I’m quite certain all the teams run flexi wings and dance around making the just stiff enough to pass the load tests as written. Whether some teams have been able to take it further to better control how the wings flex under various load or cornering angles is anyone’s guess
Flex isn’t illegal – they all flex to some extent to enhance performance.
It's impossible to make a perfectly rigid structure so they have to flex. However, moveable aerodynamic surfaces are not legal so the teams are not supposed to be deliberately designing them to flex for aerodynamic benefit. Of course, that can't really be stopped so there are static load tests to check the amount of flex. On top of that, the amount of flex is meant to be linear in relation to load. If you put a 200 kg load on the wing, it should flex twice as much as with a 100 kg load.
What would be illegal would be to engineer a wing that flexed in a non-linear way so that it dumped downforce and drag at high speed but then reverted to a high downforce profile at low speed (which is exactly what these cars need to get balance at both high and low speeds). All the cars have passed the load tests so none of them are illegal but the FIA can change the load tests if they think teams have found some clever way to get around the intent of the rules (which is that moveable aero surfaces are not allowed).
Yes - and they may change the load tests for next season!!! Not this season though.
They can change the load tests mid season if they think teams are doing anything suspicious.
In fact, they tightened things up almost exactly a year ago - so mid season and one team possibly had to redesign components to comply. If they think someone's being clever, they don't have to wait until next year to clamp down on it.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/everything-you-need-to-know-about-f1s-wing-rules-clampdown/
All the teams are the same. They will all push into the grey areas of the rules as hard as they can and protest if others do it.
Ok, so the FIA have said the wings are legal, but they will keep monitoring things.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/c3w6y694406o
All the teams are the same
Oh yeah, I meant all of them. Just some are louder than others.
Good that they're legal though, just hope McLaren do start fighting each other and Lando can properly challenge for the title. Think he needs to up his game though.
FIA sets rules to try and achieve something such as no moving aero.
All teams try to design their cars to stay within the rules but still achieve the desired effect.
If MOST teams find a similar way to 'bend' the rules then the FIA change the rules at the end of the season.
If ONE team finds a really clever way to bend the rules and the rest can't copy it quickly, or it is considered to have bent the rules too far, it will be 'clarified' mid-season.
There are lots of examples of both situations in the past - X Wing aero, McLaren brakes, blown diffusers, fan car etc
It looks like McLaren might finally be amenable to using team orders, with the delay being down to Andrea Stella simply not considering that the Driver’s WC is feasible
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cgl2dl536nzo
Red bull know all about flexible front wings don’t they
Autosport is reporting that Newey's signing for Aston is about to be confirmed.
Re: Newey
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cy54vnn70veo
May or may not be premature but we won't know until Sept 10th ...
I suspect that his role may be more than just designer, possibly not team principle but definitely as more of a big picture guy, in a vaguely similar way to Niki Lauda at Mercedes perhaps
Have we done the Charles Leclerc crashing at Monaco video?
https://www.tiktok.com/@cameroncamasi/video/7411171627574037803
Oliver Bearman getting an early debut in the HAAS while Magnussen serves his ban.
How did we miss Newey being confirmed at AM (@ £30m per year!)?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/czrxgll23w9o
Won't be confirmed until Tuesday, Andrew Benson has a source at Aston Martin, or should that be had. Can see Eddie Jordan having something to say about the "exclusive".
Newey confirmed at aston
They just need some good drivers now.
Yes, what's the odds of Verstappen choosing to follow him if Red Bull can't give him a better car next year?
I agree...
• There's no point building a car around Alonso - at best he's got a season or two left.
• There's no point building a car around Stroll - because it will be a waste of Newey's brain.
Max is the only top-line driver potentially on the market and Newey knows what works for him.
I have to say this move leaves me totally cold.
Ferrari would have been exciting because there’d be a great story around Hamilton looking for an eighth title in red. Williams would have been glorious, paradoxically both an underdog story and the return of a titanic force.
But Aston just has the dank whiff of a wheelbarrow full of cash. They already had the facilities and the technical leaders to reach the top; there’s an underlying niggling sense that any “Managing Technical Partner” would need to do little more than not upset the already bountiful applecart—whereas at Williams there would be little doubt about where those apples grew from. It feels like Newey’s gone for the money and Stroll’s invested in making sure no-one else has him as much as in actually having him. Neither of which are wrong or unexpected in any way, but it feels like there’s no more depth to it than that. If you were writing the script for “Newey: The Movie” this wouldn’t be where it would go.
