The much awaited Spanish Grand Prix and the new technical directive introduced by the FIA to deal with flexible bodywork proved to be a damp squib. But for Red Bull attempting an audacious three stop strategy, the race would have been the usual procession we have come to know, and not love in Barcelona.
The anticipation for the penultimate F1 Grand Prix at the circuit de Catalunya was high, given the performance Red Bull appeared to have unlocked in the RB21 just two rounds earlier in Imola. There not only was Verstappen quickest in qualifying for the third time this season, but for the first time at the head of the field, the world champion drove away from the McLaren’s with ease after lap one.
Red Bull had introduced a big floor upgrade at the Emilia-Romagna weekend which they hoped would improve the downforce on their car, but without the associated drag. On its first outing it appeared as though it was the match for the McLaren 2025 package – flexi wings or not. Yet Imola was on the cool side for racing but come the searing heat of Spain, once again the MCL38 re-asserted its dominance.
It all began in 1999
Yet there remain questions surrounding the FIA’s decision making over flexible bodywork with the organisation having shifted its position on several occasions. This has been an issue for time and memoriam for the FIA and the teams and in 1999 the FIA decided enough was enough.
During that season there were a number of high profile accidents which occurred as the teams sought to create an effect whereby the rear wing wold tilt backwards under load along the high speed sections of a circuit – and then tilt forward again at slower speed when the air load was reduced, thus offering more downforce for the slower speed corners. In response the FIA initiated a stringent load test on the rear wing during Thursday’s scrutineering of the cars in an attempt to detect whether the wing was indeed flexing.
Ever since that day, this game of cat and mouse between the F1 teams and the FIA has continued, with the teams finding ever more ingenious ways of increasing top speed whilst reducing downforce for the slower corners. Meanwhile all the time the FIA has been scrabbling to keep up. Red Bull over the years were known to be masters of the flexi-bodywork, yet when Rob Marshall – a lesser known of the senior engineers in Milton Keynes – left for McLaren in January 2024 it appeared the expertise in aeroelasticity had gone with him.
At McLaren first big upgrade several months later in Imola, suddenly the iconic British racing marque from Woking had been roused from decades of slumber. Since the introduction of the 2022 ground effect F1 cars, the topic of elasticity in the bodywork has again become front and centre – and for one particular reason.
Ground effect F1 cars need balancing
With 50% of the down force now coming from underneath the car the focus on how to maintain that is crucial. The new F1 cars work best when their platform is stable and the ride height doesn’t vary much, as the bouncy Mercedes of 2022 proved to Brackley’s cost. Prior to ground effect era, the suspension of an F1 car would be used to manage the pitch and roll, dive and squat as it travels around each circuit.
Now another solution was required given that a level platform for the floor is not the best way to setup the car. However, to now balance the car as was once done by messing with dampers and springs, the teams are using aeroelastic body parts, in particular the front wing.
During the early European racing season in 2024, the FIA declared they were investigating flexible wing use amongst the F1 teams. Although there was an inordinate delay before fitting the cameras to the cars in Belgium, something which appeared to upset Ferrari and team boss Fred Vasseur.
McLaren who were deemed to be the most likely culprits of using flexible bodywork were cleared, although their mini-DRS rear wing did disappear. The FIA were so entirely satisfied their new procedures would clear this ,after up, they declare4d in December 2024 that no further changes to the car design regulations would be made before 2026.
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FIA admit real life testing impossible
Literally days later, the federation was forced into a U-Turn as in January the FIA announced new stricter front wing flexion tests which wold start from the Spanish Grand Prix. Then on the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix, the second round of the year, the teams were hit with a surprise technical directive which reduced the amount of slot gap they were allowed in the rear wing by over half to 0.5mm.
Again the F1 media failed to engage and ‘why the hurry?’ Was not a question that was asked nor answered. The problem was to be found in the comments of the FIA’s technical officer, Nicolas Tombazis, which he made back in December when claiming no further changes would be implemented. Then he explained the rear wing FIA testing was fairly simple to do, but the front wing is remarkably complex and to simulate the high number of loading positions it can find itself in from corner to corner and circuit to circuit made the issue clear. There was no real test which could replicate this.
“The most successful such tests imitate as much as possible what happens in real life with loads and on the rear wing for example, it’s reasonably successful,” he continued. “On the front wing, the variety between cars would make that quite difficult,” Tombazis concluded. And this remains true today, but still its inexplicable as to why the FIA has U-Turned, and is investing time and resources into this topic again when they clearly can’t simulate real life on track conditions.
Aerodynamics expert and a guest of Peter Windsor’s YouTube channel, Peter Wright, had this to say following the new FIA tests in Barcelona. “I think they [McLaren] have achieved, very cleverly, a front wing where you can put on however much you want at speed to get rid of low-speed understeer, and that doesn’t give you a lot of high-speed oversteer. Because it washes out the front wing with [aero] load,” said Wright. “It’s exactly what you want. But unfortunately, under the FIA regulations, no one has control of incidents with the wing or the flap, only the bending. I think that is why nothing changed in the Spanish Grand Prix.”
McLaren clever technology remains
With continues with a technical explanation which touches on the aircraft industry’s need to produce flexible bodywork, such as wings. There structural deformation is managed by using aeroflexible components used to tune it out and bring the wing back into its most efficient angle of attack.
Speaking of the MCL38, Wright adds: “As you sweep the wing [upwards], the centre of downforce is behind the mounting point. Therefore, it must twist the mounting point. It twists nose up on a racing car, and it reduces downforce. So there are some very clever things going on in that wing structure.”
The bottom line was McLaren continued to use the wing they had in Imola come the Spanish Grand Prix, so confident were they of passing the FIA loading tests. Of course passing the test means the McLaren wing is legal, but not entirely within the spirit of the intended design regulations. And for this reason, more F1 flexi-rows will emerge even into 2026, where ground effect remains a significant part of the car designs.
McLaren have merely evaded the impact intended of the new FIA test and are carrying on regardless. Now its a case of how quickly can the rest catch up.
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It may come to pass that the 2025 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix was the watershed moment for the season. McLaren defied expectations that their flexible front wings would fail the new more stringent tests introduced in Barcelona by the FIA.
Further, after a successful introduction of a new floor in Imola where Verstappen dominated the McLaren pair, Red Bull were hopeful it would deliver again come the well trodden turns of the Circuit de Catalunya. Yet in soaring temperatures on the Iberian peninsula, once again McLaren demonstrated their superior tyre wear when the barometer is high.
Red Bull’s three stop effort to counter this in the Grand Prix was well planned, but with Verstappen closing in on second place Lando Norris, a late safety car deployment became the source of confusion in the Red Bull garage. The ensuing chaos at the restart saw Verstappen finally classified P10 after a time penalty issued by the stewards dropped the world champion from his fifth place at the chequered flag…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
