Latest news with #aerodynamics
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Indy 500 runner up among 3 IndyCar penalizes for failed tech: Penalties and why
INDIANAPOLIS — Three top-12 finishers from Sunday's Indianapolis 500 have been moved to the back of the field for a series of post-race penalties including failed tech inspection and team member improper conduct. Despite finishing runner-up in the Indy 500 for the second time in three years, Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson has been bumped back to 31st in the final standings. Along with his teammate Kyle Kirkwood, both the Nos. 27 and 28 Andretti Global cars were discovered in post-race tech inspection to have modified their Dallara-supplied Energy Management System covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points with unapproved spacers and parts. According to an IndyCar release, EMS covers "must be used as supplied," with the series stating "these modifications provided the capability of enhanced aerodynamic efficiency to both cars." Why were Marcus Ericsson, Kyle Kirkwood penalized after Indy 500? The two cars were in violation of the following rules: Advertisement Rule 9.3.1. Improper Conduct – Any member attempting to or engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct, unsafe conduct, or conduct detrimental to racing; INDYCAR; and/or to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, whether during an Event or on/off the Track, may be subject to any or all penalties. Rule 14.1.2. Questions to be submitted and will be answered via IRIS. Modifications must be approved seven (7) days prior to the date of intended use. Rule 14.1.3. All parts provided by an Approved Supplier must be used as supplied without modification unless otherwise approved by INDYCAR and stated in these Rules or in update bulletins. Ericsson will now be credited with a 31st-place finish, with Kirkwood sliding back to 32nd. "We are in receipt of the Indianapolis 500 'post-race penalty notice' as provided by IndyCar," Andretti Global wrote in a statement posted to social media. "We are taking the necessary time to assess the information, and we will be requesting a full review with IndyCar." Can Andretti Global, Prema appeal IndyCar's penalties? According to IndyCar's rulebook, Andretti Global may request a review in writing, providing a list of errors they believe were made, along with accompanying facts, before designating a single point of contact for the review process. A request for review must be submitted to IndyCar within two business days. If IndyCar determines the request adheres to its rules, the series will name a review administrator who will help all sides with administrative aspects of the review. Within three business days of receiving Andretti Global's review request, IndyCar will be required to provide three potential review facilitators from a previously distributed list of possible caretakers. Advertisement Andretti Global will then have one business day to to name its choice for a facilitator, and IndyCar will have an additional business day to confirm the chosen facilitator's status. Provided the facilitator deems the review to adhere to the rules, a review meeting will be conducted within 10 business days of the penalty being issued. The meeting will take place at IndyCar's offices and be a single-day event of no more than four hours, unless the parties agree to a mutual change. Both sides are permitted three attendees each, and both must have one member deemed to be able to have full authority to reach a resolution of the penalty. At the end of the meeting, the facilitator will provide their thoughts concerning the penalty and whether it should be upheld, overturned or modified, but the recommendation of the facilitator is not binding. An additional appeals process exists for Andretti Global to pursue, should team officials continue to disagree with the results of the review process. Why was Callum Ilott penalized after Indy 500? Additionally, Prema Racing's No. 90 of Callum Ilott was found to have a front wing assembly that failed to meet the minimum endplate height and location specifications during routine inspection of that part. The entry was found to have violated: Advertisement Rule 9.3.1. Improper Conduct – Any member attempting to or engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct, unsafe conduct, or conduct detrimental to racing; INDYCAR; and/or to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, whether during an Event or on/off the Track, may be subject to any or all penalties. Rule 14.7.6.8. Front wing must adhere to the following Technical Inspection dimensions: Failure of the left side minimum endplate height Rule 14.7.6.4., which requires endplates, wing flaps and mainplanes remain in the designed location. Ilott will be credited with a 33rd-place finish. In a social media post on the team's X account, Prema Racing explained that the wing was "completely original, successfully passed tech multiple times throughout the month and didn't lead to any performance gain," the car's left-side front wing endplate became non-compliant within the rules by the end of the race. "The team accepts full responsibility," Prema Racing wrote. "The team is currently investigating the root of the problem, which can involve incidents and fitment or production issues. We look forward to implementing the needed procedures to ensure improved control and avoid these kinds of issues in the future." The field will receive the appropriate prize money and championship points according to the official standings after the penalties. All three cars will each receive a $100,000 fine, and the team/competition managers for all three cars have been suspended for this weekend's Detroit Grand Prix. Advertisement Editor's note: This story was updated with team statements and information about IndyCar's appeals process. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 penalties: Marcus Ericsson, Kyle Kirkwood, Callum Ilott points, fines
