Mercedes backed by Aston Martin in flexi-wing row

Aston Martin

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Mercedes backed by Aston Martin in flexi-wing row

Toto Wolff is unhappy with the FIA as new tests will only be introduced in France

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 27 May 2021 09:28

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Mercedes has garnered the support of Aston Martin in the fight against flexi-wings and the proposed change to test protocols in F1.

Flexi-wings, or limbo wings as they are affectionately being called, have been hot on the agenda since footage depicted the Red Bull rear-wing deflecting abnormally down the main straight in Barcelona.

The FIA subsequently issued teams a technical directive notifying them of increased loads during each deflection test in order to ensure wings conform to the technical regulations.

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Toto Wolff criticised the decision to only implement updated load tests from next month's French Grand Prix onwards instead of immediately.

Asked for his thoughts on the topic, Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer said: “My opinion is the same.

"To design something that flexes just the right amount and to pass the tests but still flex takes a big effort. But to design something that is stiff doesn’t take effort at all and it can be done very, very quickly.”

On whether protests would be made against offending teams in Baku, he added: “We haven’t considered that so I can’t answer that.

"It’s something our technical team would do but I can assure you, everything flexes. You’ve got to understand that.

“There is nothing that has infinite stiffness so if you put a big enough force on it, everything is going to flex.

"But we don’t flex nearly as much as the others. We have a stiff rear wing and I’m happy the FIA are doing something about it.”

Asked if any updates would need to be made to the AMR21, Szafnauer insisted: “We don’t need to change the car that is right.”

Aston Martin secured its best result at the Monaco Grand Prix with a double-points finish but has so far struggled for outright pace as it seeks to find solutions with its low-rake aerodynamic concept.

Asked if a ban on flexi-wings would bring its high-raked rivals back toward the team, Szafnauer said: “It’s very track specific.

"At some tracks, it doesn’t help much at all and at others, to have a flexi-rear wing does help. So I think a little bit. It will come back our way a little bit, maybe on average by a couple of tenths a lap or something.

“But there are some tracks where you get zero benefit and others could be up to half a second.”