Let’s talk about the Technical Directive TD015. During the ninth Formula 1 weekend, the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA decided to carry out a preliminary examination. This refers to the fact that, during the race weekend which was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the International Federation, in addition to the tests concerning the aeroelasticity of the wings, seized the opportunity to carry out several tests relating to the underside of the cars.
So what are skid blocks? These are components housed in the skid plate under the floor, where holes are present to measure the wear of the skid, which must not exceed 10% of the plank’s thickness, namely one millimetre. These are the elements that generate sparks when the floor scrapes the track surface, caused by the friction of the skid block. This situation caused significant issues in Suzuka due to fire risks from dry grass at the trackside.
Technical Directive TD015 was also tested in Barcelona. On Wednesday morning, a clarification was issued by the governing body. In Barcelona, the legislative body also conducted thorough analyses of the steel skid blocks housed in the skids of some cars, instead of the titanium ones that have been used in Formula 1 for several years. There is no news of mandatory checks for all teams, since the aforementioned test is part of the implementation plan defined in Technical Directive TD015.
Titanium remains the mandatory material for the entire season. All teams are required to have stainless steel skid blocks available for the remaining races of the 2025 Formula 1 season, as they could become mandatory if incidents similar to those seen in Suzuka last April occur again. Further tests on the stainless steel component will be carried out at selected events during the remainder of the championship for additional evaluation.
The FIA wants to ensure that the use of a material with different wear characteristics does not give way to creative design interpretations by teams that could circumvent the issue of skid wear. It is important to note that the plank will remain one of the few elements still present on future cars, even after the removal of the Venturi channels. The decision made by the division led by Nikolas Tombazis, the Director of the Single Seater Department of the FIA, will also have an impact in 2026.
Great effort was made at Montmeló to certify the compliance of the new front wings, according to the new deflection criteria specified in Technical Directive TD018. Compliance was verified at several points during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in order to ensure that no specifications were in breach of the prescriptions imposed by the technical department of the legislative body.
In this regard, one detail is worth mentioning. Shortly before the qualifying session, Ferrari was called to the International Federation’s garage for an additional and unexpected inspection. It was a check on the front wings, where a certain amount of tension was observed. Ferrari Head of Track Engineering Matteo Togninalli was present, and at the end of the inspection, he gathered with Loic Serra, Jerome D’Ambrosio, and Frederic Vasseur. The reasons behind this situation are unclear.
In recent months, we know that the FIA had rejected preliminary tests on this component on more than one occasion, inviting the Maranello team to create a component compliant with the regulations, which evidently was not. It is curious that on Saturday at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, only Ferrari underwent such a check. We know these are not new components that had not yet been inspected.
Therefore, the reasons behind this extra check remain to be clarified, as the Formula 1 legislator wanted to ensure that the front wings of the two SF-25 cars were indeed within the rules. After photographing the specifications post-inspection, nothing new was observed from a technical point of view. We await the Canadian Grand Prix weekend to learn more, where aeroelasticity tests will resume.
— see video above —
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