Why the FIA are clamping down on flexi wings at the F1 Spanish GP
The FIA have explained the new flexi-wing clampdown imposed at this weekend's F1 Spanish Grand Prix.
This weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix will see new tests introduced by F1’s governing body the FIA to clamp down on flexible wings.
In a move that could shake-up the 2025 pecking order, teams will have to pass more stringent tests tests on front wings to match the recent tightening of tests on rear wings which were imposed at the Chinese and Japanese grands prix.
The clampdown comes in response to concerns raised, initially during the 2024 season, that some teams were potentially bending the rules with designs that might reduce drag at high speed or even change the aerodynamic balance of the car from low-speed to high-speed.
A first step saw new load tests introduced earlier this season.
Article 3.15.17 stated that “if 75Kg of vertical load were to be applied on either extremity of the rear wing mainplane, the distance between the mainplane and the flap (also known as ‘slot gap’) should not vary by more than 2mm.”
Cameras were mounted on F1 cars at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to help monitor the regulation.
The FIA determined that further tests were needed and in China, the tolerance was reduced to 0.75mm. It was reduced once again at the next race in Japan, to 0.5mm.
Attention then turned to front wings, with a revision to Article 3.15.4 and 3.15.5 made from this weekend’s race at Barcelona, the ninth round of the campaign.
The tougher tests state that when 100kg of load is applied symmetrically to both sides of the car “the vertical deflection must be no more than 10mm and applied to only one side of the car the vertical deflection must be no more than 15mm.”
Any part of the trailing edge of any front wing flag may deflect no more than 3mm when a 6kg point load is applied.
FIA explains tougher stance
The FIA’s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis said: “When championship battles become intense, teams tend to focus on each other’s cars a lot, and naturally they raise concerns and over the latter half of the season we came to the conclusion that we needed to toughen a bit more the tests for 2025.”
It is hoped the new round of tests will finally put the long-running saga to bed.
“Obviously it is fair for the FIA to add more flexibility tests or stiffness tests when it judges that a certain area may be getting exploited a bit too much, but yes, we hope it will be the last time we’ll do anything for this year,” Tombazis added.
“There are areas where the propensity to have flexible components is less pronounced, because of the straight-line mode, for example and therefore in some areas it may be that at some point we choose to ease the toughness of the tests.
“But fundamentally the philosophy is the same. We need to be vigilant, and we need to keep testing. In fact, we are defining the loads for next year now. So, we will see how the first evolves and if we need to react to maintain fairness, then we will do so.”
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