The Renault Sport Formula 1 Team will make changes to their rear wing following advice from the FIA that its support pillar design, could contravene Formula 1 rules.
Article 3.9.6 of F1’s technical regulations states that the support “must be extended until it meets the area of the regulations that is related to the area of the rear wing main plane as defined in article 3.9.1”.
The Enstone based teams rivals raised questions about the way in which the support pillar joins the wing at the DRS actuator pod, rather than being attached to the main structure, which prompted the FIA to advise Renault they should make some adjustments to ensure they comply with F1 law.
With the new aerodynamic rules introduced for 2017, teams have been playing around with the rear wing to find the best set-up to avoid turbulent air flowing towards it, now that it is housed much lower than before.
Some teams felt the Renault design could improve the effectiveness of the DRS, whilst others did not actually feel there would be much benefit gained from it.
The French team argued that a further regulation permitted their idea, as it states that the support could be attached to “minimal parts solely associated with the adjustment of the [DRS]”.
However, having looked into it more closely following the protest from other teams, the FIA deemed that the DRS and support pillar attachment were in fact too large to be considered as the “minimal” parts referred to in the regulations.
The amendments to bring the rear wing into line will need to be completed before the season gets underway in Australia, on March 24 – 26.