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hamilton says new front wing rule 'waste of money'
Lewis Hamilton says the introduction of a new rule clamping down on front wing flexibility at the Spanish Grand Prix was "a waste of money". Governing body the FIA imposed a stiffer load test on front wings to try to limit the amount teams could exploit their movement on track for aerodynamic advantage. Advertisement But Hamilton said: "Just wasted everyone's money. It's literally changed nothing. "Everyone's wings still bend, it's just half the bending, and everyone's had to make new wings and spend more money to make these. It just doesn't make sense." The Ferrari driver added that he "wasn't expecting" anything of the change before coming to Spain. "I drove it on the simulator, and it's pretty much exactly the same, Hamilton said. "A little bit more oversteer in the high speed. Could have given it all to charity, you know?" A new front wing in F1 costs about £100,000, in addition to research and development resources. Advertisement The FIA delayed the introduction of the rule until this race, the ninth of the season, because it expected that the vast majority of teams would be introducing new front wings in Spain anyway as part of their normal development programmes. A spokesperson for the FIA declined to comment specifically on Hamilton's remarks. The move is widely perceived within F1 to have come after pressure from Red Bull on the FIA over McLaren's use of flexi-wings, which were being exploited by all the top teams and most of the others. Red Bull have been raising questions with the FIA in recent months about a number of aspects of the McLaren car on the grounds of legality but no issue has been found with its design and no action has been taken. Advertisement McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: "We always thought that the impact would have been relatively negligible because when we saw the numbers associated to this change of aero-elastic effect, they were small numbers in terms of downforce and in terms of variation of downforce with speed. "When we tested this wing in Imola [two races ago], if we hadn't told Lando that it was a different wing, he wouldn't have spotted it, and when we simulated it, it was almost zero. "So we were not expecting a change of the pecking order as a function of the technical directive that was released for this race. "In terms of wasting the money or not, this is not a point of view that we actually reflected on, because the technical directive has been there for a long time, so this was long-planned and we could find efficiency as well in terms of how you planned to introduce this modification." Advertisement Stella added that the "economics" behind the rule changes "must have been slightly inefficient", but he said: "I don't think this is a major factor." Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked out the front row in Barcelona ahead of Max Verstappen [PA Media] What are F1 flexi-wings? Flexible front wings are employed by teams because they allow them to gain straight-line speed for the same cornering performance, or improve cornering while not sacrificing speed on the straights. The idea is for the flaps of the front wing to bend downwards under load at speed, reducing drag, before moving back up to increase downforce for corners. Under the current generation of cars, teams have also found that flexi-wings improve their balance across a range of cornering speeds. Advertisement The cars, which produce most of their downforce from shared underbodies known as venturis, are prone to oversteer (too little rear grip compared to front) in high-speed corners, and low-speed understeer (not enough front grip). The flexi wings allow teams to improve the low-speed performance while not making the cars too nervous in high speed. Hamilton targeting Spain podium While Lewis Hamilton has yet to make the main podium this season, he did win the sprint race in China two months ago [Getty Images] Hamilton, who starts fifth in Barcelona, said his target was to "try and get to the podium. I haven't been on a podium for a long time". His last podium was in Las Vegas last November, when he was driving for Mercedes. Advertisement He referred to former team-mate George Russell taking the lead from fourth on the grid in Spain last year. "Long way down to turn one. We saw the start George got last year," Hamilton said. "So, I will be trying my best to try and get a good start. And then otherwise, after that, it's just about managing the tyres here, which is challenging." Piastri said he was wary about "the long run to turn one, so I've got to make sure we try and get a good start". He added: "It will be an interesting race still and it's not as simple as take the lead at the start and cruise from there. It's going to be a challenge to manage the tyres, timing your stops right. There's going to be a lot going on." Advertisement Verstappen said: "It's time to shine in turn one, yeah. Make it three [cars] wide for the pictures. Why not? "My long run [in Friday practice] wasn't bad, but if you look at the difference today, it will be tough to put up a really, really good fight. But that doesn't mean that we're not going try. "Like Oscar said, it's not all about the start and turn one. You need to be good on tyres. It's a long race. A lot can happen. So, I'll just try to maximise what I got."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Hamilton says new front wing rule 'waste of money'
