Flexi Front Wing Revisited

[snowy]

FIA revises F1 flexi wing test to stop teams using trick designs

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103056
No doubt in my mind that this is an attempt by the FIA to insure that the WDC is killed stone dead!

They have known about this "loophole" for 2 years and done nowt about it. Why choose this point? In this season?

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

The usual game of jiggery pokery...

Insert <team leading WDC> claiming that closest competitors <team A> and <team B> are doing something wrong...

All teams passed the new test according to the article... I guess we wait to see if there is any noticeable performance drop off from what we might have expected during qually and the race...

 

[Brogan]

Well to be fair they also changed the test last season when there were all sorts of claims surrounding Red Bull's front wing.

Besides, all teams have passed the test so I'm not sure what effect it will have on the championships, if any.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Surely you are not suggesting that FIA have stepped in at this stage in order to preserve the lead Alonso has over his rivals. I could never imagine an organisation such as FIA bowing to the demands of a single team.

 

[Viscount]

It's not always about Ferrari.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

It's not but it's no coincidence that as Snowy says the FIA have chosen this moment to finally do something about the apparent flexi-wings.
Someone mentioned in a previous thread if someone is flaunting the rules you can either try and copy them or report it.
Ferrari have been the team who have made the latest complaint and the FIA have acted on it.
Why they didn't act on it before I don't know.

 

[Viscount]

If the FIA really wanted to help Ferrari and already knew about the flexi wing, wouldn't they have just introduced the new tests sooner, preventing McLaren and Red Bull from using them for more than the last 6 races? Or perhaps it's just taken them this long to introduce a new test to prevent flexi wings due to their complexity, just like Ferrari and all the other teams haven't copied it yet due to its complexity.

 

[RickD]

F1Yorkshire - I do, or at least I have a very good inkling..

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned that Ferrari have been unable to replicate the apparent flexing so have complained.

This is the post that 1st brought it to our attention, twitter is full of conjecture about the issue, I've not seen many hard facts yet though.

 

[Fenderman]

Just catching up with replay of Korea FP2 as I write. 52 min's remaining in the session there's a super slo-mo of one of the Force India's with some serious "rotational" front wing flex. Jonathan "why the heck is this guy back in the commentary box" Legard rambles on without uttering a single observation on it. Unfortunately neither does anyone else. I personally found it interesting. Of course, until we see it to the same extent on a Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari I do not expect months of controversy and debate.

 

[Dizzi]

Fenderman, I saw that too & wondered how the commentary team missed it.
There was some impressive flexing going on. As you say if it had been on Red Bull/McLaren there would have been an uproar.
I wonder what sort of aero that rotation produces? Not so much a flexi-wing as a wobbly-wing

 

[Bill Boddy]

A year ago all the talk was of flex wings and the use of exhaust gases. The FIA introduced a new test to do away with the first and a rule to do away with the second.

There are times when I feel that the FIA are incompetent.

 

[siffert_fan]

A year ago all the talk was of flex wings and the use of exhaust gases. The FIA introduced a new test to do away with the first and a rule to do away with the second.

There are RARELY times when I feel that the FIA are incompetent.

Fixed

 

[siffert_fan]

The change in testing doesn't seem to have helped Ferrari much, does it? Any guess as to what the FIA does next?

 

[canis]

Anyone want to put money on there being a clarification on secondary uses for the DRS mechanism over the next few weeks?

 

[snowy]

Now that would be interesting and very incriminating! They should go for it.