Red Bull and Mercedes rumoured to be hurt by FIA directive as F1 braced for flexi-wing saga in Singapore
Mercedes’ rear-wing performance could be negatively affected by the FIA’s intervention, while Red Bull’s underbody is also rumoured to be impact🔥ed, as per Germany’s .
A separate report on also claims that Red Bull and Mercedes are “two names” which “consistently appear” in relation to the new rul🌊ing.
An anonymous F1 t♌eam boss told the Italian publication that “many teams will have to make changes” as a result of the new technical directive which comes into force from this weekend’s S♕ingapore Grand Prix.
What is the technical directive?
F1’s governing body the FIA is clamping 𓆉down on flexi-wings through the introduction of TD018.
Teams will face greater scrutiny in Singapore and beyond as the FIA takes a tougher stance on the design of front and rear wingꦿs to stop competitors from playing games with flexible parts.
It comes amid concerns that teams have been hidin꧙g trick mechanisms beneath rubber coverings, something Red Bull team principal Christian Horner alluded to when he referenced seeing a “few rubbery nose boxes”.
Although no specific outfit has been targeted by the FIA’s intervention, there have been suggestions that teams&🔯nbsp;have been trying to exploit the use of flexible bodywork, which is outlawed to prevent aerodynamic gains.
Article 3.2.2 states that: “All aerodynamic components or🅘 bodywork influencing the car’s aerodynamic performance must be rigidly secured and immobile with respect to their frame of reference defined in Article 3.3 [defining bodywork that is part of the sprung mass of🧸 the car]. Furthermore, these components must produce a uniform, solid, hard, continuous, impervious surface under all circumstances.
“Any device or construction that is designed to bꦯridge the gap between the sprung part🌳 of the car and the ground is prohibited under all circumstances.
“With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in Articꦑle 3.10.10 [DRS], or any incidental movement due 🐈to the steering system, any car system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited.
“The aerodyn⛎amic influence of any component of the car not♔ considered to be bodywork must be incidental to its main function. Any design which aims to maximise such an aerodynamic influence is prohibited.”
Which teams could be impacted?
As the afo🍸rementioned reports state, both Red Bull and Mercedes ar⭕e rumoured to be impacted.
However, Red Bull chief Horner has already insisted that the reigning world champio⛎ns will not be hindered by the TD.
“It’s not something that a🔯ffects us,” Horner ada𝓀mantly said at Monza.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also downplayed the prospect of Red Bull sudd༒enly losing their advantage.
“If maybe a Red B🦹ull is half a second slower or something, that would be꧃ nice, but I don’t think it will be the case,” he said.
Wolff indicated that Aston Martin have already taken a step back in🌄 performance as a result of modificat🍸ions.
“It’s going to be inter♊esting, I think, with the Aston Martin, you’ve seen that they made a step backwards with the wings moving less or whatever,” he added.
“I don’t know, let’s wait and see. I don’t know who is exploiting that to more [of a] degree, not a𒉰 𝕴bigger degree than others.”
Ferrari have “no secrets in this area” and are unlikely to have to make changes, according to Formu1a.uno’💎s report.
An engineer told AMuS that "if you have to make corrections to the unde🧜rbody and as a result have to leave a little more gro♐und clearance, you lose downforce in the worst case.
"If the front wing has twisted around the attachment point on the nose, then the complete aerodynamics was designed accordingly. If you have to put back🅠 there, you ris𝓀k not only loss of downforce, but also balance problems."
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