Belgium Tech Corner: New Rear Wings

Mercedes have brought a new, streamlined edition of their rear wing this weekend in Spa. The wing features 3 curved sections, used to separate the airflow as it leaves the trailing edge at the top of the wing. The split wake provides a smaller vorticies, reducing pressure at the rear of the car and creating less drag – a necessity for a track like Spa.

Ferrari, like a few other teams, have also implemented a top flap with only slight curves. The slimmer F14T rear wing features less ‘gills’ in their endplates, once again resulting in less turbulent airflow overall  amounting from the endplates in yaw and therefore less drag. However, reducing the number of gills decreases the amount of downforce available to the car, and with Spa’s twisting sector 2, the engineers really make their money deciding on the balance between aerodynamic grip and a streamlined car.

The difference in rear wing since last time out, in the comparably slow circuit in Hungary, is most notably apparent in Red Bull’s RB10. There’s a distinct difference in the angle of attack of the mainplane and top flap, with the older spec most suited to a high downforce track and therefore not optimal for this weekend in Spa. A reduced angle of attack provides less downforce but less drag, an almost prerequisite for the Belgian track – and the next race too, at Monza.

See Ferrari Wing Gills here (@SomersF1)
See Mercedes Wing Curves here: (@SomersF1)

Image (RBR Belgium) from Autosport