Lewis Hamilton says the introduction of a new rule clamping down on front wing flexibility at the Spanish Grand Prix was "a waste of money".Governing body the FIA imposed a stiffer load test on front wings to try to limit the amount teams could exploit their movement on track for aerodynamic Hamilton said: "Just wasted everyone's money. It's literally changed nothing."Everyone's wings still bend, it's just half the bending, and everyone's had to make new wings and spend more money to make these. It just doesn't make sense."The Ferrari driver added that he "wasn't expecting" anything of the change before coming to Spain."I drove it on the simulator, and it's pretty much exactly the same, Hamilton said. "A little bit more oversteer in the high speed. Could have given it all to charity, you know?"A new front wing in F1 costs about £100,000, in addition to research and development FIA delayed the introduction of the rule until this race, the ninth of the season, because it expected that the vast majority of teams would be introducing new front wings in Spain anyway as part of their normal development programmes.A spokesperson for the FIA declined to comment specifically on Hamilton's remarks. The move is widely perceived within F1 to have come after pressure from Red Bull on the FIA over McLaren's use of flexi-wings, which were being exploited by all the top teams and most of the Bull have been raising questions with the FIA in recent months about a number of aspects of the McLaren car on the grounds of legality but no issue has been found with its design and no action has been team principal Andrea Stella said: "We always thought that the impact would have been relatively negligible because when we saw the numbers associated to this change of aero-elastic effect, they were small numbers in terms of downforce and in terms of variation of downforce with speed."When we tested this wing in Imola [two races ago], if we hadn't told Lando that it was a different wing, he wouldn't have spotted it, and when we simulated it, it was almost zero."So we were not expecting a change of the pecking order as a function of the technical directive that was released for this race."In terms of wasting the money or not, this is not a point of view that we actually reflected on, because the technical directive has been there for a long time, so this was long-planned and we could find efficiency as well in terms of how you planned to introduce this modification."Stella added that the "economics" behind the rule changes "must have been slightly inefficient", but he said: "I don't think this is a major factor." What are F1 flexi-wings? Flexible front wings are employed by teams because they allow them to gain straight-line speed for the same cornering performance, or improve cornering while not sacrificing speed on the idea is for the flaps of the front wing to bend downwards under load at speed, reducing drag, before moving back up to increase downforce for the current generation of cars, teams have also found that flexi-wings improve their balance across a range of cornering cars, which produce most of their downforce from shared underbodies known as venturis, are prone to oversteer (too little rear grip compared to front) in high-speed corners, and low-speed understeer (not enough front grip).The flexi wings allow teams to improve the low-speed performance while not making the cars too nervous in high speed. Hamilton targeting Spain podium Hamilton, who starts fifth in Barcelona, said his target was to "try and get to the podium. I haven't been on a podium for a long time". His last podium was in Las Vegas last November, when he was driving for referred to former team-mate George Russell taking the lead from fourth on the grid in Spain last year."Long way down to turn one. We saw the start George got last year," Hamilton said. "So, I will be trying my best to try and get a good start. And then otherwise, after that, it's just about managing the tyres here, which is challenging."Piastri said he was wary about "the long run to turn one, so I've got to make sure we try and get a good start".He added: "It will be an interesting race still and it's not as simple as take the lead at the start and cruise from there. It's going to be a challenge to manage the tyres, timing your stops right. There's going to be a lot going on."Verstappen said: "It's time to shine in turn one, yeah. Make it three [cars] wide for the pictures. Why not?"My long run [in Friday practice] wasn't bad, but if you look at the difference today, it will be tough to put up a really, really good fight. But that doesn't mean that we're not going try."Like Oscar said, it's not all about the start and turn one. You need to be good on tyres. It's a long race. A lot can happen. So, I'll just try to maximise what I got."