Fair play to them both, but meh.
I wonder how much input (both in advocacy for Newey and money) Honda had. After the McLaren debacle, they will be well aware that Newey and Verstappen were both key to their success. Honda must have had concerns over AM turning into a replay of the McLaren experience, but having Newey there should be some reassurance for them.
It will be interesting to see how Stroll and the AM story unfolds and compare it to Audi and the poor performing team they are buying and throwing money at. Who invests, plans and strategizes best in the coming years.
AM have the head start and are led by a strong individual.
Audi have an almost blanks sheet to start from but are led by a committee with the board of VW Group to answer to.
They just need some good drivers now.
That's probably a lot easier to achieve now Newey is confirmed. But both Alonso and Stroll are allegedly under contract to the end of 26 so there's plenty of time to see how they perform/who they can attract.
It will be interesting to see how Stroll and the AM story unfolds
I think AM will be a lot more successful.
Audi/Porsche entry has been a shit-show from day 1. Why would VW even entertain two competing makes under their wing - shows the level of senior management that makes Alpines management look sage-like!
I'd say that Aston will win a race before Audi do.
Very interesting inverview with Newey
Sounds like he didnt want to go to another top team or disrupt his family life so Ferrari was never going to be option.
Aston was the option where Newey feels the resources are there to turn the team into Championship contention in the next 5 years, and allows him to withdrawn into a consultancy role to work on special projects once he has finished with F1 (like Gordon Murray)
Why would VW even entertain two competing makes under their wing
It worked in LMP1
I agree with Baz....definitely not a fairy tale ending.
In terms of qualifying times, in 2024 up to Canada, the gaps between the teammates are
?auto=webp&s=7840ecf585c95edbbb5f8188100475835d6df01f" rel="nofollow" >Stroll has done ok compared to Alonso on that, and he's a decent benchmark. As someone said above he's never going to be a world champion, but I don't think he's as bad as people make out, yes he's a 'pay-driver' but that doesn't automatically equal terrible, he's a reasonable midfield runner.
Maybe I meant to write that in the Newey thread, reading two at once is getting confusing
It will be interesting to see who Stroll gets as his new team leader and more to the point if newey comes up with a car the team leader can win in and stroll can’t
From a tatical perspective this could work well. Top driver wins the WDC so all the pr and publicity the sponsors want. A poor second driver means you’re not at the pointy end of the WCC so don’t get budget cfd or aero time deducted. It might be a nice sweet spot to sit in
A poor second driver means…
…that I fell off my chair when you posted something that wasn’t about Russell being a poor second driver.
something that wasn’t about Russell
Just wait for his prediction of the AM '27 drivers - Max #1, GR #2 ::)
that I fell off my chair when you posted something that wasn’t about Russell being a poor second driver.
Dont take the bait…. Don’t take the bait……
andrewhFree Member
In terms of qualifying times, in 2024 up to Canada, the gaps between the teammates areStroll has done ok compared to Alonso on that, and he’s a decent benchmark. As someone said above he’s never going to be a world champion, but I don’t think he’s as bad as people make out, yes he’s a ‘pay-driver’ but that doesn’t automatically equal terrible, he’s a reasonable midfield runner.
It's nothing to do with his pace, although that is also average at best. It's his piss poor situational awareness.
Can someone explain hown Aston Martin (Stroll Snr) can apparently invest hundreds of millions of dollars into new facilities (including a new wind tunnel) without breaching cost cap rules?
I seem to remember reading recently that Williams were wanting to update some their factory facilities and had to ask the other teams to give them special dispensation to do so.
Can someone explain hown Aston Martin (Stroll Snr) can apparently invest hundreds of millions of dollars into new facilities (including a new wind tunnel) without breaching cost cap rules?
They started spending big a couple of years before the cost cap came in. Windtunnels are also excluded from the CapEx cost cap.
According to the GSA website the following are excluded from the cost cap calculations
Driver salaries
Compensation for the three highest-paid staff members
Travel expenses
Marketing expenditures
Property and legal costs
Entry and license fees
Activities unrelated to F1 or road cars
Parental and sick leave payments
Employee bonuses and staff medical benefits
.
However, with, for example, most staff salaries being within it and bonuses excluded, transportation being within in but travel excluded, you can bet the lawyers and accountants are as much at the top of their game as the designers are, arguing the case to exclude as much as possible. (See the RB overspend on sandwiches in 2021...)
