Championship leader Oscar Piastri believes the attention surrounding the new flexible front wing regulations for this weekend`s Spanish Grand Prix is excessive, while Ferrari anticipates that the changes will have some effect.
More rigorous tests for front wings will be implemented starting from the race in Spain. This aims to curb wing flexing, an area McLaren and other teams were thought to have utilized.
Piastri commented that the biggest potential problem is how “overhyped” the situation is. He stated that all teams will likely need to make modifications, but McLaren does not view the flexible wing as their primary advantage or “magic bullet.”
Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who is currently second in the championship standings, feels that improving their own car is more important than hoping for a performance drop from McLaren due to the regulation change. He suggested that the new rules would slightly alter the car`s balance but wouldn`t lead to significant gains or losses in lap time across teams and should be manageable.
Hamilton: Changes Will Be Interesting
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes expressed that it will be “interesting” to observe the impact of the changes. He described flexible wings as a kind of “band-aid” for design limitations, although he acknowledged that generating sufficient front-end grip at low speeds remains challenging.
Hamilton added that with reduced front wing flex at the Spanish GP, it will be intriguing to see how it affects different teams. He admitted he has “zero clue” how it will specifically influence Mercedes` performance.
Charles Leclerc, Hamilton`s future teammate at Ferrari, agreed that from a driver`s perspective, the car`s balance will change, particularly at high speeds where teams previously gained benefits from wing deflection. However, he doesn`t believe it will drastically shift the competitive hierarchy among the top teams, though it will likely have a “small” effect. He noted that teams can replicate similar performance characteristics through other car setup adjustments.
Albon: Regulation Suits Williams, Track Doesn`t
Alex Albon of Williams commented that while the regulation change itself is favourable for his team, the Barcelona track is not. Therefore, he expects Williams to potentially fall back slightly this weekend, irrespective of the front wing changes. In the longer term, he is optimistic that the rule modification will benefit Williams, as they haven`t exploited wing flexibility to the same extent as some competitors.
Carlos Sainz, Leclerc`s current teammate at Ferrari, echoed the sentiment that the effect won`t be as significant as some people might think. He predicted the difference would likely be no more than a tenth of a second up or down the field, depending on how much a team`s wing was flexing previously.
Sainz highlighted that teams have many tools available mechanically and aerodynamically to adjust the cars. He stressed that teams have prepared extensively for these changes in simulators, indicating they are well-equipped to adapt.
