Every year a technical argument arises which dominates discussion off-track, and this year has been no different, even despite the stable regulations. In fact we’ve had a few hot topics, from McLaren’s diffuser to Z-floors, but it’s the flexible wing saga that has dominated headlines.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff have been locked in a battle over bendy wings, which truly bubbled to the surface after the Spanish Grand Prix.
From the on-board camera of the W12 and RB16 during the Spanish GP, it was evident how the rear wing profiles of the two cars behaved differently, with the RB16B wing tending to flex under high speed and high load. Horner countered Mercedes by highlighting how it is the front wing of the W12 that clearly flexes.
After pressure from Wolff to Nicolas Tombazis (technical manager of the FIA), the governing body will introduce more severe technical checks on June 15, just in time for the French GP. Many teams have expressed their unhappiness at this, as it will likely involve a total redesign of the structure of the compositional materials (heavily affecting the budget), to make the wings more rigid to pass the FIA’s tests.
Over the years in F1, the technical subject of flexible wings has often made a comeback, and has led to an adjustment of the rules as team engineers managed to find tricks to circumvent technical checks.
First of all, it should be noted that no team is running an illegal wing, as they have all passed the FIA’s current checks. But with a doubling of the load, they will need to make changes to pass these new tests.
The advantages of having a flexible rear wing are essentially attributable to a reduction in drag on the straights. The airfoil, flexing due to the vertical load that increases with higher speed, tends to assume a position with less incidence. Then, when you enter the deceleration phase, the downforce is reduced and the wing returns to its standard position.
The carbon material has a certain amount of memory, allowing it to return to its intended position, and on a structural level it is positive that the wings flex (although not excessively). Today’s single-seaters, at the highest levels of downforce, are calibrated to generate over 2,000kg of vertical load on the wheels, and are therefore the fastest single-seaters through the corners in history.
The technical regulations clearly establish in Article 3.8 that no aerodynamic parts, except the DRS and the front brake sockets, can move. Creating perfectly fixed aerodynamic structures is practically impossible, as no body in nature turns out to be infinitely rigid. The FIA essentially limits itself, through technical bending checks, that certain tolerance levels are not exceeded.
The main controversy arises from the fact that Red Bull, and five other teams, manage to take advantage of this, leaving the other four at a disadvantage.
The static controls the FIA use to simulate load simply cannot recreate 2,000kg of force, and are therefore tested at much lower weights with the assumption that they will deform in a linear manner, but they simply aren’t.
The FIA, however, makes use of Article 3.9.9, through which it can modify or introduce new verification tests, if there is a suspicion that some aerodynamic part of the car is not compliant with Article 3.8.
Precisely for this reason, the regulatory changes that will come into force on June 15 are not unusual. The leaders of the FIA were also lenient with the teams, giving them time until the French GP to make all the rear wings conform to the new rules.
Specifically, the rules of Articles 3.9.3 and 3.9.4 were simply tightened, where the various parameters and efforts to be applied were amplified.
In fact, from the French GP the rear wings will be subjected, during the FIA checks, to vertical forces of 100kg (+25kg compared to before), with a maximum flexion angle to always be respected of 1°.
At the extremes of the airfoil, a horizontal rearward force of 75kg will be applied, compared to 50kg. Overall, the wing must not exceed 1mm of flexion, while the previously allowed tolerance was a maximum of 3mm.
A presents a nice challenge for the technicians, especially for those teams like Red Bull who were very borderline with the old regulation. It will undoubtedly affect the teams’ budget, which remember, must respect the financial constraint imposed by the sporting regulations (budget cap).
After Gobbo Wolff had his moan, the FIA declared that the amount of flexing in the wings, although compliant with then current scrutineering parameters, gives a greater advantage than with which they are content, so a new test would be introduced by the French Grand Prix. Whether they admit it or not, every team has been benefitting to some degree, and onboard cameras in Baku clearly proved that Wolff’s team’s cars had pretty much the same level of flex as did the Red Bulls.
Last year the FIA declared that Mercedes’s DAS, although compliant with the then current scrutineering parameters, gave a greater advantage than with which they were content, so it would only be permitted to be used for the one season. Only one team was benefitting from having the system, there was no dispute whatsoever as to whether it was happening on that team’s cars, and were they receiving an advantage from it. Plus, had the system been immediately outlawed, it would have been possible to remove it between sessions, or at the very least disable it, at no additional expense to those who were receiving the advantage with which the FIA were not happy. Unlike the extra work and associated costs most, if not all, teams will incur to strengthen their wings to meet the upgraded testing regime.
Why is it that when one team (which was already way out in front) had a unique advantage which could be instantly elimated at no expense, it was allowed to continue throughout the season, yet when all teams are gaining something, without one particularly outstripping the rest, huge costs must urgently be incurred to partially rectify (that’s the best which can possibly be achieved) the situation?
Oh yeah, it’s because Wolff is a bad sport, whose sense of entitlement leads him to think that Mercedes’s dominance should be permanently enshrined in Formula One’s regulations. I hope the miserable sod finally quits and shoves off this year.
DAS was specifically approved by the FIA prior to its use. Merc had taken them through the technology and it was deemed legal. Only when the others complained were the the regulations changed to outlaw it for the following season.
Somewhat akin to the Brawn double diffuser scenario.
Flexi wings have always been illegal. The FIA just struggle to find a means of testing them to confirm illegality, so we now have a mildly heavier load still with a flawed reasoning that the deflection is linear.
Amazing to learn that two tones of downforce are possible.
Reduce aero and let’s See these 1000 HP cars with more power than grip.
it seems to me that redbull cant win fairly so will flaut regulations to win at any cost disgusting that fia let them get away with this no point watching races any more as it is fixed