Mercedes have introduced a new front wing for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix. Here is a detailed analysis of their new front wing and the benefits it will bring:
Firstly, we are able to note the tooth’s under the front wing. With Formula One cars being quite reliant on front wing flow parts, the study of Reynolds number has been very crucial, as we are effectively setting up the whole cars flow paths here.
What Mercedes are doing here is separating the layers of the laminar flow from underneath the wing. The sharp serrations will be cutting into the streamlines which will become separated from the boundary layer.
https://twitter.com/StefanGT3/status/652774619468931072
From here, high pressure from underneath the wing will mix with low pressure from above the wing, which will create a vortex.
This vortex could potentially be used as the Y250 one, which harnesses the tyre wake and moves it to travel along the undercut and the sidepod. Or it could be used for cooling to fire a bigger volume of air into the side pod, which would also give them a benefit aerodynamically to underneath the car with the diffuser and floor working more efficiently.
