Flexiwings 2025

[Vanja #66]

Issuing this statement means DSQ are on the table?

I wouldn't rule it out

[chrisc90]

Hopefully spices up the season.

[peewon]

A wing that passes static load tests is no longer necessarily compliant with the rules

Issuing this statement means DSQ are on the table?

Issuing the statement could also mean more grey area, subjective interpretations and selective enforcements.

[101FlyingDutchman]

It makes the circus sadly open to personal opinions/allegiances. We don’t want another Abu Dhabi failure or last minute TDs to “spice it up for the fans”. This is fast becoming a bit of a joke which is meant to be the pinnacle of ingenuity and technical know-how

[hollus]

Hopefully spices up the season.

Such a boring and predictable season without it. The exact same thing has happened in every race so far and your 33 hero has not been in contention for wins at all!

Less tribalism, less drama. Thanks.

[Vanja #66]

Issuing this statement means DSQ are on the table?

So apparently, it was already the part of TD034G last year. Which just opens up more question about Baku, Monza and Spa and McLaren's results in them...

[chrisc90]

Hopefully spices up the season.

Such a boring and predictable season without it. The exact same thing has happened in every race so far and your 33 hero has not been in contention for wins at all!

Less tribalism, less drama. Thanks.

Not too sure why you’re bringing a driver into it and personal driver favourites, however my comment was not in any way aimed at one driver in particular.

It could be such a boring and predictable season if teams couldn’t make changes too? Are we going to get a McLaren dominance? (Wouldn’t bother me, if they did walk the season as their development has been good)

No tribalism, no drama from me

[FittingMechanics]

Their article reiterates FIA is furious with some teams exploiting their static load tests and racing wings beyond the grey areas of regulations. Apparently, Rob Marshall is one of the people pushing to go over the limit of grey areas (and straight into illegal designs) and he was often not allowed to do so in Red Bull. One of such cases in the infamous illegal Spa/Baku 2024 McLaren wing - curiously never again used after it was banned, not even in Las Vegas.

Why is it curious that McLaren didn't use a wing AFTER it was banned.

[Vanja #66]

Why is it curious that McLaren didn't use a wing AFTER it was banned.

It was redesigned, structure made legal and used in practice only in Vegas and it was too slow on straights

[Quantum]

Issuing this statement means DSQ are on the table?

So apparently, it was already the part of TD034G last year. Which just opens up more question about Baku, Monza and Spa and McLaren's results in them...

Which questions? They passed all the required tests.

The FIA were clear on TD034G.

The collected data will be used to enhance the overall understanding of bodywork flexibility when defining future regulations.

Might also be useful:

Technical directives are not part of the regulation rulebooks and are usually not made public. These are instructions or clarifications issued by the FIA in order to help tighten up grey areas in the rules, and can lead to rules becoming set in stone for the following year’s regulations.

[FNTC]

A quick point about the closed DRS slot gap not increasing on camera at high speed. If they have been clever this winter, they could have moved the top flap slightly forwards or something, so the increased slot gap at high speed is not visible on the camera. The FIA must have seen something since they suddenly are doing this more stringent test.

[fourmula1]

A quick point about the closed DRS slot gap not increasing on camera at high speed. If they have been clever this winter, they could have moved the top flap slightly forwards or something, so the increased slot gap at high speed is not visible on the camera. The FIA must have seen something since they suddenly are doing this more stringent test.

Likely they've seen that all teams are conforming and can introduce the new tests immediately. All teams have known for a while this was coming.

Also regarding what we see in the rear view, there is no separation from the drs flap and the vertical edges where it meets the outer section - this was were it was most prominent in the video last year. Vanja has one picture of it on a previous page in this thread.

We'd be hearing more out of the teams if this was a serious issue. I believe it will be a big nothing. And we will still see the entire rear wing assembly flexing backwards/down like most of the videos in this thread.

[catent]

We will see, clearly the teams think its worth investing development time in, while knowing the FIA is watching this area. So brushing it off as something that hardly affects performance does not rhyme with that.

It does affect performance, but the difference between abusing the flex and having a "reasonable" amount of flex might be a tenth per lap. Not inconsequential, but hardly game-changing. No great car is great because of RW flex.

But just by looking at the footage it would seem we are getting back to levels of flex that the FIA have previously taken issue with.

It's significant for many reasons and certainly worth more than a tenth per lap when considering all the relevant downstream variables beyond top speed (downforce level, car balance, setup compromises) and the positive impact those variables have on drivability, tire deg, etc.

[Cs98]

We will see, clearly the teams think its worth investing development time in, while knowing the FIA is watching this area. So brushing it off as something that hardly affects performance does not rhyme with that.

It does affect performance, but the difference between abusing the flex and having a "reasonable" amount of flex might be a tenth per lap. Not inconsequential, but hardly game-changing. No great car is great because of RW flex.

But just by looking at the footage it would seem we are getting back to levels of flex that the FIA have previously taken issue with.

It's significant for many reasons and certainly worth more than a tenth per lap when considering all the relevant downstream variables beyond top speed (downforce level, car balance, setup compromises) and the impact that has on drivability, tire deg, etc.

Maybe, if some teams are abusing it a lot more than others. But I take you back to 2021, TD comes in targetting RB's rear wing, and they win the next 3 races.

[organic]

It does affect performance, but the difference between abusing the flex and having a "reasonable" amount of flex might be a tenth per lap. Not inconsequential, but hardly game-changing. No great car is great because of RW flex.

But just by looking at the footage it would seem we are getting back to levels of flex that the FIA have previously taken issue with.

It's significant for many reasons and certainly worth more than a tenth per lap when considering all the relevant downstream variables beyond top speed (downforce level, car balance, setup compromises) and the impact that has on drivability, tire deg, etc.

Maybe, if some teams are abusing it a lot more than others. But I take you back to 2021, TD comes in targetting RB's rear wing, and they win the next 3 races.

Only the high downforce wing was flexi in 2021 for red bull (used in Barcelona). All of their other wings were not. The 3 races after that flexiwing TD red bull ran with lower downforce so it wasn't a factor

Later in the season red bull experienced substantial issues with their high downforce rear wing structure, which had been modified not to flex as much, cracking under load and faced a parts shortage as a result. Caused loss of track time and suboptimal setups being used

So it had more effects than meet the eye