P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Mercedes’s back-to-back front wing tests caught the eye of ex-F1 technical director Gary Anderson…
“It’s interesting to see Mercedes running a back-to-back of two different nose configurations on the second day of Formula 1 2025’s pre-season test in Bahrain. In 2024, it ran a nose-to-forward-wing element with a slot gap (red ellipse) but for its initial launch nose for 2025 it had a new wing with a slightly different mainplane profile (red highlight) and flap profiles. This configuration also did away with the slot gap. But a version with a slot gap (green ellipse) combined with the new wing profile and two small slot gap separators (blue ellipses) between the nose and forward element briefly reappeared on Thursday. I’m a big believer in having the slot gap because I’m also a big believer in airflow consistency. Without the slot gap, you can probably produce a little more front-wing downforce, especially at low speed, and this is something that everyone is chasing. However, getting the airflow to stay attached to the underside of the nose without a slot gap will not be easy, and that’s the airflow that feeds the central section of the leading edge of the underfloor.”
