Alpine F1 Team has taken prompt action to modify their rear wing in response to the stricter technical guidelines issued by the FIA. This development comes as the first of its kind, with the team ensuring compliance ahead of the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix. The modifications were necessitated by the FIA’s revised stance on rear wing flexibility, which is now more stringent than ever before.
The FIA has set the bar high, reducing the permissible slot gap variance to a mere 0.5 millimetres, a significant drop from the previous 2mm, when a vertical load of 75 kilograms is applied. This new directive is intended to clamp down on the ‘mini-DRS’ effect – a phenomenon observed when the rear wing slot gap is closed, leading to excessive rear wing deformation at high speeds.
Alpine has been the first to proactively respond to these changes, which were deemed ‘fairly normal’ by the team. With a scant turnaround time between the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix, Alpine had to quickly alter their rear wing in order to adhere to the new guidelines.
Dave Greenwood, Alpine’s racing director, confirmed the modifications without going into specific details. He was quoted stating, “We’ve had to do some work back at the factory to make sure we were in the correct place here,” indicating the team’s commitment to meeting the new FIA standards.
While the impact of the new technical directive on various teams was initially uncertain, Lando Norris of McLaren humorously suggested that their rear wing might be “probably too good”, implying that the rule changes were primarily aimed at other teams.
The Haas team, on the other hand, also hinted at potential adjustments in response to the new rules. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu revealed that they might have to “change a little bit how we set up the wing, but not the design or anything.”
Overall, the F1 racing community continues to adapt to the stricter FIA standards in an attempt to ensure fair competition. The coming races will reveal how these technical alterations impact the performance and strategies of the various teams.
