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Benefit for Red Bull? 'FIA wants to tighten tests on flexible wings'
- Corwin Kunst
Flexible wings are once again a hotly debated topic in Formula 1 this season. The FIA's current tests are not satisfactory (any longer), as front wings bend more at McLaren than intented at a higher speed. The federation therefore plans to revise the test for 2025. One of the teams to benefit from that decision would be Red Bull as result.
In Formula 1, active aerodynamics are banned for now. That is, the cars are not allowed to have front and rear wings that move. From 2026, that will all change, and this will be the case. This year, teams noticed that McLaren's front wings bend. That should not happen on paper, but they did pass the tests of the FIA, making it another great example of the 'grey area' in the competition.
Step by step, rivals will adapt to the working method thanks to the concept of the Woking-based team, but no one could benefit from it as much as them, given it was taken into account when developing their package during this entire time, having invented how to use it effectively on the current generation of cars. In Baku, flexiwings extended to the rear wings, however, the team had to make changes to that.
Stricter testing to come?
Red Bull, among others, raised the concern to the FIA. So for next season, the international motorsport federation is now planning to have stricter tests, reports Auto, Motor und Sport. The subject was discussed at the F1 Commission.
Some teams - including Red Bull - want a hard ban on flexiwings, while others would rather see the status quo maintained. For cost reasons, the latter group would prefer to see keeping these bodyparts frozen at the current level. Additional rules on top of the current rules should prevent further 'escalation'.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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