CHINESE GP TECH10 AUTOSPORT.COM 18 APRIL 2019
MERCEDES BRINGS A NEW WING... AND HAS TO CHANGE IT
DRAWING BOARD
GIORGIO PIOLAthe rectangular cutout in the top trailing-edge
corner had been binned for a curved rear
section. This pairs up with an exposed section
of wing, which is able to energise the flow
coming off the front end of the car.
The footplate had been shortened,
opening out earlier to allow the rotational
flow underneath to be carried out around
the tyre by the endplate.
The main sticking point with Mercedes’
new wing was that exposed section, readily
visible from a side-on view, and the FIA’s
concern was that the sharp corner could
result in punctures. But by the letter of
the law, Mercedes had a case for the
wing being completely legal.
When the new aerodynamic formula came
into play for 2019, the front-wing endplates
became more heavily policed by the FIA as a
result of the studies developed into generating
closer racing produced by FOM’s in-house
technical research team. It dictates that all
endplates must fall into a bounding box,
defining it as the “virtual endplate surface”.
Each wing element has to be intersected
by the virtual endplate surface, stopping
teams from carrying any furniture to the
outside of the endplate. But there’s also a
regulation that states that the physical endplate
must include at least 95% of that virtual
endplate surface, meaning there’sroom available for small cutouts.
What that doesn’t cover is exposed wing
sections. As long as the exposed wing is bound
by the virtual surface, it doesn’t necessarily
force it to be bound by the physical surface,
especially if the cutout lays in the top corner
where the wing meets the endplate. That’s
something that Red Bull and Williams have
already taken advantage of, featuring small
square cutouts on the top trailing-edge
corner to expose those wing flaps.
This promotes a greater focus on shuttling
airflow around the front wheel, recouping
some of the eff ect lost to the new regulations.
Red Bull and Williams were both forced to
make changes, having to remove those cutout
sections for Shanghai aft er concerns outlined
by an FIA technical directive. Mercedes, which
had turned up with its own interpretation,
had to make changes too.
Ahead of last Friday’s practice, the corner of
the uppermost flap was trimmed back slightly,
and the remaining overhang was covered up
with a small triangular piece to placate the FIA.
Although a small change, it was still going to
provide a knock-on eff ect to the aerodynamics
of the Mercedes; front-end downforce is a little
compromised as the top flap can’t generate as
much pressure on top of the surface, while that
desired outwash eff ect is less pronounced.
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGEMERCEDES’ RADICAL
NEW ENDPLATE......COMPARED TO
THE OLDER SPECWING WAS TRIMMED
FOR LEGALITYWe’re now three races into the 2019 Formula 1
season and each team is beginning to work
out what makes its car tick. That said, we’re
still a couple of rounds away from the usual
Spanish Grand Prix flurry of large upgrade
packages – everyone is keeping their
powder dry for the early flyaway events.
But there’s still plenty to do in these early
stages. In China, the biggest technical talking
point was Mercedes’ new front wing, its legality
immediately coming into question. The new
concept was scooped up straight away by
the FIA, which alerted the team to changes
it needed to make before it could be run.
On Mercedes’ reprofiled endplate,