FORCE INDIA’S SPLIT UPPER FLAP
Force India also tweaked its front wing ahead of its home event. The main board lost a dent (compare red arrows), in a manner similar to what Ferrari had done in Austria a week earlier. Meanwhile, the upper flap has been split into two parts (see yellow arrows), again in order to increase the angle of incidence while maintaining the airflow attached to the surface.
One could be surprised to see the flap supports on the outer side of the wing (see white arrows) instead of the inner face, where these would a priori less disrupt the airflow.
In reality, the inner face is more sensitive to irregularities, so placing an element there – be it a flap support, a DRS case, an infra-red camera – would increase the risk of flow separation, which would in turn lead to a decrease in downforce levels.
That’s the reason why aero elements are always mounted on the ‘high-pressure’ face of the wing, both at the front and at the rear.