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
What are F1 flexi-wings and why do new FIA tests matter so much this season?
BARCELONA, Spain — One of Formula One's buzzwords is back in the news ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix: flexi-wings. The aerodynamic design feature became a key detail of the 2024 season, so much so that Red Bull and Ferrari raised concerns about McLaren's and Mercedes' wings, feeling their rivals were gaining from a gray area in the rules. Advertisement The FIA declared there had been no rule breaches in September, a few days after the Italian Grand Prix, but McLaren was asked to adjust its rear-wing design several weeks later, following the race in Azerbaijan. There, the rear wing on Oscar Piastri's race-winning car appeared to flex at top speed — opening up a gap that in theory boosted the McLaren's pace and was dubbed a 'mini-DRS'. The team's rear-wing design passed all required flexibility tests at the time, meaning it technically was legal. McLaren, though, claimed it had 'proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to the wing following our conversations with the FIA.' A wing's flexibility has an impact on a car's aerodynamic performance, as it can reduce the drag on the straights, when the rear wing flexes, or increase downforce at corners, when the front wing flexes more toward the ground. Both would make a car faster. It's also been an area that teams have looked to exploit in search of speed gains across F1 history. But, in a bid to reduce the controversy on the topic during the 2025 campaign, a technical directive was issued by the FIA in the offseason. This declared that the rules would be tightened even further around the flexibility of the front and rear wings, with stricter tests happening at the Australian (rear wing) and Spanish grands prix (front wing). The big question about this weekend's tests in Barcelona is how this will alter the competitive picture — if at all. The rear-wing tests meant the rules have remained static on this part all year, but the front-wing changes were unusually delayed until a third of the season had passed. 'Barcelona is on the calendar of everybody in the paddock, with the new regulation for the front wing,' Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said. 'We have been working on it for ages now. This can be a game-changer for everybody, because we don't know the impact on every single team.' Advertisement Put simply, this is how much either wing on an F1 car flexes under the load of air moving over their surfaces while running on track. This always happens, but there are limits allowed under the regulations. Flexing on rear wings was addressed in changes to this year's regulations. Initially, the distance between the flap and mainplane couldn't vary more than 2mm when 75kg of vertical load was applied to the rear wing. FIA single-seater department director Nikolas Tombazis said in an explainer distributed by the governing body ahead of this weekend's race that, 'The 2025 regulations were designed to counteract the so-called 'mini-DRS effect' that became quite a talking point in the autumn of last year. That test was applied from the start of the season, but it soon became apparent it was insufficient.' Following the Australian Grand Prix weekend, where special cameras were fitted to the cars to monitor the wings, further rear wing tests were carried out at the following two races in China and Japan. Rear-wing flexibility — between the flap and the mainplane — was reduced from 2mm to 0.75mm in China and to 0.50mm in Japan. This issue also flared up in 2021, when the FIA issued a technical directive stating that higher load values would be placed on rear wings for a tougher test. This was the main element a few teams raised issues about that season – with the main arguments flowing between Red Bull and Mercedes, which were battling for the world titles then. The FIA technical directive, though, did not accuse any of the teams of wrongdoing. Similarly, this season, none have failed the deflection tests. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella claimed flexi-wings have 'nothing to do with the reason why McLaren is very competitive.' Given any design changes required to pass the new tests will mainly involve strengthening internal structures to reduce flexing, it is not expected that the wings will look significantly different in Barcelona to how they did at previous races this year. Advertisement The simple answer is that development of such complex and important car parts takes time. At a few races last year, such as the Belgian Grand Prix, cameras were also placed on cars to observe the wings, and it was determined that the tests needed to be strengthened. Considering how late the FIA came to this conclusion — it initially indicated in late 2024 that it would not be making technical rule changes for 2025 — there was the potential that teams could incur an extra cost if they had to scrap their existing