New Delhi:- Fernando Alonso brought excitement to the beginning of the races. He surprised everyone by becoming a strong competitor against Red Bull. The team almost won the Monaco Grand Prix. However, things started to get harder after obtaining six top three finishes in the first eight races, which included coming in second place in both Monaco and Canada.
Alonso has been getting fifth place in his recent races since the Austrian GP. However, it is McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari who have been getting the top three spots on the podium after Red Bull. The way Alonso's car looked different has made many people curious. Alonso hinted that it might be because of the tires Pirelli started using at the British GP.
These "side effects," as team principal Mike Krack mentioned recently, were not easy to see in Montreal because of the type of track called Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However, they became more noticeable in the following races when we needed to put more weight on the car.
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As the person in charge of performance, Tom McCullough said, "We always try to improve performance, but it's rare to achieve that without making any changes. " So, there's always something that you're trying to figure out. Alonso did well in Belgium, finishing in fifth place. This made the team believe that they finally understood the car and could have a better second half of the season.
Krack said that the information we have seen so far looks good. "We wanted to be better and more competitive than we have been in the past. " But other teams in the paddock have suggested that there might be another interesting reason for Aston Martin's change in performance - it has to do with a restriction on flexible wings by the FIA.
Autosport has discovered that the governing body has been carefully watching the construction of front wings this year to make sure that teams are not using clever tricks to gain an advantage from flexible parts.
The FIA and teams have known for a long time that if a team can make a front wing that is sturdy enough when not moving, but can bend down in a controlled way when going fast on the track, then it can greatly improve the team's performance. Earlier this season, the FIA became more cautious about certain front wing designs. They were concerned that these designs were bending too much, more than they believed was needed.
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Even though the wings were fine in the flexibility tests and there were no suspicions of teams breaking the rules, any design that made the wings bend while driving fast could have been considered a violation of Article 3. 22 of the Technical Regulations.
This means that any parts on the car that affect how it moves through the air must be fixed in place and not able to move. They must be attached firmly to the car's frame. Additionally, these parts need to create a smooth, strong, unbroken, and waterproof surface at all times.
A flexible front wing can help teams in racing by allowing them to increase downforce in corners for better grip. However, it can also be adjusted to bend down while going straight, which helps reduce resistance and make the car go faster.
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The camera footage from Fernando Alonso's car in the first races showed that Aston Martin could use high wing angles and that their wing would bend when they went very fast in a straight line. The FIA did something during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and informally told some teams that they wanted them to make changes to avoid problems at future races.
It is not known exactly when these changes were supposed to happen, but teams are usually given some flexibility to make design changes in situations like this. What is obvious is that the Aston Martin car did not perform as well as expected during the Spanish GP. Its performance was especially not good at low speeds and medium speeds.
The team has not said if they had to change their front wing, but people who know a lot about the situation say that Aston Martin had to make changes. We are not sure about the specific modifications that Aston Martin had to make, but when we closely look at its front wing, it seems to have been adjusted in a different way during the time when the FIA imposed stricter rules.
It is apparent that Aston Martin's performance in the Spanish GP was not as good as before, especially when it came to low-speed and medium-speed. The team hasn't said whether they had to change their front wing, but insiders say Aston Martin had to make modifications.
We don't know the specific changes Aston Martin made, but by studying its front wing, it seems they made some modifications when the FIA started cracking down on it. In the picture above, you can see that the wings have two spinning vortex structures. These structures are created by adjusting the metal flaps.
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The inner one of these makes a similar, but probably not as strong, spinning movement as the older wings. Some teams have used an extra part called a pivot on their front wing. Aston Martin had this extra part in Bahrain and Australia, but didn't have it in Saudi Arabia.
But, it vanished in Baku and Miami, came back for Monaco, and hasn't been raced since. You can easily see the area where this part used to be in the wing it is currently using. Look at the small picture inside for a clearer view. This third bracket is not against the law because Alpine, Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren have all used it in their own ways.
Right now, the Aston Martin doesn't have it, and that might just be a coincidence. But it's also possible that Aston Martin used it to help control the front wing when it was loaded and unloaded. The way this pivot is angled is also interesting because it slopes outward. This angle could have possibly helped in directing the angle of a fast movement.
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Taking out this pivot, whether it was done forcefully or intentionally, would definitely cause the air to flow differently over the front wing. This change could also lead to some of the effects that the team has mentioned.
Aston Martin is not worried about their front wing development choices. They are focused on ending this year strong. McCullough said that we have been focusing on significant progress throughout the year.
We have enough money to continue making improvements to the car, and that is what we want to achieve. So, we will follow some steps until the championship is finished, doing as much as we can.
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Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso are having big problems with the speed of their car. The car is not performing well because of some accidents. The Paddock has also said that the issue is with the front wing of the car. It is slightly tilted downward, which causes the aerodynamics to make the car unstable.