F1 | Mercedes case: is the wire that simulates the fourth flap legal?

Mercedes is… back. It was enough for the eagerly awaited W15 to do the first laps of the filming day on the wet Silverstone track to immediately arouse reactions. The images that were posted for the launch somewhat hid a very particular front wing. And the ingenious solution that the Brackley aerodynamicists studied was seen in the utmost clarity already on George Russell's first exit from the pits.

In the innermost portion of the wing we immediately noticed the lack of the adjustable flap or rather we noticed the presence of a very thin profile indicated by the red arrow. The F1 technical regulations specify that the front wing must be made up of four flaps which must fit in a box defined in volumes, leaving the team technicians to roam with their imagination.

And each team indulged in developing the most varied and imaginative solutions. The Mercedes aerodynamicists themselves had “forced” the interpretation of the rules by proposing slots in the side bulkhead which made it possible to exasperate the out wash effect of the wing to push the flow outside the front wheel as much as possible in an attempt to clean it leaves.

Now James Allison's technicians are attacking a new line of interpretation: the carbon “thread” placed overhanging the third element and attached to the side wall of the muzzle is enough to say that that small cable in composite materials is the expression of last flap?

Not only that but where the “wire” connects to the actual profile, Mercedes has placed a metal bracket (blue arrow) which, at least on paper, should limit the flexions of the wing, but in reality it could transform into a sort of vortex generator to push the flow where it matters most.

In the spirit of the regulation we are light years away, but there will probably be some discussion regarding the interpretation of how the rule is written. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA technical manager of the single-seater sector, will have the opportunity to evaluate with his staff already in the tests in Bahrain whether the solution is legal or if it is at the limit. And it will be interesting to see if there will be any teams asking for regulatory clarification from the FIA ​​on the Mercedes idea?

The FIA ​​checks via CAD on the 2024 single-seaters have not yet started, but this solution will certainly add some spice to the checks at the start of the season. Someone has named the idea brilliant and, perhaps, is already thinking about how to introduce it, but it doesn't mean that everyone sees it the same way…