front wings. Thus, the governing body opted for a 'deferred introduction,' Tombazis said. Two key parts of the front wing are being analyzed: the bodywork flexibility and the flap flexibility, both of which fall within the regulations. For the bodywork flexibility, the vertical deflection cannot exceed 10mm when vertical load is on both sides of the car and cannot exceed 15mm when it's applied to only one side. Previously, 15mm and 20mm for each respective test were permitted. As for flap flexibility, the regulation states the following for the flap flexibility for the front wing: 'Any part of the trailing edge of any front-wing flap may deflect no more than 5mm, when measured along the loading axis, when a 6kg point load is applied normal to the flap.' That 5mm has now been changed to 3mm. The vertical load test will be conducted on each car in the FIA garage in the Barcelona pit lane. As the illustration above shows, a single bar is placed across a car's rear wing or two bars (see below) are arranged across a front wing. Two blocks of 3D printed plastic composites, which are made by each team and weigh up to 2kg, are placed across the wings and weights are added to the side of bars to force these blocks downwards onto the wings at a load of up to 100kg when the test is taking place. The amount they flex is then measured. Advertisement The FIA can test either both sides of each wing or just a single side using this apparatus — around the new tolerances. Again, for the rear wings, this is 10mm permitted when the vertical load is on both sides of the car and 15mm when the force is applied to only one side. For the front-wing flap, this is now down to 3mm of flexing. As has always been the case with such static tests, wings can in theory comply with load tolerances and then still flex more while out on track, given the high speed of the air passing over their aerodynamic surfaces. This is the technological game the teams are playing, but the new tests are intended to end the current debate about flexi-wing technology before moveable chassis parts being included by design on the new 2026 cars means that, in theory, this technology becomes less significant next season. This season, you can get closer to the F1 action by joining The Athletic's Formula 1 WhatsApp channel. Click here to join or search for The Athletic | F1 on your WhatsApp. (Top photos: Sipa USA, Giorgio Piola Design; design: Dan Goldfarb)
New York Times
4 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
Why F1's flexi-wing clampdown could shake up the 2025 season status quo
BARCELONA — The Spanish Grand Prix has historically been one of the most important races of a Formula One season. The mix of corner speeds at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya makes the track ideal to gauge a car's ultimate aerodynamic performance. When this race typically opened the European leg of the season, it was also where most teams debuted major car upgrade packages. Advertisement F1's governing body, the FIA, will enforce a new technical directive starting this weekend, further clamping down on the flexibility of front wings through more stringent tests. This makes Spain an important yardstick in the 2025 season — with performance margins so fine between the leading teams, it could be a significant point in the fight for this year's world championship. After all, the gains made in aeroelasticity technology within the current rules have boosted McLaren to its current dominant position. Christian Horner, Red Bull's team principal, said last Sunday in Monaco that the new technical directive was 'essentially a regulation change.' As McLaren and Red Bull have vied for supremacy at the front of the F1 pack for almost a year now, the debate about flexi-wings has been intense, relating to both wings on the front and the rear of the car. 'We've been talking around it for a long time,' Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who was sporting director at Red Bull until the end of last year, told reporters in Monaco. 'Some teams have been gaining a really big advantage from it.' Teams always push the regulated boundaries to improve the performance of their cars. In this case, wing flexibility is a crucial way to create more aerodynamic load. The flexi-wings bend slightly at high speeds to reduce drag or increase downforce, helping the car go faster. This typically makes cars faster either down straights (with rear wing flexing) or in corners (front wing flexing). While the FIA quickly stamped out any new tricks with the rear wings ahead of 2025's round two in China, teams were given until Spain to prepare for more stringent front wing deflection tests. The technical directive — essentially a rule update that can be enforced by the FIA even mid-season — reduces permitted front wing flexibility from 15mm to 10mm. 'Barcelona is on the calendar of everybody in the paddock, with the new regulation for the front wing,' Ferrari F1 chief Fred Vasseur said. 