The consequences of Aston Martin’s radical F1 rear wing design

While the teams have largely followed the intent of the regulations, that doesn’t mean an end to some innovative approaches, as the creative designers flex their muscles and interpret the regulations in their own unique ways.

In this respect, Aston Martin entered the conversation just ahead of the summer break, when it introduced a technically fascinating rear wing design. The new endplate design defies the convention set out in the regulations for which the rolled over transition with the mainplane and flaps has been formulated.

The approach taken by the rulemakers here is both aesthetic and aerodynamic, with the design not only meant to be more appealing to the eye than the more conventional design, it’s also one of the measures meant to help reduce complexity and alter the wake profile of a lead car in order that a trailing car may follow more closely.

The design in question is a callback to the old regulations, with the forward portion of the endplate extended up over the mainplane to create a junction between the two elements and which extends the span of the mainplane, without introducing incredibly harsh flow conditions.

The inwardly-rolled top edge, which looks like an apostrophe, is more about meeting the various radius and continuity rules but has then been optimised to achieve the designers’ overall targets too.

Aston Martin AMR22 rear wing endplate

Photo by: Uncredited

Introducing such a complex design was obviously something that could not be completed overnight, with the team not only having to make the controversial wing work as anticipated but, as the team’s Performance Director Tom McCullough explains, it had to undergo scrutiny from the FIA on numerous occasions to ensure it complied too.

“It took several months from the first contact to the full approval from the FIA,” he said. “And then once you’ve got approval we then design manufacture it, then you submit all the designs pre-race weekend.

“And again, the FIA has to make sure they’re still happy with it, which they [did]. And then you get it on the car.”

Aston Martin AMR22 rear wing endplate

Photo by: Uncredited

However, even if this new design feature did result in a quantifiable performance increase at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it’s not to say that we’ll see the solution at every race weekend given the implications of the cost cap and that Aston Martin has already built wings that they expect to reuse…