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Ive noticed in some races a driver will get an end plate broken off his wing or sustain some type of damage to an important aero part of the car. I'm watching a replay right now of the Suzuka race from last year and webber had the cascade element of his front wing ripped off on the right side, and I don't get it because his lap times didn't seem to drop. I would really like it if someone could explain to me how this works. I feel like I've seen this happen multiple times and I don't get how they can maintain the same lap times as before the damage. They spend hours and millions getting every little piece and grove perfect for their aero considerations and then break it off and there's no difference. I understand that if the whole wing was gone or there was serious damage the effect would be significant.

If my memory is correct in belgium last year Massa had his rear wing support damaged pretty badly but kept up decent lap times. Usually what im talking about seems to be with pieces of a front wing and not rear but i just dont understand how they can keep it up if the wings and aero are so important? if someone could shed a little light on my question it would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys

quite often it is a mental thing when small bits are damaged/missing. but in situations where there is a measurable/noticable change, the driver comensates for the issue and usually we see increased tyre wear/graining, or fluctuating lap-times due the extra driving involved to try and keep pace.

+ 1

Endplates often have the purpose of defining the airflow over some other parts of the car (like the tires) ... therefore a damaged endplate might result in higher fuel consumption instead of slower laptimes... also while driving behind other cars the aero system is a mess anyway and none of the parts works as it would under clean air conditions...

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In addition to what is said above, dont forget that the weight of the petrol is also dropping, so this can be offset against the lap times. This can be around 1/10 second per lap

I think that in fact he was faster

Could we argue that the extra winglets, bells, and whistles are needed in a quali-pace. You simply need to start up front in order to win?

Race pace is something else, saving the car, gas, tires. They hardly go 100%