The FIA is aware of social media footage showing McLaren’s rear wing flexing at Formula 1's Japanese Grand Prix, but has not received any formal complaint from a team asking for it to be investigated.
Jos Verstappen, the father of world champion Max, raised some eyebrows ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix when he retweeted some onboard video footage from Suzuka last weekend that showed the rear wing of Red Bull's rival McLaren appearing to bend.
The post, which compared the McLaren and Red Bull wings from a rear-facing camera, pointed to the MCL39’s design moving around a lot more than that of the RB21.
Yeah the season definitely starts in Spain, McLaren is a monster when it comes to wing flex pic.twitter.com/E9JT4V0XVI
— Cytrus 🍋 (@cytrusf1) April 9, 2025
The footage has triggered some renewed intrigue over flexi wings in the paddock, and Max Verstappen himself said he too had seen it.
And while drawing short of pointing fingers at what his rival was up to, he suggested in Bahrain that it was pretty obvious what was on display.
Verstappen said: “I don't make the rules. And I'm also not the one enforcing them. What I see probably a lot of people see - but that's it.”
Asked if he had discussed the matter with his team, Verstappen said: “I mean, I know what's going on. I just focus on the car, our car. It's the only thing that I can do.”
With the video images having triggered some interest, The Race has learned that the FIA has been made aware of what has been posted on social media.
However, without any formal complaint from a competitor about a potential rule break, there is no necessity for it to launch any investigation unless it feels that there is a clear and obvious rules breach.
One of the difficulties in cases such as this is that onboard video footage can sometimes offer a skewed perspective on body parts that are moving because the camera rotates with the car too as it brakes and accelerates.
This is why the FIA has its own separate high-definition video cameras that have been used to monitor wings in the early stages of the championship. So far no team has been found to have broken the regulations despite the many static tests that have been conducted.
Asked if he was confident there was a level playing field on rear wings, Verstappen said: “If it's allowed, then yes, right? Everyone is always actually pushing the boundaries, and it's up to the FIA to decide what is allowed.”
Barcelona shake-up?
The issue of flexi wings has been a hot topic this year, with the FIA having taken action on what teams are doing on both their front and rear wings.
Changes have been made already to the rear wing slot gap allowances in the wake of early season fears that some teams were exploiting mini-DRS concepts.
Furthermore, from the Spanish Grand Prix, new tougher front wing flexi wing tests are coming into force to clamp down on what teams have been doing in this area of the car.
Red Bull, which has not been as aggressive as its rivals in pushing on flexi wings, has suggested recently that the Barcelona tweaks could shake up the order at the front of the grid.
But McLaren, which has excelled in this area, has played down there being a big impact.
Oscar Piastri said on Thursday: “I'm pretty confident we’ll be strong all year. I don’t think it’ll change too much.
“I’ve not spoken to the team about it massively, in all honesty, which probably tells you enough about that. So yeah, let’s see when we get to Spain.
"But we’ve still got a lot of races until then and I think we’ll be a strong team all year round.”
Verstappen said that it was far too early to pin hopes on the Spanish GP opening up things for his squad.
“I mean, honestly, I don't like to really think about that too much,” he said. “I just focus on finding performance in the car.
“As soon as we are close to them or level, then I know that it's going to be fine. But we are not there.
"We first need to get to that point. Otherwise, there's no point to even discuss a championship battle.”
