In topic of flexi-wings returned to fashion in 2024, as teams worked to ‘bypass’ the FIA’s static checks. Teams achieved this by ensuring the first macro element of the wing flexed dynamically. The FIA technical office has always declared these as being legal. However, under the continuous complaints and requests for clarification by the various teams, there has been no shortage of tightening these elasticity checks. Many of these protests resulted in changes implemented last-season.
New Technical Directive: The FIA previously announced that it would not add further tests
Last year, during the Belgian GP weekend, the FIA introduced dedicated cameras to monitor the flex of the front wings. These cameras can be seen through the now classic adhesive dots placed in some strategic positions.
Nikolas Tombazis, in an interview with Motorsport, declared that tests to measure front wing flexing would not undergo changes in 2025. The head of FIA single-seaters underlined the difficulty of developing standardized tests – due to the variability of aerodynamic loads between the different cars, making it difficult to replicate real race conditions in the laboratory.
However, the issue of controlling excessive flex is still the subject of attention. Not so much in terms of new tests, but in terms of updating the current ones, which according to Tombazis, have not been changed since 2022.
It is widely believed that the progress made by Mercedes , Ferrari and especially McLaren was due to the introduction of more flexible front wings. One of the most important problems that engineers have to face with these ground effect cars is finding the right balance.
This is because they have a tendency to understeer in slow corners and oversteer in fast ones. According to some important insiders, one way to do this is to think of a ‘flexible’ front wing that varies its load significantly at various speeds, meaning flaps that generate more load in slow corners, to counteract understeer. They would then change their angle of attack at high speeds, so as not to make the car too oversteer. This is seen as a good way to control the aerodynamic balance.
FIA wants to approve a new technical directive: will it arrive around May?
All the teams are currently involved in preparing for the 2025 season and in the development of the related projects. The next few months will represent the final push before the 2026 regulations become the focus.
The development of the wings, especially the front ones, is always intense. This element, together with the floor, is one of the areas where teams continue to spend key resources in development. The top teams concentrate the most resources in the development of materials and their elasticity, to optimise aerodynamic efficiency.
Not least Ferrari, who at the Grand Prix of the Americas (Austin) introduced a new front wing – with the only changes being in the composition of the materials. The Scuderia maintained the same front wing shape though, meaning the specification was regarded as the same shape.
As AutoRacer has learned, the FIA has already sent a draft of an update to the technical checks on the front wing. This technical directive would further revise how much the front wing flap will have to flex during static tests.
The FIA believes this is the only tool to properly enforce the flexibility of front wings. It is curious that McLaren, the often associated with this subject, is in support of this proposed technical directive. After all, the Woking team paid a lot of attention to the Ferrari and Mercedes wings in the second part of last season.
From the latest draft delivered to the teams, it seems the FIA has further reduced the maximum flex permitted. According to several insiders, it normally takes 3 to even 6 months of development to adapt and reduce such a change.
This would obviously hit the small teams the most, who are already adjusting to divert their resources to 2026 already at the beginning of 2025. Of course, a change in front wing directive would force them to revise their existing configurations. From what we have learned, if everything goes in the agreed direction, the FIA’s technical directive could be officially valid from May.
Something the FIA is also evaluating is whether to extend the update to also check the rear wings.
