ANALYSIS: Mercedes and McLaren lead front wing flexibility, Ferrari with almost zero flexibility
Images from the Italian Grand Prix indicate that McLaren and Mercedes try to secure tiny gains with their front wing designs, exploiting the maximal flexibility that is still allowed by the technical regulations. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers his latest analysis.
During several races that took place in the summer months, Formula One's governing body, the FIA performed additional checks of the flexibility of front wings, using video footage. The first round that saw the Paris-based body carry out a test was the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
While the technical regulation allows a certain degree of flexibility of various aerodynamic parts, including the front wing, the FIA felt in recent months that some teams took the 'flexi-wing' approach to extremes.
The technical regulations regarding front wing flexibility are laid out in Article 3.15.4, which explains how front wing flexibility is scrutineered – some tolerance has to be built in as every material will flex to a certain degree.
Loads of 1000 newtons (about 100 kilograms static) is applied along three different points of the wing, in a downward direction, using a 50-millimetre diameter ram. Fitted to a rectangular ram supplied by the team, the amount of deflection is measured relative to the survival cell and along the loading axis.
Article 3.15.4 states: “When the load is applied symmetrically to both sides of the car, the vertical deflection must be no more than 15mm. When the load is applied to only one side of the car, the vertical deflection must be no more than 20mm.
Article 3.15.5 states: “No part of the trailing edge of any front wing flap is permitted to deflect more than 5mm when a 60-newton force is applied.”
The new ground-effect cars have proved difficult to balance out and aerodynamic upgrades have unsettled the balance of several cars on multiple occasions over the course of the last two years.
After the Italian Grand Prix, the FIA released the results of their front-wing flexibility investigation, confirming that all teams comply with the regulations.
Mercedes and McLaren have been believed to attract the biggest attention of some rival teams and the FIA. The images from Monza clearly show how much flexibility the front wing of the four leading teams feature.
The front wings of McLaren and Mercedes produce a seemingly high degree of flexibility. On the wing of the Woking-based outfit, the outer part of the upper flap massively bends backwards under high load, with the images clearly showing the difference between the low- and high-speed sections.
Mercedes' solution also produces a fairly high flexibility. While the two elements of the upper flap look detached under little load, the outer section bends backwards when the load level increases, with the two elements forming a solid edge in high-speed configuration.
In Red Bull's case, there is only a tiny difference between the low- and high-load configuration, while Ferrari's front wing shows no apparent flexibility.
As the FIA have not intervened and appear to be delighted with the front wing designs of all teams, Ferrari and Red Bull might now search for ways to exploit the loophole and find the tiny gains McLaren and Mercedes have secured with their solutions.
