By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – Formula One’s governing body is introducing new load tests to ensure bendy front and rear wings are no longer a talking point this season.
The FIA said on Friday that the scope of rear wing tests on cars would be increased from the start of the campaign in Australia on March 16.
Additional front wing tests will come into force from the Spanish Grand Prix on June 1.
“Following further analysis carried out by the FIA single seater department after the conclusion of the 2024 season, we are committed to ensure that bodywork flexibility is no longer a point of contention for the 2025 season,” the FIA said.
The governing body said the phased approach was to allow teams to adapt without the need to discard existing components unnecessarily.
“These adjustments are aimed at further refining our ability to monitor and enforce bodywork flexibility regulations, ensuring a level playing field for all competitors to promote fair and exciting racing,” it added.
The move is something of a U-turn for the FIA, who said last month that it was not planning to make any changes to the front wing tests.
Aero-elasticity, or ‘flexi-wings’, has been a hot topic for some time in a sport where teams are constantly pushing the rules to the limit in the search of fractions of a second of performance gain.
Front and rear wings that pass static tests but are subsequently seen to flex at speed have triggered several controversies.
Eventual champions McLaren modified the rear wings on their cars after talks with the FIA at the Singapore Grand Prix last September.
McLaren said their wing complied with the regulations and had passed all FIA deflection tests but they had agreed to minor adjustments.
The FIA had said earlier that month that all teams were compliant with the front wing regulations.
It added that the front wing had been a “challenging area” for years because aerodynamic loading patterns varied between teams and said it had the right to introduce new tests if irregularities were suspected.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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