F1 | Flexible wings: FIA is fine with them, some teams rearmament

FIA technicians have completed the technical checks of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix without doing overtime. The post-race began with numerous controversies on the evergreen issue of flexible wings, but inside the paddock the air is different.

No complaints, everything is in order and off to Singapore. Considering the level of confrontation that the 2024 world championship is offering, with three or four teams (depending on the type of track) fighting for the victory, the teams are closely marked. Yet no team has thought of filing a complaint against the flexibility of the McLaren wings.

The certainties that emerge from curious technical analyses unleashed in the social universe, are shattered by the silence of those who would have a concrete interest in questioning the legality of McLaren, namely Red Bull and Ferrari.

There is a reason: if a complaint were made against McLaren, it would be rejected. The technical regulations make it clear that teams must comply with static “load tests.” The rules state that ‘any part of the trailing edge of the front wing flaps may not deflect more than 5mm (measured along the axis) when a load of 60N (6.1kg) is applied to the flap.’

Once this test has been passed, a wing is considered legal, and all teams regularly pass the technical checks carried out during the race weekends.

The day after the Baku weekend, the FIA ​​(responding to Motorsport.com) reiterated that no extraordinary interventions are planned. “As for the front wings that the teams are using this season, we can say that they have all passed our tests,” confirmed a spokesperson for the International Federation.

Another story is that of the cameras applied (starting from the Belgian GP) by the FIA ​​on the single-seaters to record and monitor the movement of the flaps on all the single-seaters. “The use of those images will be helpful in studying future technical regulations”, clarified the FIA.

Tougher rules in 2025?

In addition to the controversy about the present, there are also questions about a future that is just around the corner. Christian Horner has stressed that Red Bull is ready to review its wing projects if greater flexibility is approved.
“Clarity is fundamental, we need to understand what is allowed and what is not. I think (the FIA) has a lot of information thanks also to the images recorded by the cameras installed on the cars”.

There is talk of 2025 but not only. In the paddock there have been whispers for some time that some teams have already been working on an evolution of their wings (same design, but different carbon fiber processing) that could be on the track starting from the Austin weekend.

An extra job started after Mercedes (starting from the Monaco weekend) used wings with a behavior similar to that of McLaren. However, it risks being an effort (not indifferent) useful only for six Grand Prix.

The FIA ​​is under pressure. The teams (who no longer dare to come forward with a complaint) are asking for a legitimate clarification, and the load tests could be tightened starting next season. It’s a bit of a joke for those who don’t want to leave anything to chance in view of the end of the season, given that they will be called upon to develop a new construction procedure to create a new set of wings destined to take to the track for only six weekends.