FIA announce OFFICIAL F1 decision over controversial changes

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FIA announce OFFICIAL decision over controversial F1 changes

The FIA have made a decision regarding flexi wing changes

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 30 December 2024 09:12 Updated: 11:18

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The FIA have announced an official decision over controversial Formula 1 changes regarding flexible front wings.

Ferrari and Red Bull initially launched a query into the flexibility of the front wings of rival teams such as Mercedes and McLaren during the 2024 season, where the sport's governing body placed monitoring cameras from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.

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The FIA declared that there was no issue with Mercedes and McLaren’s front wings, as long as they passed flex tests, and treated the investigation as a way to inform future regulations.

Now, their official decision has been confirmed over whether they will implement these changes following the controversy surrounding these front wings in 2024.

Mercedes and McLaren were placed under investigation for their front wings in 2024

Nikolas Tombazis has revealed the FIA's verdict on flexi wings

FIA announce flexi wing verdict for 2025

According to the FIA's head of single-seater matters Nikolas Tombazis, the organisation will not change front wing flex tests used in F1.

"We are pretty happy with what we've seen," Tombazis said to Autosport.

"I hasten to say that it's not a question always of being happy or not.

"It's also a question of whether you feel that a meaningful test can be made.

"One of the challenges in the front wing is that, compared to other parts of the car, the front wing loading is much more varied between cars in a given location and so on.

"So most tests relate to the load of a certain direction, certain position of application, certain magnitude must not produce a [certain] deformation.

"The most successful such tests imitate as much as possible what happens in real life with loads and, on the earlier wing for example, it's reasonably successful. On the front wing, the variety between cars would make that quite difficult."

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