Formula 1 teams look set to face tougher flexi wing tests from the Spanish Grand Prix in June in a further FIA clampdown, The Race has learned.
While the governing body said in public several times towards the end of last season that it was comfortable with what teams were up to on this front, it has now emerged that discussions have been taking place over the winter to pull back on flexible front wing tricks a little.
As first revealed by Italian website Autoracer.it, the FIA recently issued a draft technical directive detailing how it will toughen up the flexi wing tests that are conducted in garages.
Sources have indicated to The Race that this is an updated version of TD18 that covers the area of front wing flexibility and how tests will be measured.
While the details of the tougher new requirements have not been made public, sources have indicated that while the loads being used to test the wing remain the same, the amount of flex that will be allowed is much less.
Article 3.15.4 of F1’s technical regulations states that under the current load tests, the area of focus across both wings must not flex by any more than 15mm. It is understood that part of the latest clarification involves this allowance being reduced to 10mm.
This, along with some other detailed changes in the measurement of what are known as 'fish plates', effectively reduces flexibility by one third, which is something that has been described by one source as “a proper step”.
The source added: “I will be surprised if anyone will be able to play around with flexi wing designs as much as they were before.”
An FIA statement said it was attempting to draw a conclusive line under the flexi wing arguments. Alongside the new front wing clarification, it had already changed the rear wing regulations for the start of the season to try to eliminate so-called 'mini-DRS' effects.
Following further analysis carried out by the FIA Single Seater Department after the conclusion of the 2024 season, we are committed to ensure that bodywork flexibility is no longer a point of contention for the 2025 season," said the statement.
"As part of this effort, we will be increasing the scope of rear wing tests from the start of the 2025 season, and additional front wing tests being introduced from the Spanish GP.
"This phased approach allows teams to adapt without the need to discard existing components unnecessarily.
"These adjustments are aimed at further refining our ability to monitor and enforce bodywork flexibility regulations, ensuring a level playing field for all competitors to promote fair and exciting racing."
While teams have been aware of the changes coming in for a while, what has not been clear is exactly when the new tests would be enforced.
Because it will require teams to make modifications to their front wing designs and the FIA’s intentions were only made clear recently, it was felt unfair for the new test requirements to come into play for the start of the season.
It is understood that there was an initial proposal for the clampdown to come into force for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in mid-May, but it has now been decided that the changes will instead come in for the Spanish Grand Prix on June 1.
Flexi wing war continues
The issue of aero elasticity became a hot topic throughout last season as the benefits of having front wings flexing became more obvious with the current generation of ground effect cars.
A flexi front wing allows teams to better balance their cars, as it can help dial out low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer
McLaren and Mercedes were understood to have been most advanced in using flexi wing tricks to gain an edge, with Red Bull and Ferrari only joining in with the antics late on.
Last year, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur expressed some frustration that clarity over what teams were and were not allowed to do had come late.
Asked by The Race whether the flexi wing issue was a defining point in the 2024 battle, Vasseur replied: "I think so.
"I'm a bit frustrated with this, because it was clear performance, and we waited two months for the decision on if it's legal or not.
"Plus you have always to keep in mind the cost cap. It means that you have to be efficient with the budget, so if you start to do a development and at the end it's a no-go, then you burn €600,000.
"And if you burn half a million for nothing, then you can't spend it somewhere else. For me, it was more than on the edge, the [wings] story."
The FIA began an exercise from the Belgian GP to monitor more closely what teams were doing on this front, but it said several times that it did not see anything untoward from its observations.
FIA head of single seaters Nikolas Tombazis originally said that the governing body was reluctant to rush through any changes to the technical regulations for 2025.
“Because the front wing gets loaded in different ways, we cannot predict it easily in the regulations,” he said. “As no two wings have exactly the same loading pattern, it is very difficult to come with a proper test.
“So, as these rules have been around since 2022, we felt it was a bit knee jerk to suddenly say that for 2025 we were going to change it, or indeed change something for 2024.
“But we are using this information we're gathering to perhaps lead us to something a bit more effective for 2026.”
However, it may be that concerns about teams pushing the limits even more in 2025 has prompted a rethink and a move to tighten things up – even if it is not an official rule change.
