At the presentation of the new car for 2023, Ferrari revealed several interesting details, and everyone’s attention was drawn, among other things, to a series of carefully designed vortex generators connecting the upper two flaps of their front wing, which Mercedes did not dare to use last year, even though they brought such solution to the Mexican Grand Prix.
At last year’s Mexican Grand Prix, Mercedes brought an innovative front wing solution with aerodynamically shaped elements that connect the two uppermost elements and it was clear that their function was not exclusively mechanical.
In last year’s version of the technical regulations, in article 3.9.8. it states that the elements located on the front wing must have an exclusively ‘mechanical, structural and measuring’ role, and the Mercedes elements, which normally have the function of controlling the distance between the two uppermost elements, also had an evident aerodynamic function.
Their aerodynamic function was to aggressively direct the airflow outwards with a series of vortex generators to reduce the negative effect of front wheel turbulence, something teams were allowed to use last time in 2018 when the front wings were extremely complex and used aggressive outwashing elements.
For fear of protests, Mercedes did not use such a front wing design in Mexico last year because there was a possibility that they would be subsequently disqualified.
But at the presentation of the new SF-23, Ferrari presented a similar design of the front wing with five connectors that do not hide their intention at all, which is to create a cascade of vortices that will direct the airflow around the front wheels.
The key change that allows Ferrari, as well as any other teams that opt for such a solution, to use such a design is found in article 3.9.8 of the 2023 technical regulations, which deletes the part that states that the elements located on the front wing must have an exclusively ‘mechanical, structural and measuring’ role.
That’s why Ferrari’s solution is completely legal and we can expect it on many other cars as well, maybe already in pre-season testing, including Mercedes, which had such a solution last year, but they didn’t use it because it would be against the rules.
Until the end of 2018, the design of the front wings was significantly more complex than today as it was allowed to use an unlimited number of elements of the front wing (today only four main elements), but also numerous vortex generators and cascades that created strong outwashing effect directed towards the outside of the front wheels.
Although today such a design is forbidden by the rules, teams try to replicate at least a small part of the effect of sending airflow around the front wheels, which reduces air resistance and the negative effect that turbulence from the front wheels has on the rest of the car’s aerodynamics.
