In Singapore, the discussion about flexible wings has resurfaced, this time thanks to the upgrade introduced by Mercedes. The area under scrutiny is the front wing. From the onboard cameras, viewers immediately noticed significant movement in the flaps, reigniting the debate around this topic once again.
However, the controversy should not even exist—or at least, it should not. It is time to stop suggesting that certain solutions are “irregular” just because they manage to pass the FIA checks. During the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA introduced a new verification procedure, known as Technical Directive 018 (TD018), to inspect the technical specifications of all teams more thoroughly. Mercedes successfully passed every single check, which means their design is fully compliant with the regulations.
The new front wing is the result of an extremely precise and meticulous development process in the field of materials engineering. The team managed to orient the carbon fiber layers in such a way that they could withstand the FIA’s load tests while still allowing a noticeable degree of flex when exposed to specific air pressures at high speed. In theory, that should be enough to close the case entirely.
Smaller teams are always the ones who pay the price
Yet there is a strong sense that this story is far from over. The subject of wing flexibility has already led to several regulatory changes over the years, as well as multiple tightening rounds of FIA inspection procedures. However, this approach seems to do nothing but encourage teams to spend countless hours in the laboratory developing new materials and construction methods to stay within the rules while maintaining aerodynamic benefits.
As a result, these regulatory adjustments end up favoring the big players—those who have larger budgets and advanced research departments—while smaller teams continue to suffer. The FIA may justify such measures as part of its effort to uphold the cost cap, but decisions like these actually go against the very idea of financial fairness. The more the FIA restricts flexibility, the more teams will find innovative ways to reinforce the components and still achieve the same level of deformation during races. It could even be argued that, unintentionally, the FIA is pushing teams to invest more and more in research and development.
In theory, innovation is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, the ones paying the price are always the smaller teams, who end up stuck at the back of the grid without any clear reason other than their limited resources. The FIA forced every team to adapt to TD018 during the Spanish Grand Prix, held on June 1, 2025. That adjustment required a major outlay of time, money, and technical resources. And yet, barely four months later, the governing body once again finds itself dealing with a car—Mercedes, in this case—equipped with a front wing that visibly flexes under pressure.
In short, TD018 turned out to be a blow to smaller teams. It imposed unnecessary strain on their budgets without providing a lasting solution. Meanwhile, the teams with greater resources managed not only to adapt but also to take full advantage of the loopholes that still exist within the current system.
Mercedes, to its credit, has done an outstanding job with its development program, and the team certainly deserves recognition for its engineering excellence. However, at this stage, discussing whether their front wing is “legal” or not seems pointless. What truly matters is how such technical directives continue to shape Formula 1—by widening the gap between the top teams and those fighting just to stay competitive.
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