Red Bull’s Christian Horner says his team will pursue the route of running similar front wings to rival teams if the FIA deems them acceptable.
Attention has increasingly focused on the extent of front-wing flex going on at rival teams, like McLaren and Mercedes, with Red Bull and Ferrari discussing the matter with the FIA.
Technical directive introduced to monitor front wing flex
With queries being lobbied at the FIA about the extent of flex visible on the front wings of two of the teams leading the way this year, hints emerged prior to the summer break that the level of front-wing flex of some of the teams has caught the interest of the governing body.
However, the FIA is understood to only be looking with the intent of tightening flex tests for 2025 and, at Spa-Francorchamps, a technical directive, TD034G, was brought in to allow the FIA to more closely monitor the front wings of the cars via a series of ultra-high-resolution cameras and tracking dots.
Following the Italian Grand Prix weekend, the voices calling for closer examination of front wing flex have only grown louder, as Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told Austria’s ORF.
“The front wing of McLaren and Mercedes must be analysed,” he said.
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur spoke of his intention to discuss the matter with FIA single-seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis, while Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said after the Italian Grand Prix that, “I think the regulations are very clear, and I think that’s an FIA issue.
“So obviously, there are tests that they passed, but then you’d have to look at the wording of the regulations.
“I mean, we got, if you remember back in ’21, certainly around Baku time, there was a change to the front wing regulation. Even though our wings passed the test, it was exploiting air elasticity.
“So that’s an FIA issue, so we’ll leave it and trust in them to deal with it.”
Speaking in Baku on Friday, Horner was asked for his position on the topic of the flexing wings as the FIA doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to tighten up the rules or introduce stricter static load tests.
“We went through a little more recently than a decade ago, I think three years ago,” he said.
“But I think what’s crucial for any team, as with all these things, is always for clarity – is something acceptable, or is it not?
“If it’s deemed to be acceptable, then obviously that encourages you to pursue similar solutions yourself.
“So, the regulator, obviously, they have all the information. They have all the analysis that they’ve recently put cameras on many cars.
“So I guess they’re collecting that data.”
With eight races left in the F1 2024 season, Horner confirmed Red Bull will seek to head down the route of a more flexible front wing if there’s no reason in the rules not to.
“It’s one of those things that, as I say, if it’s deemed to be acceptable, then you pursue that route,” he said.
What is the FIA’s latest position on F1 flexing wings?
In a statement issued by the FIA last week, the governing body clarified its position on the topic of flexible wings after the initial monitoring period of a few weeks under TD034G.
“The FIA is examining front wings at every event with numerous checks (conformity of surfaces, conformity of deflections) with respect to the relevant F1 Technical Regulation,” read the statement.
“All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations.
“Since the Belgium Grand Prix, the FIA has acquired additional data during FP1 and FP2 sessions to assess dynamic behaviours through an FIA-mandated video camera which captures areas of the front wing that are not visible through the official FOM cameras.
“This exercise will continue at least up until Singapore to ensure every team will have been running the mandated FIA camera on different types of tracks (low, medium, high, and very high downforce).
“This will ensure a large database allowing the FIA to draw the most objective picture of the situation and quantify differences between the various dynamic patterns observed on track.”
The governing body also explained that the current static load tests which check the levels of flexibility might need to be tweaked for 2025 and admitted monitoring the front wings in a uniform fashion has been a challenge.
“No component is infinitely stiff, which is the reason why there are load-deflection tests in the Regulations,” the statement continued.
