Flexible wings, different FIA management with mini-DRS: the precedents

By Carlo Platella
The Singapore weekend puts an end to the McLaren mini-DRS case, which ended with the agreement of a modification to the MCL38’s low-downforce rear wing to limit the deformation of its mobile profile. However, one cannot help but notice how the management of the issue out of place with the precedents from 2021 to todayThe version reported by Woking is that it was the team itself that proposed the changes to the FIA, while in the past, when the Federation intervened, it always did so by means of official documents.

2021: Red Bull rear wing

Three years ago, controversy erupted over Red Bull’s rear wing. On-board footage showed the entire wing rotating on a straight, gaining speed and annoying Mercedes, a direct rival for the title. The Federation responded by applying stickers to the rear wings, which were used as references to measure their deformation while driving thanks to on-board cameras. At that point FIA decided to tighten flexibility testsintroducing a new technical directive starting from the French Grand Prix in June.

Red Bull, like Ferrari and other teams, had to adapt to the new flexibility tests. If previously the rear wing could flex up to 3 mm under an equivalent load of 75 kg, from Paul Ricard the permitted deformation became 1 mm in the face of 100 kg of equivalent load. In that case the Federation appealed to article 3.9.9 of the technical regulation, according to which “The FIA ​​reserves the right to introduce additional load and bending tests for any part of the bodywork and aerodynamics that appears or is suspected to move while the car is in motion”.

2021: Mercedes rear wing

In the same year, it was the Brackley team that caused controversy over the alleged flexibility of its rear wing. Red Bull accused its rivals of flexing the main profile of the wing, opening up the gap with respect to the upper flap in a sort of Inverted mini-DRS. A famous fine was handed out to Max Verstappen in Brazil, guilty of touching Hamilton’s W12 in parc fermé while he was examining its wing for any flexing of the main profile.

The following week in Qatar the Federation decided to conduct some new tests on rear wingslooking for any abnormal deformations. The test involved applying two equivalent loads of 35 kg to the sides of the main profile, checking its curvature with respect to the upper flap. However, the checks proved inconclusive and the case was closed without any technical directive, nor any tightening of the subsequent regulation.

2023: The Singapore Directive

The case of last season was more general, it broke out around the front wings but also involved other areas of the cars. After careful analysis the FIA noted the occurrence of abnormal flexurestriggered not by the inevitable deformation of the materials, but by mechanisms designed specifically. What annoyed the Federation was the use of flexible joints for the attachment of the rear wing, front wing and beam-wing to the rest of the car. A discontinuous processing of the materials was also found, introducing flexible areas in the wing profiles which, under the particular distribution of the aerodynamic load, allowed the flaps to rotate.

The Federation considered that such construction techniques violated the principle of Article 3.2.2 of the Technical Regulations, according to which each component must have “a uniform, solid, hard, continuous and waterproof surface under all circumstances”. The reaction in that case was not a tightening of the load tests, but rather a strengthening of the basic principle by means of a technical directive introduced over the weekend in Singapore. “We have more general principles: teams cannot use mechanisms that allow them to pass FIA checks and then flex in other conditions. The new directive aims to better define these principles, without changing the loads of static checks”Nikolas Tombazis explained at the time.

2024: front wing

New year, new controversy. The deformation of the front wings is back at the center of the discussions, with the main attention being paid to the car in the best shape of the moment, this time McLaren. As in 2021, The FIA’s work begins with a data collection effort, by applying stickers and monitoring the deformation of the wings while driving during free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. “We are trying to understand the extent of the declines,” Tombazis’ comment during an interview given to FormulaPassion at the end of August. “In an ideal world we would have no flex on any part of the car, but that is not possible. That is why there are flex tests. Our policy is that if someone meets all of them and without any mechanisms in the car, then it is legal. Having said that, we have the right to introduce additional tests if we feel the flex is excessive. We are evaluating.”

“Doing it on the front wing is very difficult, because unlike other areas of the car, such as the rear wing, the aerodynamic load distribution is very different between the various teams. […] All of this makes it very difficult to determine an FIA test that covers everything. We are trying to learn and we are cautious, avoiding too hasty reactions”. Due to time constraints, a technical directive is unlikely to arrive by the end of the championship, but Tombazis’ words suggest that in this case too the FIA’s intention is to perfect the flexibility tests starting from next season: “For this year I see it as very difficult. The development time for a front wing requires three months in a wind tunnel. If we introduced something today it would be difficult to implement it by the end of the year, as well as very expensive”.

2024: McLaren mini-DRS

In the past few years, the FIA’s approach has always been to first verify the nature of the deformations in play. When it was deemed necessary to intervene, it was done through official documentswhether these were technical directives or changes to the subsequent regulation, valid for all teams.

It is therefore difficult to understand the management of the mini-DRS case, which according to the version provided saw McLaren propose and agree on a modification to the wing together with the FIA, without waiting for the guarantee of a document valid for all and without transparency on the nature of the changes to be made. The Woking team could have still benefited from its low-downforce wing only in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but this does not dampen the doubts in the face of a management of the situation different from the previous ones.