The FIA legislates again against flexible wings, without success?

In the two weeks between the Singapore Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA once again introduced technical regulation adjustments through a directive written by Charlie Whiting. After the rules on brakes, the flat floor, and engine mappings, it’s the flexibility of the front wings that is, as often in recent years, subject to discussion.

This change follows, according to the German magazine *Auto Motor und Sport*, Ferrari’s discovery of a trick used by McLaren, the inventor of the system, and then by Red Bull on their cars: on these vehicles, the entire front wing is attached to the pylons in a loosely enough manner so that it adjusts slightly when the car reaches a certain cleverly determined speed—usually just high enough for the system not to activate in the fastest corner of the circuit being visited. This passive device has the advantage of promoting a better top speed, in addition to achieving a better balance of the car when the DRS is open at the same time. The Scuderia reportedly reacted upon realizing the use of such a mechanism, to the point of directly reporting it to the FIA.

Consequently, the front wing deflection tests have been modified, starting with this weekend’s Japanese event, so that the load of approximately 100 kg applied downward, which should not deform the wing by more than 20 mm, is placed further from the car’s plane of symmetry, that is, more towards the lateral ends of the wing. This way, it theoretically forces teams to slightly stiffen their front wings.

However, this third tightening in 2 years raises questions about the FIA’s ability to respond. Despite the two changes already introduced since 2010, teams have always found solutions to circumvent the spirit of the rule – “the wings must not be flexible”. However, a simple regulation point written as such is inapplicable since any material, even extremely strong like carbon fiber, is not completely rigid, especially when subjected to the colossal aerodynamic forces generated by Formula 1 cars. Based on this observation, the FIA has therefore been forced to establish deformation tolerances at various points of the car, notably the front and rear wings, the floor, and the diffuser.

But the loads applied during the tests are in no way comparable to the pressures exerted on the wings at full speed: while we are talking about several tons of downforce in total for a single-seater car traveling at 300 km/h, the most severe test concerns the front of the floor, which must not deform more than 5mm when subjected to an upward load of 200 kg. It therefore seems unlikely that the modification introduced at Suzuka will be able to eradicate the device used by McLaren and Red Bull. Martin Whitmarsh has defended himself to Autosport against having been contacted by the FIA directly in relation to this issue. But more importantly, the technical checks carried out this Thursday in Suzuka did not reveal any infringement.

The Japanese Grand Prix this weekend will, in any case, be the first opportunity to see whether these measures slow down the McLarens and the Red Bulls in their pursuit of Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ championship.