A Mercedes is back on the offensive, with lots of exciting new details already being seen in its new W15 of Formula 1 no dia do shakedown.
One of the most fascinating of these was, as you would probably expect, hidden in the launch artwork, but could be seen in images taken of the ‘real’ car as the team conducted its filming day at Silverstone.
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The area in question is the front wing’s upper flap (highlighted in the image below), which comes in two segments (red and blue arrows), both of which require each other to pass FIA legality checks.
Mercedes W15 front wing detail
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
It’s a fascinating insight into the writing of the regulations, but it remains to be seen whether the design is robust enough to withstand closer scrutiny from the FIA, or even complaints from other teams. We also can’t completely exclude that this is something designed to distract rivals from other areas of your car.
Whatever the outcome, this gives us a pretty clear indication that Mercedes is back to its best when coming up with intriguing solutions to try and squeeze out more performance.
Mercedes W15 front wing detail
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
The front wing concept in question sees a very thin element used on top of the wing in the non-movable inner part (red arrow).
It exists simply for legality purposes, because the rules allow a maximum of four enclosed areas along the wingspan.
Further, the outside of the top flap has what we would consider a conventional rope. But instead of the flap rising up the side of the internal metal adjuster, as would happen with a normal layout, the flap tapers to a raised point above it (blue arrow), similar to how the front wing elements were used. in previous regulations to alter the Y250 vortex that was being released from the main plane junction below them.
In this case, the same may be applicable, albeit on a smaller scale, with the triangular metal adjuster and flap creating a release surface.
Notably, Mercedes has also changed the layout of its nose for 2024, with the nose shorter than its predecessors, as the tip is now resting on the second element of the front wing, rather than directly in front of the main one.
This facilitated a change in the shape of the main plane, with the team envisioning a dropped variant this season rather than a raised variant to meet the nose.
This will obviously have an influence on the airflow trajectory and can be used as a means to configure a flow structure that will also be beneficial for your new flap configuration.
It will be interesting to see how both the governing body and rival teams react to the arrival of this design from Mercedes, as it may not deliver the level of performance expected from something that looks so radically different.
Furthermore, it could be argued that it departs from the original intent of the technical regulations when they were first drafted.
Now the onus will be on other teams to figure out if it’s an idea they can pursue, complain about, or if they’re happy to sit back and wait to see its impact.
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2024-02-15 12:52:01
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