Flexible wings controversy 2010

[Giblet]

Since the Ferrari and RedBull are running around and are still fast, does this mean that the cars passed scrutineering? Anyone have any pics from practice to see if the wings still flexed?

Also with wet weather setups taking center stage the cars will be riding higher anyways and it might be harder to spot from TV coverage.

[forty-two]

or maybe they did not want a backwards facing camera, make some interesting shots of their floor, or the movement of the wing in relation to the floor/reference plane.
I´m relative sure, that they would anticipate such a move by FOM TV.

A very good point.

Given the circuits they're now at I would expect their front wing configurations to change to something like they had at Turkey.

Also true. But I think Jumbo's point above is perhaps a more compelling reason to move those camera mounts back up high where they won't be able to see too much of the clever goings on at close range.

[marcush.]

A couple of points occur to me:

1. Watching FP2, the RB nose seems to be the pre-Silverstone specification (i.e. with the mandatory camera mounts on the nose proper, rather than inside the wing uprights). Have they moved back to an older spec wing because of the lower DF needed here, or because they knew the FIA would be looking closely at their car?

or maybe they did not want a backwards facing camera, make some interesting shots of their floor, or the movement of the wing in relation to the floor/reference plane.
I´m relative sure, that they would anticipate such a move by FOM TV.

[ESPImperium]

The RB6 passed the Deflection tests:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86162

Lets just say that one has now been put to bed!!!

[aral]

The RB6 passed the Deflection tests:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86162

Lets just say that one has now been put to bed!!!

Yes, but as I said above, it was the OLD wing, and not the so-called flexi wing.

[SiLo]

Yeah the wing is certainly not the one they used in Hungary. I get the feeling they may have changed it so that they were sure they would pass the test. If you look, the nose on the car used in hungary seems to point downwards a lot more then this one.

I know the ride height change becasuse of the wet setting may affect it, but it was moving so much that you would still be able to see the changes, thus, I believe they have reverted to an older design to pass the test. I also believe they won't be any where near as fast as they have been recently, and that Mclaren and Ferrari are the ones to beat around Spa and Monza.

[conni]

well ive read as much bullcrap as i could manage and i still say its done with flexures
i think its designed like the wishbones with flexures so the middle is stiff then it bends at the flexures that would be easy to make

conni

like i said before flexures so what are flexures well look at an old fashioned suspension leaf springs they are flexures
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see the staggered layup above well imagine that each line can take a load weighing 1 kg so the shortest can carry 1 kg then added to the 1 above it it can carry 2 kg upto the point that the second line becomes a single line and then that single line can only carry 1 kg but then you add the 3rd and 4th lines

so now youve got a flat structure that will carry 4kg at the point where there are 4 layers and carry a 1kg load at the end but if you double the load it will flex marginally at the point of the 4 layers but it will flex a lot at the point of the single layer I hope this is clear enough for you all as its late and im tired

i have to say that i have seen NO evidence of a wing twisting in any pics or vids as the pics clearly show that the back of the end plate is as low as the front

conni

[segedunum]

But its an old wing

It's not the old wing. The only thing that is different is the camera mounts. The wing has the same number of elements.

....and anyway car is loaded to that side, so understandably that side of the wing would be closer to ground. It has also passed scrutiny.

Take a look at other cars. Only the Red Bull and Ferrari do this. Red Bull have had flexible wings since winter testing. See the previous testing photos in this thread.

[wesley123]

seriously, i dont get it anymore.

The rules clearly state thwere should be no flexing of parts, in pics it is clear it does move, thus it isnt conform the rules. Why the hell do they mind such an test when it is already clear it isnt conform the rules?

What i think is that red bull made use of an loophole in the rules. The rules state that one plane could be allowed to move by 6 degrees, i dont beleive it said wich plane and wich direction, in this case it would render the wing completely legal.

[conni]

the point is that you only have to make it legal enough to pass the tests this is what gives engineers a challenge if we stuck to what was meant by the rules then all the cars would be the same

conni

[gcdugas]

I have seen the photos of both Ferrari and Red Bull. I think they are running some sort of softer front suspension set up because even the center section of the wing is lower. I think they have some sort of device that causes the rotational energy of the caliper to transfer a load to the push rod causing the front not to bottom under braking. It could even be a closed hydraulic system all neatly incorporated into the caliper mount. All they need is for the front push rod to "grow" about 5mm and the ride height would be enough to prevent the wing from scraping under braking.

I haven't read all this thread so I may be repeating someone unwittingly.

[conni]

surely that would be active suspension

conni

[simplefan]

But its an old wing

It's not the old wing. The only thing that is different is the camera mounts. The wing has the same number of elements.

....and anyway car is loaded to that side, so understandably that side of the wing would be closer to ground. It has also passed scrutiny.

Take a look at other cars. Only the Red Bull and Ferrari do this. Red Bull have had flexible wings since winter testing. See the previous testing photos in this thread.

It's only the nose of the car that has been changed to an earlier configuration, not the wing. The front wing connects at the bottom of the wing supports which are a molded in part of the FIA mandated nose crash structure. The close ups of the Hungary wing show the camera pods are attached to the wing support arms not the wing. So it's possible to have any wing attached to any nose with different camera positions. From the looks of the wing and from the teams statements it is the wing used in Hungary.

[ChrisTipper]

As the Red Bull front wing has passed the FIA test the rest will have to play catchup, but spa is a low downforce track so it wont make much difference. Is the flexi-wings banned?

[delsando]

In the BBC commentary (FP2) one of them mentioned that a member from the Honda carbon composites team was seen.