Leading on from the Singapore Grand Prix, where Red Bull debuted a new front wing due to the high downforce nature of the circuit, another new front wing design was then revealed at the Japanese Grand Prix.
This newer front wing is more significant however, due to revised FIA load tests for the front wings of all the cars.
The load tests have been altered after it has become apparent some teams may have been designing the front wing to rotate under high speed. The rotation causes the wing to literally pivot backwards under high load – reducing drag and increasing speed in the process.
To counteract this, the new load tests for the front wing have been changed to put more load on the rear of the front wing, ultimately showing up any of this inherently designed rotation. As before, the front wing must also not flex anymore than 10mm when the load is applied to one side of the front wing.
In addition to adhering to these new tests, Red Bull have also modified the upper flap, which has been split in two towards the far edge as well as being slightly re-profiled from Singapore to reduce drag. The camera housings have also made a return on either side of the nose, where they were previously mounted in between the front wing pylons (those bits that connect the wing to the nose)
While Red Bull themselves have not been called out on the front wing rotation, the fact that a new front wing design appeared at the same time new tests were introduced has inevitably got the paddock talking.
It is also worth mentioning that all the teams passed the new tests without any issues.
This is the first of our new technical pieces, aiming to give you all an insight into the technicalities of our awesome sport, but without blowing your mind with engineering jargon. Every day is a school day they say, and with Badger it’s fun and digestible too, or at least we hope it is!
Let us know what you think in the comments…
