This is the last year of the current regulatory cycle, meaning several teams are bringing similar solutions. Each team has worked over the winter to find additional lap time and new development margins. Many have also pushed rather aggressively on improving their ‘flexy wings’.
There was a lot of talk about this topic last season. Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes all debated this issue fiercely in a series of discussions with the FIA.
Ferrari’s front wing is an evolved version of the flexible version that was implemented in COTA 2024. Meanwhile, Red Bull allocated a large portion of the budget and resources over winter study wing aeroelasticity.
The Red Bull RB21 was born with a new flexible front wing that affects the balance
Why are flexible carbon components so important for teams? These cars have an intrinsic understeer at low speeds that can only be combated with a balance shifted towards the front.
However, this can become a problem in the faster sections, triggering oversteer if the car is not sufficiently balanced. It is a short blanket that all teams have had to deal with.
In this sense, a flexible front wing is invaluable for engineers. They serve as a tool for adjusting the aerodynamic balance between low and high speeds.
A flexible wing keeps its flaps at maximum inclination in the slower sections of the track and under braking, thus ensuring the desired peak load. However, the wing then unloads as speed increases. This decreases drag on the straight, helping drivers with overall balance and also helping to look after the tyres.
Last season, Red Bull were a step behind its rival teams in this area. They focused more on the problems that hit the RB20’s development, rather than focusing on flexi-wings.
Still, Pierre Waché’s personnel did not underestimate the importance of aeroelasticity. On the contrary, even if Christian Horner pushed for stricter tests last season, the expectation over winter was that no changes would be introduced.
Because of this, Ferrari immediately adapted with a first specification of ‘flexy wing’ introduced in Austin on the SF-24. Red Bull also invested a a significant part of the winter development precisely on the topic of aeroelasticity .
They have also focused on the floor and the rear of the RB21, trying to correct all of last year’s limitations.
“The car is more predictable and reacts more normally. All the problems we had last year have been improved enormously or even solved,” Helmut Marko said at the end of the first day.
The team’s progress has been helped by a front wing that behaves very differently to that of the RB20. Although the design has not changed too much compared to the 2024 specification, the flaps of the RB21’s front wing are clearly flexing.
Red Bull’s front wing ben back as speed increased , effectively ‘unloading’ the car, before rising again under braking and in the slower sections.
Waché’s men have therefore adapted to the competition and pushed for the creation of a more flexible front wing. Unfortunately for Red Bull, this will be ‘banned’ from the Spanish Grand Prix after the communication from the FIA.
This decision has infuriated the technical office of the Milton Keynes team. Christian Horner has defined it as a real “waste of money”, stating that there will be two different championships before and after Spain.
Milton Keynes they have invested a lot of resources in this area. Ultimately, this investment will basically evaporate after round 9 at the Spanish GP.
