SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

FIA confirms Monza camber checks

Further to our story yesterday, the FIA has confirmed that it will be checking team camber settings after Italian GP qualifying.

Further to our story yesterday, the FIA has confirmed that it will be checking team camber settings after Italian GP qualifying.

Pirelli is concerned that any team ignoring its maximum 3.25 degrees front camber recommendation is risking potential tyre problems at a high-speed track such as Monza (see our Q&A with Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery yesterday).

Ahead of final free practice at Monza on Saturday morning, FIA race director Charlie Whiting issued a note to teams as follows: "Further to the discussion in the team managers meeting I can confirm that we will be checking camber settings after qualifying in order to ensure that the recommendations made by Pirelli are adhered to.

"Any car found to be outside of these recommendations will be reported to the stewards as being in breach of Article 2.3 of the F1 technical regulations (Dangerous Construction).

"In order to assist with this procedure, and for use as a reference should you wish to disassemble any suspension components during parc ferme, we ask that you provide Jo Bauer with a qualifying set-up sheet in a sealed envelope prior to the start of qualifying practice."

Previously, Pirelli's maximum camber recommendations have been a guideline rather than a rule of law, but such is the high-speed nature of Monza that the FIA has elected to put safety first.

The winning Red Bulls ran outside Pirelli's 4 degree maximum recommendation at Spa, although the team claimed that this was merely down to limited dry Friday practice running in Belgium and the fact that they did not appreciate that there was a safety issue attached to the issue of blistering.