How flexible are wings

[NJB13]

I was wondering whether the flexibility of the front and rear wings has changed much over the years.
I'm not a techie at all, but, a couple of things are obvious to me. You want wing to corner and you don't want them on straights. I can see that from the look they have at say Monza compared to other tracks.
If that was true, and with the new composites and fibres available now (kevlar etc) I was wondering if you could design a wing, that at very high speed (so you know your on the straight) will flatten out somewhat - less drag down the straight and wouldn't require driver input. Wind speed and angle of attack would have effects that would be hard to work out - I should be smart and delete this post. But I'm clearly not smart.
Enzo was right, aeros are for people who can't build engines.

[Jacquesvw]

I was wondering whether the flexibility of the front and rear wings has changed much over the years.
I'm not a techie at all, but, a couple of things are obvious to me. You want wing to corner and you don't want them on straights. I can see that from the look they have at say Monza compared to other tracks.
If that was true, and with the new composites and fibres available now (kevlar etc) I was wondering if you could design a wing, that at very high speed (so you know your on the straight) will flatten out somewhat - less drag down the straight and wouldn't require driver input. Wind speed and angle of attack would have effects that would be hard to work out - I should be smart and delete this post. But I'm clearly not smart.
Enzo was right, aeros are for people who can't build engines.

Ferrari already did that but then the FIA increased the weight used to test the flexibility of the wings. So basically they banned it indirectly.

[Grinsomx]

not sure if it will help you with your question but there is an older article on flexi-wings on F1Fanatic

2007 article over here

[Ste]

Very flexible if you consider Ferrari's 2006 rear wing and Mclaren's 2008 front wing bridge

[chris.gotfunk]

Also, if you remember... either this year or last year, Toyota were penalized for having too flexible of a rear wing. The FIA hangs a weight off the back of the wing and it can only flex so far. I am sure teams already have that covered.

[NJB13]

Thanks, seems I'm only about 10 years behind the times - that's not too bad for me

I wonder if you could use pressure (created from enough speed - a speed that you would be doing on a straight) to somehow move something like the rearview mirrors to disurb the airflow to the wings, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the wings while your on the straight.

[Ken]

Thanks, seems I'm only about 10 years behind the times - that's not too bad for me

I wonder if you could use pressure (created from enough speed - a speed that you would be doing on a straight) to somehow move something like the rearview mirrors to disurb the airflow to the wings, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the wings while your on the straight.

That Idea has a lot of Virtue and would be a very low Tech' solution :)