Godius wrote:I've read somewhere that they are finally stepping into the five+ element front wing league. They really need to btw.
What kind of comment is that? Would you care to explain why this is a better solution? Or are you going by the "other teams are using it so it must be better" thought process?
Remember next year the front wings are narrower. A reason that some of the teams used so many elements on the outboard section of their wings is to be able to change the angle of the airflow even more to move it up and over and around the side of the tyre more. Also with more elements you can make it less sensitive to pitch changes of the wing, something the outboard section needs to create a very stable vortex around the outside of the front tyre. That is why the inboard section of wings use much fewer elements. They are simply not needed.
With the wings being so much narrower than 2013 then if a team goes for the in-wash front wing then most likely all those elements will be reduced to 2 or 3. If a team goes for an out-wash design then maybe a totally new school of thinking will have to be employed to get the airflow out to the side and over the top of the tyre.
On the flip side the neutral section is the same width (correct me if I am wrong) and the outer width has been cut down. This means that designers have less wing area to work with. To counteract this designers may decide to go with more elements for the entire wing area to run a higher angle of attack (AoA) to make up lost downforce from wing width reduction.
) thin banana.
