FIA flexi-wing tests to affect most teams
4 August, 2010
Aug.4 (GMM) Almost every formula one team will need to beef up the rigidity of their front wings before the Belgian grand prix late this month.
With the Red Bull and – to a lesser extent – the Ferrari wings visibly bending towards the track at recent races, the FIA advised all teams last Sunday that it will be revising the flexibility load tests.
Previously, the wings had to bend no more than 10mm with 50kg of weight applied to the endplates, but from Spa-Francorchamps the test will double to 100kg/20mm.
The implication is that Red Bull and Ferrari had devised a way to pass the 50kg test with wings that flex only when under proportionately higher loadings.
Italy’s La Stampa cited “anonymous sources” in reporting that “almost all teams” will need to adjust their current designs in order to pass the new tests.
A Ferrari source is quoted as saying: “We will adapt but it will not affect our competitiveness.”
La Stampa said Fernando Alonso spent all Tuesday on the driver simulator, working on a new aerodynamic package.
“In the seven remaining races, whoever gets six or seven podiums will be the champion,” he is quoted by the Spanish press.
Related posts:
- FIA to firm up flexi wing tests for Belgium
- FIA declare Flexi wings legal in Hungary
- Flexible front wing saga boils in Budapest
- Why Alonso can still win the 2010 F1 title
- Proximity wing rule not certain for 2011
Fia’s test only tests for bending by putting downward pressure on the ends of the wings, but that test does not simulate aerodynamic force over the entyre area of the wings, nor does it test for tilting down at the front and raising up at the rear of the wing, this would increase downforce on the front of the car which would in turn load the front suspension therefore lower the whole front of the car placing the wing, (and the floor) even closser to the track, which increases ground effects, further increasing downforce.
PK.