One of the most intriguing details announced by the FIA after the last World Motor Sport Council, and which has been included in the regulations rather than in a technical directive, concerns the rear wing flexibility tests .
As teams have started to adapt to the new F1 regulations, and produce a steady stream of updates aimed at reducing drag while maintaining downforce, it is interesting to see that changes have been made to flex testing. of the rear wing and the beam wing , the small wing that is attached to the rear wing endplates in its lower area.
At first glance, with the changes relating to the rear wing main plane deflection it may seem that the FIA is being more lenient, as instead of the trailing edge not being able to deflect more than 2mm, it can now deflect no more. 3mm
However, the key here is that before it could not deviate more than 2mm vertically. The direction of that deviation has now been removed.
This suggests that while teams have been able to pass the flex test thus far, they may have done so in a very specific way, with more deflection in an unspecified direction.
In addition, the rear wing slot deflection test has been formally introduced in the regulations (3.15.15), rather than being controlled through a technical directive.
This comes in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification from qualifying for the 2021 Brazilian GP, where the W12 ‘s rear wing was found to be 0.2 millimeters outside the 85mm gap allowed between the two wing elements when DRS is displayed.
It also comes on the heels of problems that Red Bull seem to have carried over from last season with their DRS, as the team made changes to the wing and actuator in a few races earlier in the season.
Additionally, the contrast markings placed on the rear wings since Baku last season have also been included in the regulations (3.15.16), as the FIA wants to further assess the dynamic flex of the wing when under load.
The FIA uses these markings to monitor the behavior of the wing elements through images captured by rear-facing on-board cameras .
The reintroduction of the beam wing this season, after being absent since 2014, has also seen teams make frequent specification changes as they seek to balance their drag and downforce needs.
As part of the rewrite of the regulations, the governing body is addressing the bending of beam wing elements, as up to Silverstone tests allowed up to 5mm of bending when a 60N load was applied to any section present at Y= ±100 and Y=±215.
The new, stricter tests (3.15.12) allow only 3mm of deflection when a 150N load is applied to the trailing edge of each element, with two 150N loads applied simultaneously at Y=270 and Y=-270 and 5mm ahead (measured along the bottom surface) of the local trailing edge.
Most teams have tailored their wing design based on the level of rear wing downforce they adopt for a given race weekend, and elements are often trimmed accordingly.
However, at the last two rounds, Red Bull Racing, in an effort to further reduce downforce, has removed the upper element of its two elements, leaving only the lower one, which has also been readjusted as a consequence.
As part of its continuing development, Alpine became the first team to adopt Red Bull’s novel beam wing layout, in which the two elements are stacked on top of each other in a biplane layout, rather than the conventional beam wing layout. rest of the teams.
