Illegally flexing rear wings

[m3_lover]

The viewers would not have noticed it, but the people in the paddocks and other employees of other teams and journalists would have. It is very hard to keep a secret in f1 these days and much harder ever since they got rid of the blinds in pit garages.

[RH1300S]

I don't know if this has been said before, but with the Ferrari front wing - it's pretty obvious that we could see it felxing purely because the upper element was "attached" to the nose. The Renault solution on the other hand could let the lower element flex just as much as Ferrari (& others), but of course you have no visual reference point to judge what is happening.

I understand that an area of concern people really had was the Ferrari rear wing, which seems to be supported in such a way that the main element of the upper wing are rigidly mounted to the gearbox - I think the upper element (flap) is supported via the end plate. Looking at the thing from the rear you can envisage a situation where the lower plane is quite rigidly fixed, but the flap and end plates could flex down to close the gap to the main plane (I understand that closing this gap reduces downforce and drag)

[elnuevo]

Ferrari rear wing flexion.




Un saludo.

[DaveKillens]

Elnuevo, truly excellent piece of detective work. Ten out of ten, thumbs up to you, sir for a job well done.

[FLC]

I agree, not a very good evidence. The entire car is moving (watch the wheels), its on different places on the track and the point where the red arrow is showing (the horizontal slits) could be due to the fact that the car is in open space and then comes into the stands shade. Plus there's a 4 (?!) laps difference... Maybe if someone could do something like there was here with the BMW we could see better. atleast it was continous, into a corner and on to the straight. This is just taking the car at 2 different times and places and making an animation out of it, not very fair.

[zac510]

I agree, not a very good evidence. The entire car is moving (watch the wheels), its on different places on the track and the point where the red arrow is showing (the horizontal slits) could be due to the fact that the car is in open space and then comes into the stands shade. Plus there's a 4 (?!) laps difference... Maybe if someone could do something like there was here with the BMW we could see better. atleast it was continous, into a corner and on to the straight. This is just taking the car at 2 different times and places and making an animation out of it, not very fair.

Yes I agree, the slits on the end plate are not closing - it is just the colour of the ripple strip in the background.

I zoomed in on the gif in an image program but it was hard to tell. I think the wing is moving, but not by such a large amount as is portrayed in that animated gif.

[elnuevo]

Midland rear wing don't flex, only a few vibration. Sorry that I don't write my opinion. I am spanish and my english is not very good. Sorry.
[IMG:325:240]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5643/sinttulo47br.gif[/img]

Un saludo.

[Sodder]

I will agree that the video of the Ferrari wing could be a little bit slower, that would make it a little easier to see. However, if you look at "Marlboro" you can see that the letters seem taller in one frame compaired to the other. This (to me) shows that the upper and lower elements are either separating or the rake of each element is changing a small amount. The endplates on the other hand are obviously moving...

[manchild]

Yellow line should be on same position on both frames but the flexing is still easily recognisable.

If someone finds similar movie clip in any format I'll make a gif.

[Sodder]

In the rules it states nothing can move except for the cover describe in the article 6.5.2 when use in pit lane and the ducts describe in article 11.4.

The cover is the cover over the fuel filler, correct? Which moveable ducts are they speaking of???

[ginsu]

I don't know if this has been said before, but with the Ferrari front wing - it's pretty obvious that we could see it felxing purely because the upper element was "attached" to the nose. The Renault solution on the other hand could let the lower element flex just as much as Ferrari (& others), but of course you have no visual reference point to judge what is happening.

This is a very good point. Carbon can be designed to have a high tensile strength and a low compressive strength. Therefore the Renault Front Winglets could easily be flexing under load, despite the fact that we cannot see it. Also, if you factor in the buckling strength for carbon, I'm sure that gives you even more flexibility to play with.

[chapmanlung]

check this out
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... front+wing

[RH1300S]

I don't know if this has been said before, but with the Ferrari front wing - it's pretty obvious that we could see it felxing purely because the upper element was "attached" to the nose. The Renault solution on the other hand could let the lower element flex just as much as Ferrari (& others), but of course you have no visual reference point to judge what is happening.

This is a very good point. Carbon can be designed to have a high tensile strength and a low compressive strength. Therefore the Renault Front Winglets could easily be flexing under load, despite the fact that we cannot see it. Also, if you factor in the buckling strength for carbon, I'm sure that gives you even more flexibility to play with.

Actually I don't think the Renault upper winglets are flexing (nor the Ferrari ones) - what I mean is that the main part of the wing (which the winglets are attached to) can flex - letting the outer part of the wing (and end plates) get closer to the road.

If the Ferrari winglets were bonded to the nose they would prevent the lower part flexing as they would effectively act as a tension member. The Renault ones are supported by a vertical "post" onto the lower wing, so they don't prevent the lower part from flexing......

[FLC]

I dont think the rules say anything about the kind of movement that Ferrari is using in their front wing. They say stuff about vertical and horizontal movement. We all saw that the vertical movement happens in other cars too, like the BMW. and about the horizontal one, i think they mean it more like the movement of the wings of an f-14 fighter, cause they measure it by degrees. is that correct? is that why Renault were saying that the wing may be legal but that they dont comply with the spirit of the rules?

Why did they mention only car number 5 in the letter? because they think Schumacher is the only threat coming from Ferrari? isnt Massa's car equipped with the same wings?

[adavidm]

In the rules it states nothing can move except for the cover describe in the article 6.5.2 when use in pit lane and the ducts describe in article 11.4.

The cover is the cover over the fuel filler, correct? Which moveable ducts are they speaking of???

Brake Ducts, They have to move with the wheel.

adavidm