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The FIA has confirmed no Formula One team is in breach of the technical regulations regarding their front wing designs after Red Bull and Ferrari raised concerns about their rivals.
In recent races, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and its motorsport adviser, Helmut Marko, have publicly referenced the front wing design used by McLaren and Mercedes, believing it aided their performance gain.
McLaren and Mercedes have won five of the last six races, while Red Bull has seen its form slump and its constructors’ lead over McLaren dwindle to just eight points.
All teams’ front wing designs must pass a flexibility test administered by the FIA as part of their regular technical checks of the cars. But it is an area teams will try to push as far as the regulations permit, given the performance gains by making the aerodynamic parts more efficient when passing through the air.
Red Bull and Ferrari were eager to discuss McLaren and Mercedes’ front wing designs with the FIA, F1’s regulator, amid flexibility concerns that emerged following the Monza race weekend.
After Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen endured a difficult race to sixth place, Horner said the matter was for the FIA to rule on.
“Obviously there’s a test you pass, and then you have to look at the wording of the regulations,” Horner said. “If you remember back in ’21, certainly around Baku time, there was a change to the front wing regulation. Even though our wing passed the test, it was exploiting an elasticity.
“So that’s an FIA issue; we’ll leave it with them.”
Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, said he did not want to discuss the topic with the media but “will have it with Nikolas Tombazis,” referring to the FIA’s F1 technical chief. “But we have to respect the decision of the FIA. We will have, again, the discussion and see.”
The FIA has now confirmed that all the front wings are in line with the rulebook, stating: “The FIA is examining front wings at every event with numerous checks (conformity of surfaces, conformity of deflections) with respect to the relevant F1 Technical Regulation.
“All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations.”
Since the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, randomly selected teams have been required to run FIA-mandated cameras on their front wings in the Friday practice sessions as part of a data-gathering exercise.
The FIA ruled that Mercedes’ front wings were in compliance. (Sipa USA)
It is understood this was introduced not because of any questions over the degree of flexibility of the front wings, but instead as a way to help inform the future technical regulations concerning that part of the car.
The FIA will continue to run the tests in practice until at least the Singapore Grand Prix to ensure that every team has run the FIA camera on different types of circuits, ranging from Singapore’s low-speed street track to Monza, the quickest race of the year.
“The front wing has been a challenging area throughout the years because the aerodynamic loading patterns between different competitors varies, and it is, therefore, difficult to find a load vector which will cover all types of front wing construction,” the FIA explained in a statement.
“Other areas of the car – including rear wing and floor edges – have much more consistent aerodynamic loading patterns across the grid, making for a more universal load-deflection test.
“The FIA has the right to introduce new tests if irregularities are suspected. There are no plans for any short-term measures, but we are evaluating the situation with the medium and long-term in mind.”
It leaves both Red Bull and Ferrari to evaluate a potential change in their front wing designs to follow the lead of McLaren and Mercedes if they believe it could offer a boost in performance.
Horner admitted on Sunday that “if it’s acceptable, you have to join it.”
After failing to win any of the last six races, Red Bull is working to understand its recent car issues. Verstappen claimed at Monza that the car had become a “monster” and that without major changes, neither championship was realistic for the team to win, despite his 62-point lead atop the drivers’ standings.
Top photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
