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Blown diffuser a big step forward - Liuzzi

Force India ran the blown diffuser on both cars at Spa © Getty Images

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• Drivers:
• Tonio Liuzzi

• Teams:
• Racing Point

Tonio Liuzzi says the performance of the Force India took a big step forward with the introduction of a new blown diffuser at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Team-mate Adrian Sutil finished fifth at Spa Francorchamps while Liuzzi recovered from a tangle with Sebastian Vettel to take the last point in tenth. Force India first tested its blown floor at the Hungarian Grand Prix four weeks earlier but the new system made its race debut in Belgium.

"It has been a great step forward," Liuzzi told ESPNF1. "Before the summer break we had a little test in Hungary and it seemed to give a good result but in Spa we took another step forwards and it improved a lot. We have even more development coming in the region of the blown diffuser for Monza, so we are really happy and never giving up on our fight until the end of the championship."

The system works by blowing exhaust gas in and around the diffuser to improve its performance and now features on more than half of the F1 grid. However, some drivers have reported a disrupted balance as they come on and off the throttle and Liuzzi admitted it took a bit of getting used to.

"It's quite clear because the diffuser is exhaust powered," he added. "It definitely changes the handling of the car and it becomes more sensitive to throttle application, but in a way you can handle it if you have the right tools to make it work.

"Also the driver needs to change his driving style a bit, to be a bit more able to identify the way to drive and change accordingly. It's quite a complex item as well and there are now a lot of difficult items of development, like the F-duct and the blown diffuser, so these things change the way you drive quite a bit."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.