'We have been working on it for ages now. This can be a game-changer for everybody, because we don't know the impact on every single team.' The front wing is one of the most essential aerodynamic elements on an F1 car, given that it effectively sets up the airflow passing over the rest of the chassis and helps determine how fast cars can move around circuits. Even the most minor changes to the regulations in that area can have a significant influence. And this is no small change. Advertisement 'It's a significant change, so of course there will be some effect,' said Horner. 'The teams have anticipated that, so it may well be neutral (in terms of how it impacts a car's pace potential). Or maybe it will have some effect on (tire) degradation. It doesn't make life easier.' Red Bull, in particular, hopes the rule change will hurt McLaren, which has stolen an early march in the pecking order this season, thanks to its pace advantage through the early rounds. Max Verstappen's efforts with a Red Bull car he's not totally in sync with have nevertheless helped keep him in the title hunt. He currently sits only 25 points back from McLaren's championship leader, Oscar Piastri. As Red Bull works to improve its car and give Verstappen confidence to push even harder with the RB21, a regulation change that hinders McLaren's performance would naturally be welcome. 'We're still within a race win with 16 races still to go,' Horner said, referencing the points total accrued for a grand prix victory being precisely 25. 'There's a long way to go in this championship.' As Horner noted, the anticipation period for these changes stretches back to January. The long wait to round nine of the season could mean everyone adjusts their front wings within the new requirements in the same way. At McLaren, the feeling has always been one of confidence – that it would be able to roll with the change. It insists its pace advantage is not solely down to its current front wing design, with focus instead being placed on its tire management and brake cooling solutions. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella claimed at Imola two weeks ago it was 'good news' when the other teams turned attention to what it was doing, instead of looking inwards. He referred to 'some of the aspects that allegedly are present in our car, (but) that effectively are not present.' Advertisement Stella added: 'And certainly, even if they were – let's say, flexi-wings, like a front wing deflection, like everyone else – it has nothing to do with the reason why McLaren is very competitive. 'So, I hope that in the future there will be more of these kinds of sagas, because it means that our rivals keep focusing on the wrong things, and this is, for us, just good news. It's just helping our quest.' One thing noted by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff in Monaco is that there have been differences in how teams have been pushing the limits for front wing flexibility. Wolff said Ferrari, for instance, had been 'probably the most conservative on flexi-wings.' But he was also unsure whether the new rule would make a massive change to the pecking order. 'I'm not sure it will,' Wolff said. 'But (it's) another angle of curiosity. I don't know how it's going to go.' But the outcome of the Barcelona weekend could also help determine how teams plan their car design development for the remainder of 2025. With a major overhaul of the car design regulations on the horizon for next year, all teams are currently weighing the trade-off between keeping some resources focused on making gains for this year versus going all-in for a better car in 2026. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said in Monaco that Barcelona would be 'another very important point of the season' because of the front wing rule change. 'We'll see whether it benefits us or not,' he said. 'Then we'll have to make the decision – Fred (Vasseur) will have to make the decision – whether it's the right time to move on and prepare next season. That is going to be super important for everyone to be starting on the right foot.' Even a team such as Sauber, which is currently last in the constructors' championship, is taking a keen interest in how the clampdown might impact the competitive order. 'I'm a very optimistic person, and I hope other teams are going to suffer more than we are,' said Wheatley. 'I'm hoping that it'll bring everything our way.' The only certainty is that the stricter tests will have some kind of impact on every single team up and down the grid, whether they admit to it in public or not. What that then means for their performance is less clear, but at a time when F1's competitive margins are finer than ever, every thousandth is precious. The other certainty going into the rest of the weekend? This track will leave teams with nowhere to hide if they have been hurt. 'It's an aero circuit, Barcelona,' said Wheatley. 'So, we'll know pretty soon (if the rule change has had an impact) after qualifying.' (Top image: Sipa USA)
