Alfa Romeo slate FIA wing ruling "a joke" that will "cost us a fortune"

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo slate FIA wing ruling "a joke" that will "cost us a fortune"

Alfa Romeo is one of the teams that needs to redesign rear wing

Ian Parkes

Sunday 30 May 2021 14:00

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Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur has slated the FIA's decision to introduce new rear-wing tests as "a joke" that will cost the team "a fortune".

From the French Grand Prix, motorsport's governing body is due to introduce new regulations surrounding the rear wings due to the flex nature of the component on the cars of a number of teams, including Red Bull, Ferrari, Alpine and Alfa Romeo.

Mercedes is pushing for the changes to come into effect from the next race in Azerbaijan otherwise it has suggested legal action may be required.

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Vasseur is far from happy with the proposed changes due to the upheaval and, in particular, the costs involved.

"At the end of the day, we have the regulation with the maximum deformation and the load," said Vasseur.

"We're not any more clever than the others, everybody was sticking to the limit and the FIA decided to change the limit.

"It’s a bit surprising they have changed the load and deformation in the course of the season.

"It’s not the introduction of a new test or a new way to do the test, it’s that they change the value, and this, for me if I remember right, is the first time we see something like this.

"If you are at the limit, if you've done a good job, you now have to produce new wings, and in terms of cost-saving, it’s a huge, huge effort."

Alfa Romeo question Red Bull lap gain

Asked as to the amount of work and resource required, an annoyed Vasseur added: "We will have time to do it, but it will cost us a fortune.

"Honestly, we are all fighting to save money to reduce about one person on track, and then we have these kinds of things. It’s just a joke!"

Despite suggestions Red Bull's rear wing could provide them with an advantage of around six-tenths of a second per lap in Baku, Vasseur does not believe this to be the case.

"Honestly, it could be marginal," said Vasseur. "We did a back-to-back [comparison] a couple of times and the difference was not huge.

"But it’s not about this concern, it’s that why next week we won’t change the weight of the car because one team is not able to reach the limit?

"I am a bit upset with the approach to change the rules. The introduction of a new test is a different thing.

"But to change the value of the test, it is not fair at all because the business of the engineers and designers in F1 is to design parts at the limit of the regulation."