BMW unaffected by rear wing rules change
BMW-Sauber have rubbished claims that they are one of the teams that stand to lose the most by the recent change in rear wing regulations, after revealing that they have not had to modify their cars at all to fall in line with the new clarification over flexi-wings
The FIA issued an edict last week demanding that teams fit a slot-gap separator to their rear wings from this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, to ensure that no outfits were benefiting from possible flexi-wings.
The suggestion was that Ferrari and BMW-Sauber were the two teams that were benefiting the most from this area of exploitation, even though there was no suggestion that they were operating outside of the regulations.
But speaking to autosport.com on Thursday, BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen has said that the rule change does not affect his team at all because they were already running with the slot-gap separators.
"It is not a change in the rules, it is just a clarification and because it is not a change in the rules it doesn't affect us," said Theissen. "What is requested now has always been with our car, so there has been no change at all.
"We had those slot gap separators already so we should be fine."
Theissen is upbeat about the current form of his team, and believes that judging by their recent showings they can set their sights on a top five finish in the constructors' championship this year.
"Silverstone showed that we are moving towards the right direction," said the German, referring to the strong qualifying pace and double-points finish in the British Grand Prix.
"The car is apparently particularly strong on fast tracks because it is efficient and that should give us some confidence for the coming races now - like here, Indy, Magny-Cours, Hockenheim and Monza. All these tracks should suit our car and, what makes me confident is that we have increased development speed quite a lot.
"We have our own test team who are out every other week like the big teams, and a twin shift on the wind-tunnel. I see budget wise already that they are pushing a lot of parts and pieces through the wind tunnel now.
"So there will be developments through the season and certainly the primary target is to secure P5, which is a big step from eighth position last year. Then we have to be ready when some teams ahead of us decide to make mistakes."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
McLaren needs to understand puzzling “up and down” F1 form - Piastri
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
Mercedes taking action to cure F1 car's “underlying balance” problem
The plot twist that gave Arrow McLaren’s Ward his first IndyCar win as team principal
Formula E’s new Gen3 Evo car breaks cover
The weekly reality check that has kept MotoGP hype off of Acosta so far in 2024
F2 veteran Ghiotto to make IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing at Barber
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
Did F1's new sprint format work?
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments