Although the FIA has deemed Mercedes’ front wing legal for now, the design of the W15 still remains under scrutiny. The motorsports governing body has revealed that they will carry out more checks about the same in the coming days. Consequently, the Silver Arrows may have not escaped the threat of an FIA ban completely. As per a report, the FIA will carry out more checks on Mercedes’ front wing, which they believe goes against the “spirit of the regulations”.
The report states, “However, this saga is not yet completely over, as anticipated by Formu1a.uno on Tuesday. In fact, it could be deemed that the Mercedes interpretation goes against the spirit of the regulations”.
Meanwhile, F1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds also revealed in a recent interview that even though Mercedes’ front wing is completely legal, the FIA may still not be happy about the solution they have discovered to tackle the issue of turbulence.
Speaking of the same, he told Sky Sports (as quoted by Formu1a.uno), “Do we want to have a solution like this in the car? I think we first need to understand how big the effect is”.
| Rivals are concerned about the Mercedes front wing’s potential.
There are theories it could “flex” and reduce drag.
It could also generate more dirty air and make it harder for others to follow.
[@formu1a__uno] pic.twitter.com/in4dGZKCYp
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 20, 2024
Since many are not happy with the solution Mercedes have introduced to tackle turbulence, Symonds believes that the FIA could still ban their front wing design. However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is adamant that his side has stuck to the regulations and that there is nothing illegal about the W15’s front wing.
Wolff claims the FIA has given the green light for Mercedes’ front wing
After several rivals questioned the front wing of the W15, Toto Wolff reminded them that his side have received the authentication of the FIA as well. As quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, the Austrian stated that they have had intense discussions with the FIA to introduce every element they have on the W15.
Many rivals seem to have raised concerns about the W15’s front wing because of Mercedes’ ingenious innovation. F1 expert Craig Scarborough explained in an earlier interview how the Silver Arrows just managed to meet the technical regulations.
In an interview with Peter Windsor, Scarborough revealed that as per the FIA’s regulations, each car must have four elements on the front wing. He then explained that although the W15 does have four elements on the front wing, the end part of the fourth one is not visible unless one looks closely.
This is because Mercedes have cleverly narrowed the fourth element of the front wing to manage the turbulence and extract more performance as a result. Now, only time will tell if the FIA decides to take action or not against Mercedes, having given them the green light initially.
In case the FIA does deem the W15’s front wing illegal, it could massively impact Mercedes since just over a week remains for the 2024 season to begin. The first race weekend will take place from February 29 to March 2.
