McLaren and Mercedes suspected, what is the criticism of their front wings?

Behind a season more open than ever after having known a big period of domination of Red Bull, there are some "controversies" hidden. There was asymmetric braking and its ban from Zandvoort without it being known whether one or more teams were concerned. There is also the subject of the flexibility of the front wings which has been dragging on for several weeks, even months.

Publicly, it was revealed that Red Bull and Ferrari have asked the FIA ​​for clarification on these aerodynamic elements, while two teams are suspected of going beyond the limit allowed by the technical regulations: McLaren et Mercedes. To what extent?

More flexibility for more speed

Based on shots taken by Formula Aerodynamics in Monza and published on his social networks, this flexibility is “flagrant” when comparing the four leading teams at low and high speed: Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.

While those of the first two mentioned do not remain straight enough, those of Mercedes and McLaren seem to abnormally "relax" in a straight line, when the car picks up speed. This allows the front wing blades to lower and thus reduce drag, allowing to gain top speed more easily.

From the images, it is the one of the McLaren MCL38 that has greater flexibility than the rest, followed by the one of the Mercedes W15. The small metal element in a right angle shape allows to see and judge the movement.

Comparison of the wings of the 4 teams during the last GP at Monza. © Instagram/Formula Aerodynamics

No non-compliance according to the FIA

Faced with numerous requests for clarification, the FIA ​​has implemented a few checks since the beginning of the summer. In Belgium, before the break, it installed a special 4K video camera on the nose of the single-seaters in order to capture images of the movement of the element in question during the Friday practice sessions. The teams then had to place reference points to facilitate the analysis of the images for the officials. The objective? To determine if one of them is breaking the regulations and then potentially rectify the situation.

These are the small stickers that serve as a reference point for taking images with the camera in question. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

But despite all the resources deployed by the motorsport police, no infringement has been detected. All front wings are currently compliant with 2024 regulations, could we read in the notice relayed by the FIA. Since the Belgian Grand Prix, the FIA ​​has acquired additional data during FP1 and FP2 sessions to assess dynamic behaviours using an FIA-mandated video camera that captures areas of the front wing not visible to the official FOM cameras..

This exercise will continue at least until Singapore to ensure that each team has used the FIA-mandated camera on different types of circuits. (low, medium, high and very high in terms of support). This will provide a vast database that will enable the FIA ​​to draw up the most objective picture possible of the situation and to quantify the differences between the various dynamic patterns observed on the track.. » Not to the taste of Red Bull and Ferrari, still wary of the front wings of McLaren and Mercedes while the field has never been so tight. Faced with this situation, it would not be surprising to see the Austrians and Italians do the same in Baku in ten days, even if it means getting closer to illegality without actually reaching it.

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