Balance change key to `illegal` Ferrari wings.

[Zytek_Fan]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Zytek... I can read it, but I don't quite know if I understand it. Makes my head hurt

But anyway, so the scrutineers can test deflection. To a degree. It would seem that some teams (Ferrari at least), have figured something out, in such that it meets the test in a static environment, but on the track it all behaves differently.

Yeah, that's the problem with regs, some people can understand them, but not many. Now Ferrari has agreed to comply and will introduce a new wing package for the Melbourne GP.

[Matra et Alpine]

Classic, 3.17.5 limits the horizontal movement of the top section to 5mm.
BUT it doesn't actually SAY that that is not allowed to open up gap anywhere.
So Ferrari read the regs to know what to meet and THEN read them again to see what they could take advantage of.
So to the letter they are legal as I'm betting that's only a 5mm opening with a 500N load !! BUT they are getting round the spirit of the regs which THINKS you will have permanent bonded joints. As ever, you gotta give Ferrari designers the kudos for spotting the whole in the reg and taking advantage
I expect we'll see an addition to the regs that blocks "opening joints"

(Regs aren't that scary once you get used to it. If you compete and get it wrong at club level then you dont' get to race. So it's important to learn how to read them. If you fab your own bits in any series then you learn to look at how to take advantage of things Or cheat them -- lots of Mini's running in classic events out their with the illegal A+ block

[SIMPLETON]

It's not mush of an aerodynamic device, but has anyone noticed that the left mirrors on many of the cars wobble ridiculously during turns and high speeds? Especially on the Renaults.

[DasModell]

now we know who those 2 are .

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=112975

[aNOBLEman]

It's not mush of an aerodynamic device, but has anyone noticed that the left mirrors on many of the cars wobble ridiculously during turns and high speeds? Especially on the Renaults.

I noticed that as well. It's just the left mirror while the right one wobbles very little.

[magracer]

This thread is useless without some VIDEO!

Seriously now, can anyone direct us to a link where we can see the wings in "action"?

The race was so late here (2 am to 4 am), that I barely saw the cars moving, let alone the wings...

[Jack_Bauer]

It's not mush of an aerodynamic device, but has anyone noticed that the left mirrors on many of the cars wobble ridiculously during turns and high speeds? Especially on the Renaults.

Yes, I noticed that on a number of cars in both races so far this season. I can't for the life of me think why the left mirror would flex so much more than the right, anyone got any theories?

The best thing I could come up with is that with the two tracks so far being clockwise they might be running slightly more negative camber on the front left wheel, causing a slightly different kind of turbulence over the left side of the car.

That's probably complete bollox though!

Did anyone else notice that Montoya's mirror actually flexed so much that it snapped off towards the end of the race. Check out this screenshot (taken from a crappy phone cam unfortunately)

[Jack_Bauer]

Also it is interesting that two of the teams that signed the letter requesting that Ferrari change their wings, BMW and McLaren, have also now been requested to change some of their aero components.

BMW and McLaren have confirmed they have made changes to the wings of their cars for the forthcoming Australian GP.

Although both teams are believed to have signed a letter to the FIA complaining that the rear-wing of the Ferrari was illegal, they were themselves in turn requested to make alterations to their cars' design by the sport's governing body.

However, the two teams have insisted that the changes were not as significant as those required of Ferrari.

"No official message has been communicated by the FIA (International Automobile Federation) to our team," a BMW Sauber spokesman told Reuters.

"The technical delegate of the FIA verbally informed us that we were supposed to change a certain detail of the rear wing before Melbourne.

"This is not unusual and this minor change has already been performed. Jacques Villeneuve's car was checked after the race in Malaysia and found to conform to the rules."

A spokesman for McLaren also told the news agency: "A minor issue with an attachment to a secondary wing came to our attention in Malaysia. This will be rectified for the Australian Grand Prix."

[cp01ae]

The best thing I could come up with is that with the two tracks so far being clockwise they might be running slightly more negative camber on the front left wheel, causing a slightly different kind of turbulence over the left side of the car.

I was thinking the same thing. Another far-fetched though I had was this: since the cars are on a clockwise track, they pass slower cars on the inside of the corner, which is more often than not, the right side. As they move out of the slipstream the left side of the car may still be experienceing some vorticies or eddies in the airflow emenating from the lead car. This would be more prominent on the left side of the car, and thus causes more wing mirror flex there, than on the right side. Just a theory mind you...

[cp01ae]

And on the Ferrari wings: we see that the rules limit vertical deflection of the wings to less than 5mm on the front wings. A 5mm downward deflection at the wing endplate might translate into a 5mm gap at the nose from the wing pulling down and out. But do the rules say anything against a bodywork deflection away from the centre line of the car? Or do they just limit deflection in relation to the reference plane?

And with regards to the rear wing: we see that the upper element may move 5mm downwards legally, however is it possible that the lower element is actually moving upwards? Turbulent air spilling off of the wing that joins the bodywork between the rear wheels may be directed at the bottom of the lower rear wing element in order to push it up slightly as the load and velocity increases. Surely they can design the wing to have slightly more give in one direction than the other. Or at least they can limit the downward motion of the lower element with aimed airflow structural designs.

Just my thoughts. What do you think?

[cp01ae]

Wow, I killed this thread like nobody's business.

[KonaGreen]

I think we're all going to wait for the next race and see what goes on in the aero department.