From this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix onwards, the testing regime governing the front wings of Formula 1 cars will be toughened to reduce the amount of permitted flex under load.
Under Article 3.15.4 of F1’s technical regulations, the flap areas of the front wings may deflect under load by no more than 15mm. This is now being reduced to 10mm.
Aero-elasticity has been an occasional focus of intrigue since the 1990s. It’s impossible for a wing or similar area of bodywork to be infinitely rigid under the loadings experienced at speed, so a degree of flex is inevitable.
Many teams have exploited – and continue to exploit – this by designing areas of bodywork to deform or flex under load in a relatively controlled manner, potentially cutting drag and enabling cars to achieve higher top speeds. Materials science has reached the stage where it is relatively straightforward to use finite element analysis to lay up the carbon fibre sheets in a composite component in such a way that they achieve optimum strength and weight, along with a predictable amount of flex.
As the current technical regulations mature and gains become harder to find, subtle tricks involving aero-elasticity have returned to the agenda and become the subject of frequent clampdowns by racing’s governing body. Last year there was a brouhaha surrounding McLaren’s rear wings, which rivals claimed were flexing in such a way that the gap between the two main planes increased slightly while at speed, cutting drag.
The FIA introduced new parameters and testing procedures to prevent this so-called ‘mini-DRS’, including high-definition on-board cameras to monitor the rear wings during practice. These were tightened up again before this year’s Chinese Grand Prix weekend; footage emerged of the McLaren rear wing appearing to flex during the season-opener in Australia, but FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis had already decided on stricter rear wing measures during the pre-season test in Bahrain.
Changes to the front-wing testing regime were decided upon in January, though the introduction was delayed until this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix to give teams more time to adapt their designs in what is a highly complex area with potentially long lead times from concept, through simulation to manufacture. It’s understood some teams – Red Bull being particularly vociferous – argued in favour of bringing in the new tests for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix rather than Spain.
