McLaren Technical Head Clarifies How F1 Intends To Resolve Flexi Wing Issues in the 2022 Season

Formula One is just a couple of months away from racing in the new era of the sport. 2022 season will bring in a new set of regulations and new cars that will promote closer competition between the teams. The new cars will be less aerodynamically sensitive and will generate downforce differently from previous cars. McLaren F1 technical head James Key explained how the wings on the new cars will behave.

Key had previously mentioned that the rules to monitor the wings will be stricter in the 2022 season. He explained how the wings on the 2022 cars will differ from the 2021 cars.

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The front wing in 2022 is a massive thing: McLaren technical head James Key

As reported by Motorsport, the British engineer mentioned that the front wings will be tighter this season. He also revealed that the tests will be tougher as the FIA will pay more attention to the changes.

“I think the sensitivity of the aero-elastics has changed and I think that is well understood from the regulations that have been discussed at length, how to better manage components which can flex,” said Key.

“The front wing in 2022 is a massive thing, but it still has a very stringent set of guidelines on stiffness, so I think there will always be a few tricks to play but I don’t think there is going to be something easy to exploit. 

“You’ve got a couple of different components on the car which can have a certain level of stiffness, which you could exploit legally, so there are various new tools to play within 2022,” said Key.

The Flexi wings were a big issue in the 2021 season, so hopefully, with tighter tests, it could be resolved. Key hopes that they have developed their car to be competitive in the next season. McLaren could be a title challenger this year if they have a fast car.

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