The peculiar two-phase activation of the front wing by Mercedes has been identified as a reliability issue rather than an attempt at manipulation. This situation drew the attention of rivals in Formula 1 during the Chinese Grand Prix, when it was observed that the wing of race winner Kimi Antonelli changed position oddly at the end of the straight.
The delay in the activation of the wing raised suspicions about whether the Brackley team was implementing an illegal strategy. According to FIA regulations, teams are stipulated to have only two positions for the front and rear wings between cornering mode and straight mode, with a transition time of 400 milliseconds.
Antonelli’s wing appeared to change twice, thus exceeding the stipulated time. An unidentified F1 team raised its concerns to the FIA; however, Ferrari denied having been behind this inquiry.
Recently, it has been confirmed that this phenomenon is a consequence of a reliability problem, presumably related to a lack of hydraulic pressure necessary to perform the correction of the wing. The FIA has accepted Mercedes’ explanation, which has shown its intention to resolve the situation immediately. The regulatory body considers that the team views this issue as a detriment to performance and not as an advantage, given that this instability can affect the vehicle’s aerodynamics before braking zones.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_1762caad6cc9386304aa4a9f5a48e92e1d9c33fe