FIA decision on McLaren and Mercedes wings will ‘spur’ Red Bull to follow suit

After the Monza race, Red Bull and Ferrari wanted a definitive answer from the FIA ​​about the legality of McLaren and Mercedes’ front wing designs, with the understanding that they would deflect significantly on track.

The FIA ​​has been monitoring the amount of wing flex on track since the Belgian Grand Prix and has declared all 2024 wings to be legal within the limits of the regulations.

According to Horner, the umbrella organization’s decision to declare the wings legal will likely encourage his own team to develop a similar design: one that passes the static load tests but introduces aeroelasticity in dynamic conditions.

“I think clarity for any team, as with all these things, is always critical,” Horner said.

“Is something acceptable or not? If it is considered acceptable, then that obviously encourages you to seek similar solutions yourself.

“So the regulator, of course they have all the information available. They have all the analysis where they recently put cameras on, a lot of cars.

“They collect that data. But yeah, it’s one of those things, as I say, that if it’s deemed acceptable, you go that route.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The FIA ​​has previously indicated that it has no plans to ban designs as part of its front wing data collection, and that any changes to the regulations would be saved for the 2025 season.

While it is generally accepted that a wing is allowed to flex wildly on track as long as it passes static load tests, technical guideline TD34 states that the FIA ​​does not consider “designs whose structural characteristics are modified by secondary parameters” to be legal.

This takes into account aerodynamic loading and temperature, but it is also noted that a wing cannot be infinitely stiff and will bend under a certain load.

In principle, reducing the overall camber of the front wing under load removes some of the drag from the front wing on straights, but the effect on the rest of the car downstream is also interesting.

It has been suggested that much of McLaren’s success – and Mercedes’ performance improvement – in 2024 is down to the balance benefits offered by a flexible front wing.

The FIA ​​will continue to monitor the wings during the weekends in Azerbaijan and Singapore. Last week it was already stated that “this exercise will continue at least until Singapore to ensure that each team has used the mandatory FIA camera on different types of circuits (low, medium, high and very high downforce)”.

“This will create a large database that will allow the FIA ​​to provide the most objective possible picture of the situation and quantify the differences between the different dynamic patterns observed on the circuit.”