During the first day of testing, the first reactions regarding the much-talked-about Mercedes front wing were awaited. A wing for which the sports management of the Anglo-German team says it is “very proud” of its technical counterpart.
At Brackley, they opted to evolve some concepts already seen in some 2023 spec ailerons, focusing on a very aggressive design, with a shortened fourth element and a very thin internal part, purely for legality reasons.
Wolff: “The wing is legal because it was designed under the supervision of the FIA”
The front wing of the W15 does not appear to be an absolute novelty. However, it is still a very intelligent interpretation, at least in part, that could generate the Y250 vortex present in the old generation of cars.
This was useful in managing the turbulence generated by the rolling of the front tyres. However, it also generates dirty air for those following. In the press conference, Toto Wolff confirmed the previews of Formu1a.uno.
“Our wing is completely legal. We designed it under the supervision of the Federation,” said the Mercedes team principal.
This is the practice that each team follows, especially in the design of those solutions that even the team itself evaluates as borderline. Therefore, there is an ongoing dialogue with the FIA to understand whether certain interpretations of the technical regulations are legal or not.
This is fundamental for the Mercedes technical department. Sooner rather than later, they must know if they can continue development or must change direction.
“It’s not like if you have a great idea, you put it in the car and wait to see whether there’s going to be a protest or not. There is always a long dialogue with the Federation first,” Wolff stated.
The FIA: “The wing is legal but could be against the spirit of the regulations”
It is, therefore, no surprise that even the FIA have, in recent hours, assessed the front wing mounted on the Mercedes W15 as completely legal.
Pat Symonds, the Chief Technical Officer of Formula 1, declared to Sky that the wing “completely complies with the rules, there is no doubt about that.”
However, this sage is not yet completely over, as anticipated by Formu1a.uno on Tuesday. In fact, it could be deemed that the Mercedes interpretation goes against the “spirit of the regulation.”
With the new regulations introduced in 2022, the FIA has worked hard to minimise turbulence.
This is with the aim of increasing the spectacle, thanks to the greater ease of staying in the wake. In this regard, the aggressive design of the Mercedes front wing could complicate this objective.
Moreover, this could open a new development path for the teams. Eventually, this could trigger more turbulent air to be created across the field.
Pat Symonds admitted he is unsure that the FIA wants to have a solution like the one brought to the track by Mercedes. Therefore, this solution could still be banned.
“Do we want to have a solution like this in the car? I think we first need to understand how big the effect is, ” concluded the FIA Chief Technical Officer.
Author: Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
