The 2025 Formula 1 season has yet to begin, yet the first controversies and changes to the technical regulations have already begun. The FIA has the arduous task of dealing with the technical offices of the 10 teams across the field. These departments are made up of hundreds of people who go in search of every thousandth of a second.
As we reported exclusively, the FIA has implemented a technical directive to manage flexi-wings. This has been officially added to technical regulation. There will be new checks in Australia for the rear wings, and finally in Spain for the front wings.
This, as we reported, had caused the anger of teams like Red Bull, who spent a lot of their budget on this area. During Bahrain testing, it was Red Bull’s technical director who reopened the issue again.
He pointed the finger at McLaren and Ferrari’s rear wings and the continuous use of the “mini-DRS”.
Pierre Waché drew the attention of the FIA, who want to end this issue – especially ahead of 2026.
Pierre Waché attacked Ferrari and McLaren: A request has been sent to the teams for rear wing controls.
Bahrain Testing is not only important for fans to see cars on track for the first time. It is also the first opportunity for teams to look at the solutions other teams have been working on.
While the RB21 carried out various tests, including a new wing and a modified floor, Red Bull’s technical director spoke at a press conference and launched the first accusations of the season:
“Ferrari and McLaren are continuing to use the mini-DRS effect”.
It is inevitable for anyone to pay attention to the rear wing of these teams. They are not the only ones under the microscope, though. Mercedes has also shown an evident bending movement of this component.
To a lesser extent, much of the field has worked on this area and wing flexibility.
The FIA continues to monitor this area – but Tombazis’ technical office is tired of receiving complaints. As AutoRacer has learned, the FIA’s technical office has sent the teams an official request for new measures regarding the visual control of the rear wings – starting from Australia.
This is to monitor the deformation of the rear wings with their own instruments.
Positioning of the cameras and related visual references to be affixed (stickers) are reportedly being deliberated. This already happened last year for some races, starting from the Belgian GP.
Although there is little time to validate these changes, it is the FIA’s prerogative to put a new provision on monitoring flex-wings for the first round in Australia.
Cameras on cars, in addition to those already present, which have the specific task of observing rear wing movement. The aim is to verify whether the mini-DRS, banned after Baku GP, is still present on some cars.
In theory, these measures will ensure teams are not circumventing the static checks that are implemented.
The first act of anti-bending checks will be put into practice in Australia: tough checks also on the beam wing
Moreover, there will be stricter tests on the rear wings moving forward. This is despite all of the controversies outlined above.
But that’s not all, because the FIA to be decisive int his area and keep the flexing of the wings under greater control. They aim to avoid what happened last year, where this issue became a dominant theme.
In Melbourne, as expected, the checks on the bending of the beam wing will also be tightened. According to article 3.15.12b, in fact, the beam wing component – the wing placed above the diffuser below the rear wing – will be subjected to a load perpendicular to the surface of 150N, at which a deflection greater than 0.8 degrees must not occur.
A test defined by the same experts as “very restrictive” that aims to reduce to a minimum the deformation of the materials with the car in motion compared to the checks carried out “cold”.
