Latest news with #flexi-wings
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Strategy Corner: Why Charles Leclerc's extra set of mediums could be an F1 Spanish GP wild card
The Spanish Grand Prix used to be a byword for dull, processional racing, but that has changed – if only a little – in recent years. That's because while the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a known quantity, having been on the calendar since 1991, it's slightly less intensively known than it used to be, since it's no longer used as a venue for pre-season testing. The drivers could still lap it while blindfolded but the teams have rather less data than they would otherwise on tyre usage. Advertisement Another small but significant facet affecting strategy this weekend is the enforcement of a new technical directive clamping down on aero-elastic front wings through more stringent static load tests. So-called flexi-wings theoretically reduced drag, thereby improving top speed, but this was a lower-order effect. The main benefit was in mitigating some of the more severe balance shifts the current generation of ground-effect cars tend to experience mid-corner, generally moving from oversteer to understeer. Read Also: Why F1 flexi-wing changes failed to shake up the Spanish GP order Besides a small potential lap time gain through giving drivers more confidence in corners, the main benefit was to help with tyre degradation. That's why, given the lack of representative running time in race conditions, the response in the paddock to the effect of the new testing regime so far has been a general shrug of the shoulders. Advertisement As Pirelli's motorsport manager Mario Isola pointed out in his post-qualifying briefing, the average cornering loads are higher but the pole position lap was slower… if only by two tenths of a second. 'More load that is not translating in more performance,' he said. 'Then if you think about that, you understand what I'm saying…' A little bit of everything Pirelli tyres Pirelli tyres Erik Junius Erik Junius Since Barcelona has a relatively rough surface, a couple of decently long straights, and a broad variety of cornering speeds, plus two DRS zones – one of which includes a right-hand kink over a crest – it's highly demanding on tyres. While Pirelli has gone a step softer in its compound choices at many rounds this year, for Barcelona it has stuck with the hardest three in the family: C1, C2, C3. Advertisement Even so, the race is shaping up to be a two-stopper because the experience of practice has shown that the hard-compound tyre, the C1, isn't producing enough grip, so the cars have been sliding and inducing early degradation. It's also been difficult for teams to find a balance on the C1, so they have migrated towards the softer compounds, which makes a two-stop race more likely. The reason balance is such an issue is that teams generally set up their cars with a tendency to understeer in order to protect the rear tyres, which are usually more sensitive to thermal degradation. In Barcelona this presents a problem because the roughness of the surface, in combination with the high g-loadings from the fast corners, puts high stresses through the outside shoulder of the front-left tyre. So the teams are having to navigate the best compromise between wear at the front and degradation on both axles. 'Teams are trying to protect the rear axle, but then they over push the front and they can lose performance from both the axles basically,' said Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra after Friday practice. 'We've seen that the C1 showed very low grip, so it's sliding. Also the balance is not good, it's disconnected, front and rear axle very disconnected, so you have mid-corner understeer, especially in low-speed corners, then you have rear axle sliding in high-speed corners with low support. Advertisement 'So basically teams with the C1 are struggling a little bit more to find a good compromise and a good balance. Also we've seen this on pace data for the C1, and that's why most of the teams focused on C2 and C3 in FP2 for the long runs, with better track conditions because of the track evolution, try to see where is the limit for the C2 and the C3 in terms of degradation. 'The degradation level is very similar between C2 and C3, you can apply different levels of management, but the pace is pretty similar. C3 has a higher grip level but a slightly higher degradation, C2 is slightly more consistent but lower level of grip. In the end they are quite close. 'So we do think that both the compounds will be good for the race.' How many stops, and when? Oscar Piastri, McLaren Oscar Piastri, McLaren Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images Advertisement Last year all but one driver did two stops; Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez were the outliers, doing three. The most popular strategy among the frontrunners was soft-medium-soft, with the first stop coming between laps 13 and 17. But this race was shaped by events on the opening lap, where Lando Norris (the polesitter) and Max Verstappen became so consumed with one another that George Russell nipped around the outside from fourth on the grid to seize the lead. This year the frontrunners only have one set of new soft tyres left – which they will likely use for the opening stint, because track position remains king at this circuit, and a good start is important. The first pitstop window will be as the race enters the early teens in terms of lap count; anyone stopping before it reaches double figures is in trouble, all other factors being equal. What's intriguing is what's happening behind McLaren's Norris and Oscar Piastri, the drivers on the front row. As with last year, one of the occupants of the second row – in this case Verstappen and Russell – could take advantage of those in front trying not to trip over one another. Although Russell's lead only lasted until the DRS was activated last year, the leading cars are closer together in terms of pace now. Advertisement Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is something of a wild card. He will start seventh, behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, having run out of new softs in qualifying. But he has two sets of fresh mediums, which could come into play as those in front go soft-medium-soft, running used softs in the final stint. It's also possible that as the track continues to evolve and more rubber is laid down, the hitherto unfancied hard-compound tyre could also become a viable option in preference to the used soft. Pole sitter Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing Pole sitter Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images Advertisement 'On paper,' said Isola, 'If I have only one set of hard, one set of medium, and the soft is degrading more than expected, ideally, you should do soft, hard, medium. 'Because the fuel load is higher in the middle of the race compared to the end of the race. So you save a little bit of the medium. 'But I heard some comments around that it is also possible to have soft, medium, hard. Because they believe that the track evolution is important and with a better track at the end of the race, the hard is sliding less, and so giving a better performance. 'Who is right? I don't know. But this is the idea.' What if it rains? The Jetstream is going to have to undergo a tumultuous change of direction overnight if the Spanish GP is to be affected by rain. Indeed, wet races at this venue are a distinct rarity. Advertisement It was gloomy, overcast and humid when the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya hosted its first round of the world championship in September 1991 – note the vapour trails around the wings of Nigel Mansell's Williams and Ayrton Senna's McLaren in those evocative images of their duel in that race. But warm and sunny weather has predominated since the race moved to a late-spring slot in the calendar. There hasn't been a properly wet grand prix here in almost three decades – but it was a spectacular one. Miichael Schumacher, Ferrari, Gerhard Berger, Benetton Miichael Schumacher, Ferrari, Gerhard Berger, Benetton Motorsport Images Motorsport Images In 1996 the Williams-Renault team had the quickest car on the grid, among the best to have flowed from Adrian Newey's pen – but eventual champion Damon Hill was an early casualty, spinning off after starting from pole position. Advertisement In contrast to the Williams, Ferrari's F310 wasn't designer John Barnard's best work but Michael Schumacher was hitting peak form and drove one of the finest races of his life, humbling the competition to win by 45s from Benetton's Jean Alesi. Read Also: Lewis Hamilton slams F1 Spanish GP flexi-wing changes as "a waste of money" To read more articles visit our website.
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)
