Mercedes not concerned about flexibility of its front wing

Mercedes trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin insists that the Brackley-based outfit does not need to be concerned about the flexibility of its W15’s front wing.

It emerged ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix that Formula One’s governing body, the FIA would check the flexibility of front wings, using extra video footage. These additional dynamic tests kicked off at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps with further tests expected to take place after the summer break.

While the technical regulation allows a certain degree of flexibility of various aerodynamic parts, including the front wing, the FIA felt in recent weeks that some teams took the ‘flexi-wing’ approach to extremes.

The new ground-effect cars have proved difficult to balance out and aerodynamic upgrades have unsettled the balance of several cars on multiple occasions over the course of the last two years. That is why several teams are believed to have chased loopholes in the regulations

Speaking about the measurements, Mercedes trackside engineering chief, Andrew Shovlin emphasized that the cameras are for understanding the stiffness and flexibility of the front wings across the grid and his team is not concerned about the tests.

“We haven’t got a concern on the flexibility because, like any bit of the car that’s subject to deflection tests, it’s designed to pass the test.”

“That activity is data collection. I think they’re trying to understand what the entire grid is doing in terms of the stiffness and the flexibility on the track. We’ll help them with that. We’ll see what’s next but we’re not concerned.”

Mercedes was one of the teams running the new onboard cameras with Shovlin noting: “We’ll help them with that. We’ll see what’s next but we’re not concerned.”