Moveable wings making any difference?
We’ve had no shortage of stuff to talk about since the F1 season got started again last week: KERS, tyres, the look of the cars, the emergence of Brawn GP, the BBC, McLaren’s lack of pace, twilight races and the usual controversies.
But we’ve hardly heard anything at all about the new adjustable wings.
Before the season began there was a lot of scepticism about whether they would make much difference and, for all we know, they may not be. Few if anyof the drivers seem to have mentioned them. I haven’t seen any footage of the wings moving and there doesn’t appear to be any television graphic to show the fans when they are being used.
Are the moveable wings making a difference? Have you seen any evidence of them being used? Leave a comment below.
James said on 5th April 2009, 8:25
Maybe we should all email the BBC F1 team, it might spur them into an investigation… asking the driver / teams how much they are used, and if they make a difference.
What is the email address?
Del Boy said on 5th April 2009, 8:36
Spot on Phil C. It would change the balance and as we’ve seen most cars front ends are working well its the rear thats causing problems (unless you have a double deck diffuser). Also air leaving the front wing then makes it to the rear of the car and changing the angle of attack of the front wings will affect the rear as a non constant. As John Barnard said when asked about how exhaust gases affect diffuser performance “Its better to have 90% constantly than 100% sometimes.”
Sush Meerkat said on 5th April 2009, 9:25
the changes for overtake in the moveable wings is nullified by KERS boosting cars defending the race line.
Tom said on 5th April 2009, 17:02
Button said in an interview after Sepang, paraphrasing: “The movable flaps were key to getting a good lap time in qualifying.” So clearly they make a difference.
ruud said on 5th April 2009, 17:06
i always hear kers being used by the cars equipped by it. and then on late braking, commentators suggest it is because of the better weight distribution of KERS-less cars that let them brake later or overtake other cars. movable flaps are not mentioned. worthless, and stupid innovation
DGR-F1 said on 6th April 2009, 8:46
If moveable front wings are allowed, why not moveable rear ones too? If the idea is to make the car adaptable to the circuit and individual corners, wouldn’t changeable downforce at both ends make more of a difference?
Martin Bell said on 6th April 2009, 10:20
As I understand it, the moveable wings are of most use in the race when changing between the different tyre compounds, to restore balance. They can also be useful when a race starts dry and turns wet for the same reason. Button, however, said that his was not working during the race yesteday, and it didn’t seem to slow him down did it? In normal race conditions, they are a pointless innovation.
Oliver said on 6th April 2009, 10:26
I believe there is a restriction on how many times u can use the movable wings per lap. I also think, although I may be wrong, that you can only use 2 preset angles.
guille2306 said on 6th April 2009, 15:46
You can use it just two times per lap, but the only restriction to the angle is that the maximum freedom of the wing must be 6 degrees.
In any case, I agree with the comments before: changing the angle of the front wing modifies the general balance of the car, so you need to carefully study the consequences. If they can find a compromise setup in which changing the angle in a sector of the lap significantly improves the overall lap time, then they’ll use it. If not, it will be used only in particular occasions, like following a car closely into a fast corner.
JohnBt said on 7th April 2009, 3:42
Should the movable wings allow cars to take flight to the next sector? Think about it. The longest track is Spa (7.004 km), and do you think drivers can adjust the wings to work, c’mon gimme a break, by the time they angle the wings it will not be an advantage. There’s too much to do with the existing steering. KERS should be thrown out too (saw Kimi jumping out from cockpit real fast, lolol, less he gets electrocuted). Strange that cars without KERS are doing much better. So in one and a half minutes drivers need to adjust wings and trigger KERS, wow, what about the existing knobs. It will be too busy for divers to concentrate, for sure. Technology has almost maxed out, unless F1 starts floating around without wheels. All said, I still prefer the talent and skills of racers. One can buy a 10K guitar, but can you play well?
phil c said on 7th April 2009, 11:04
Does anyone know if the FIA are policing the use of the wing. Do they download the ECU after ther race and check how many movements there have been per lap. What would be the penality if you moved the wing more then twice. DSQ from the race, 10sec penality.
The more i think about it, the more i think its a media stunt. Has BBC or anyone actually shown the movement of the wing???
ranilom said on 9th April 2009, 7:34
I am thinking:
300+Kmh or 5,000meters/minute or 83.3 meters/second down one of the Sepang straights waiting for the taw to pull me under the car in front, flap-up (if I understood correctly to get more down force)
..and then? ..push the kers to overtake..look at the breaking point…get in to the corner…flap down to get away on the exit…all in +/- 1 second ??
I don’t think so.
To much to loose.
I also believe most of the teams do not use it as intended (to help overtaking) but to gain max speed when needed therefore there is no need to invent clever expensive “illegal flexy wings”
chunter said on 11th April 2009, 1:45
If it actually works, my thought is that the moveable wing is about as useful as what they call the “weight-jacker” (a ballast that moves back and forth with a ratchet) in the IndyCar world, that is, until a team decide to hook the moving wingplanes up to a robot-computer system that adjusts them independently while the car is being driven.