 Glock and team-mate Trulli will start from the back following their exclusion |
Both Toyota cars have been excluded from the qualifying results at the Australian Grand Prix after their cars were found to break technical rules. Toyota's Timo Glock of Germany and Italian Jarno Trulli qualified sixth and eighth but will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid. Officials said the cars had rear wings that were too flexible. Williams had protested against the rear wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars, but withdrew their complaint. Stewards said the wing on the Toyota showed "flexibility of an extreme nature". Flexible rear wings are banned in Formula 1 because they can bring performance advantages.  | 606: DEBATE |
Because of this, the F1 technical regulations have strict stipulations about how much a wing can flex. This is because a wing can be designed to flex in such a way as to improve the car's straight-line performance without harming its cornering capability. In such instances, the aerodynamic drag on the car reduces as the wing flexes. The wing then snaps back to its original shape as the driver slows for a corner, increasing the car's grip. Toyota have promised to make adjustments to the rear wing, and the FIA is happy for them to race if the new rear wing satisfies the regulations. "After the stewards considered there was excess flexibility in both wings of the cars, we will have to start from the pit lane," said Toyota team principal John Howett. "The stewards have the right to adjudicate and we accept their decision. We will modify the parts, we don't expect any loss in performance, and we will be ready for the race tomorrow." The FIA's decision promotes world champion Lewis Hamilton to 18th - he had dropped from 15th to last place because of a gearbox change.
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