'99 ferrari barge boards?

[RWC]

Would it be possible for any one to tell me about the ferrari barge boards controversy in 1999?I think i missed alot of the news back then & in any case it made little sense anyway.Links to news archives or explanations would be great.I've found out abit about the specifics of why the parts didn't comply. Why the argument from the FIA that there is a 5mm tolerance,the parts were 10mm out,but they passed anyway(???)Thanks

[coultard1]

I'll have a go at explaining this..

due to the barge boards being curved, the measurement of
them by the technical delegate was done incorrectly. as the
measurement was done from top to bottom of the barge board,
where in fact if you measure the barge baord with a piece of
string or tape (where you could run along the curved shape)
the barge board would be legal. The measurment by the fia was
done with a flat ruler therefore only the ending and beginning
of the barge board were measured.

Probably the thing that really was questionable was the appeal
was first logged on the basis of manufacturing fault, then they
come up with another explanation at the appeal hearing.

[RWC]

Thanks Coultard 1 ,yes i do understand that.

[GTF1]

Here's how I interpreted the ruling (could be wrong but oh well here goes):

The curve in the Ferrari barge board violated the "flat bottom" rule. Ferrari claimed that the barge boards weren't aligned correctly when measured. As a result, rotating the boards slightly reduces the 10mm indiscrepancy on a single side of the board, to 5mm on 2 sides (Picture rotating a simple L shape with the bottom flange being 10mm long). Thus they were not disqualified because both sides were within the 5mm tolerance.

The thing that annoyed McLaren (and other teams) the most was that the 5mm tolerance was implemented in regard to the measurement of the flat bottom of the car - not for the measurement of other parts. Ferrari managed to convince the FIA that the tolerance could be applied to other parts of the car and therefore "got away with it".