© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
A change in 2023 technical regulations allows Ferrari to use a front wing design similar to the one that was ‘banned’ for Mercedes in 2022.
After Ferrari launched its 2023 car – the SF-23, observers immediately noticed that the team is running slot-gap generators that look almost exactly like the ones Mercedes introduced last season.
Ahead of the 2022 United States Grand Prix, Mercedes revealed a revised front wing with aforementioned slot-gap generators, but questions about its legality were immediately raised.
The design featured five strakes which were introduced to help modify airflow, but rivals pointed to Article 3.9.8 of F1’s Technical Regulations that stated such components were allowed, but they were not supposed to deliver a direct aerodynamic influence.
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The regulations said the strakes can be fitted for ‘primarily mechanical, structural or measurement reasons’, and Mercedes believed they complied because any aerodynamic influence was an indirect consequence.
However, since rival teams complained, the FIA decided to take a closer look, but before any conclusion could be reached, Mercedes decided not to use the design.
“I think there’s a fuss about it, because in the regulations, it talks about the primary use being for mechanical or measurement purposes,” Mercedes’ Technical Director Mike Elliott said before the team decided to remove the design.
“And clearly, there’s a secondary benefit of an aerodynamic design that’s in there as well. We’ll decide whether we want to argue that one or not. It’s actually not worth a huge amount.
“That detail looks interesting, but it’s not the big thing on the front wing,” Elliott concluded.
Now Ferrari is using a similar design, which has left observers questioning how can the solution suddenly be completely legal.
Well, it would appear that it is, since the FIA decided to slightly alter the 2023 technical regulations. More precisely, the FIA has removed the sentence that stated that the strakes need to be ‘primarily for mechanical, structural or measurement reasons’.
This means that the slot-gap separators are now fully legal, no matter how much of an aerodynamic boost they provide. It’s only important that they provide a ‘structural connection’ between consecutive front wing profiles, and comply with measurement requirements.
It remains to be seen if Mercedes has also decided to use this solution in 2023.
