The end of flexible front wings in 2012?
Red Bull initiated a movement to design flexible front wings while complying with the regulations set by the FIA - especially the stress tests. But things could change as the FIA intends to toughen the tests that wings will have to undergo starting in 2012.
Red Bull seems to be the leading team in terms of flexible front wing, this element being vital for more downforce and it could explain the superiority of the RB7 over its rivals. However, several teams have tried to copy this system, with varying degrees of success.
McLaren did not succeed in designing a wing as flexible as Red Bull’s, but Scuderia Ferrari managed to develop a functional concept – even if it seemed too flexible on Felipe Massa’s car in the last races.
But seeing the front wings of a Formula 1 car touching the ground could soon be an image of the past because according to Marca, the FIA wants to discuss this issue as early as this week in order to reach an agreement that will be publicly disclosed shortly thereafter and to which teams will have to comply from 2012 – which might force some teams to redesign their cars.
This season, the tests undergone by the wings had already been revised upwards in 2010 and they will be again from 2012, with the introduction of horizontal stress tests according to the Spanish newspaper.
These new measures could be costly for some teams, particularly Red Bull, which exploits this phenomenon perfectly, but also Ferrari, which also seems to have found the solution to manufacture a flexible front wing that complies with FIA regulations.
If these measures are accepted, Red Bull and Ferrari could pay dearly, and it could ultimately benefit the McLaren team, which had not managed to imitate Red Bull’s flexible front wing. These measures, combined with the ban on the blown diffuser starting in 2012, could seriously reduce the advantage Red Bull cars seem to have over their rivals.
