Red Bull and Ferrari have been closely looking at the potentially flexi front wings of McLaren and Mercedes for the past few months. There have been reports of the FIA also monitoring the front wings of all cars via ultra-high-resolution cameras. However, there is no sign of the FIA taking any strict action, which has led Christian Horner to state that they may also go down the route of using flexi wings if they are deemed “acceptable”.
Per PlanetF1, Horner said, “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.”
️ | Christian Horner responds to FIA’s green light to the competitors flexi-wing: “If it’s acceptable, then you follow the same path”
“For every team it is crucial to have clarity. Is it acceptable or not? If it is acceptable, then it obviously encourages you to pursue… pic.twitter.com/8jCSwSMNuY
— RBR News (@redbulletin) September 13, 2024
The Red Bull boss highlighted that they have notified the FIA of all their suspicions about teams like McLaren and Mercedes having front wings that flex more than the permissible limit. So, with all the information available, the governing body is also collecting data themselves.
Even Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur had expressed similar sentiments to Horner. Vasseur stated that he was in conversation with FIA’s single-seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis about these flexi wings.
Both Vasseur and Horner said that whatever the FIA says, they will accept it and accordingly modify their development plans. If the FIA deems the supposed flexi wings of Mercedes and McLaren as legal per the technical regulations, Red Bull may also bring in a similar solution for the remaining races of the season.
Even Ferrari are reportedly planning for such an upgrade for the US GP in Austin next month. Currently, the FIA is monitoring all teams’ front wings via camera and tracking dots and is set to tighten their flex load tests for the 2025 season.
