rest of the front running teams at Monza while this race will be very crucial for him in order to keep himself alive in the chase for the drivers’ title.
According to Jenson, Team McLaren is optimistic about the bodywork rules clarification as their package will work much better at Monza like it did in Spa due to the fast nature of the tracks. Jenson had a nightmare of a race at Spa after Sebastian Vettel crashed in to his McLaren while trying to overtake him at 2nd place. This collision forced Button to retire and score no points which devastated the British as he was going very well and if he had scored, it would have been a completely different story with respect to the drivers’ standings.
The current world champion wants to regain the pace he had earlier this season and hopes to stay out of trouble in the remaining six races. The 30-year-old said that if he isn’t able to score some good points at the Italian Grand Prix, his title defense will become nearly impossible. Jenson is currently in 4th place and 35 points behind the leader Lewis Hamilton with just six races left in the season. After a dreamlike season last year with Brawn GP, Jenson signed with McLaren hoping that he will be able to defend his title but due to some unfortunate events, he is now in a very difficult position but still believes that he will win the title.
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