Formula 1 Canadian GP
Why new Mercedes front wing is critical to cure its main F1 weakness
Mercedes has explained why its new front wing is so critical to unlocking the balance improvement that it hopes can help transform its Formula 1 season.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Jun 8, 2024, 10:28 AM
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The German manufacturer has been struggling with a car that does not perform consistently well across both high- and low-speed corners.
The team has found that if it improves its speed in one type of turn, then the other suffers. So, for example, a good set-up to eradicate low-speed understeer would result in the car enduring oversteer in the fast stuff.
Key to getting on top of this problem is ensuring that the car has a greater consistency of aero balance in different speed ranges.
As Mercedes technical director James Allison explains, there are ways to try to manage this mechanically – but that opens the potential for the car to behave in a way that is not good for driver confidence.
A much better way of doing it is in coming up with a wing that does not result in such an extreme shift of aero characteristics.
"You can do things with the mechanical balance which help you fight the inherent tendency to low-speed understeer, high-speed oversteer," he said. "The more extreme you make that, the more tricky the car feels to drive.
"But if you sort of take away the aerodynamic unhappiness that that mechanical balance is fighting, then you can have a less extreme mechanical balance migration in a car that feels more consistent and predictable to the driver."
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Taking away that aerodynamic unhappiness has come through the creation of the new front wing, which works in a way not to shift the aero balance as far forward when the car is running at high speeds.
As Allison explained: "I think all these cars like being near the ground, which is why they are near the ground. The front wings on these cars are very big and they probably like being near the ground the most of all.
"That tends to make a car get more nervous as it goes faster, because predominantly and proportionately more [balance] is moving to the front axle than you might wish. And so, you're fighting that with these rules.
"The more you find downforce near the ground, the worse that gets. Everyone in 2022 when these rules were first published weren't as near to the ground as they are now.
"We weren't fighting this inherent behaviour as much then as we are now. And this [wing] is just helpful with that."
Flexi-wing battle
How Mercedes achieves its aim of a wing that doesn't keep ramping up the downforce as it gains speed is a less clear matter – as it probably steps into the realms of complicated aero elasticity (aka flexi-wings).
Having the wing's elements flex back to a small degree at high speed can reduce its downforce-producing characteristics to help with this balance issue.
It is a trait that has been increasingly spotted on other cars and now looks like being something every team is going to have to pursue if it wants to be competitive - while being mindful of full compliance with the regulations.
As Allison explained: "It's clearly a thing that helps fight the inherent behaviour that I just explained."
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
The trick is to create a wing that passes the FIA flexibility tests taking place in the pitlane, but then does what the team wants when it is out on track.
Allison added: "I think that all of us are trying to ensure that we pass the FIA's flexibility test. They put loads on, and you've got to not move by more than an amount.
"But provided you can do that and provided your wing is just bending like a thing bends when it has load on it, then there's no drama to be faced with the governing body."
While Montreal, because a lot of its corners are taken at a similar speed, is perhaps not the best of tracks to show off the potential of the new wing, Allison thinks that the gains will be more obvious at some venues coming up.
"It's helpful, you just don't get the maximum amount of benefit compared with a track with a wider range of cornering speeds," he said. "But hopefully more helpful at future tracks."
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