“Leaves the door open for protests”– Toto Wolff on FIA delay in new rule against flexible wing

“Leaves the door open for protests”– Toto Wolff on FIA delay in the new rules that would solve the controversy of flexible wings.

Before the Monaco Grand Prix, Toto Wolff stressed the flexible wings used by multiple teams, but extensively by Red Bull, and Mercedes is not ready to accept it.

FIA is yet to decide on it, and irked by the delay in the judgement, Wolff has said that it gives space to protest and enter into the matter legally.

“Delaying the introduction for whatever reason leaves us in a legal vacuum and leaves the door open for protests,” said Wolff at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“It’s not only us but it’s probably two other teams that are most affected, maybe more, and obviously a protest could end up in the ICA [International Court of Appeal].”

“That is a messy situation and can take weeks before we have a result. And we should have not ended in this situation if we’re having four weeks until the race that is most relevant in the calendar.”

Solve it before Baku

While the wings might not be advantageous at Monaco, they can be a decisive factor in Baku because of the ultra-long run out of the final corner. And Wolff wants it to be solved by then, and he thinks four weeks is adequate.

“It’s clear that if you have a back-to-back race, maybe even two weeks is too short for everybody to adjust, but we’re having four weeks to Baku,” he said.

“It is incomprehensible that within four weeks, you can’t stiffen up the rear wing for the track that is probably the most effective for flexible rear wings.

“That leaves us in no man’s land, because the technical directive says that the movement of some rear wings has been judged as excessive,” he added.

“So, teams who would run this kind of wing are prone to be protested, and probably this is going to go to the ICA, and nobody needs this messy situation.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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