Toto Wolff claims F1 rules are ‘clearly’ being broken by other teams

Mercedes boss Wolff believes some teams are breaching the current regulations regarding so-called ‘flexi-floors’

Toto Wolff claims F1 rules are ‘clearly’ being broken by other teams (Getty Images)

Toto Wolff claims some F1 teams are clearly breaching the current regulations surrounding ‘flexi-floors’ in light of a new technical directive from the FIA.

World motorsport’s governing body issued a new directive in the last month to clamp down on what Wolff believes is a grey area in the rules, with the directive coming into force at the Belgian Grand Prix after the summer break.

Yet Mercedes team principal and CEO Wolff believes some teams are breaching the current regulations by finding extra performance with a degree of ‘flex’ within the floor of the car, subsequently running them closer to the ground to improve the ground-effect aerodynamics which are a staple of the 2022 cars.

“Some teams have skids that actually disappear when the car hits the bottom [of the ground],” Wolff said, quoted byRacingNews365.

“The reason for skids is they are the limitation of how much [wear of the board] you can have. If the skid can disappear miraculously into the floor, that’s clearly against the regulations. Then the second thing is there is a plank that can deflect, or that basically also moves away more than the tolerance should be.

“The tolerance is one millimetre and if a plank moves away many more millimetres up into the car, obviously you gain some performance there too. I think the first one [flexing floor] will disappear for Spa, the second will be clarified in next year’s regulations.”

The new directive will result in more stringent tests regarding the floor of the car starting in Spa in August, with the skid planks sitffened and further monitoring of their impact on speed during a race weekend.

Mercedes have struggled with their aerodynamics in their W13 this year, with the cars suffering from porpoising and bouncing which is causing a speed deficit down the straights and making the ride uncomfortable for drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Yet there have been signs of improvement in recent weeks, particularly at Silverstone and Spielberg, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes the Silver Arrows will be “quick” this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard.