Flexible wings: why teams will never bow to the will of the FIA

After a few years, the topic of flexible wings has come back into vogue. Perhaps the last time it was discussed, if memory serves, was in 2021, when the FIA introduced stricter measures by adding ‘markers’ on the wings to check their flexion at every stage of the race.

Since the introduction of the new technical regulations (2022), the situation seemed “resolved,” but of course, it was only a matter of time before team engineers began pushing for the development of these specific parts again.

The FIA’s perspective
Teams will never bow to the will of the FIA. The Federation would like to have rather rigid wings. This is good for the spectacle, but it drives the technicians of all the teams crazy. We’ll explain why.

Installing wings according to FIA directives, meaning they do not flex beyond the established limit during static tests or when the cars are in motion, would result in cars being less stable in corners and also slower on the straights. This would highlight the drivers’ skills, but only to a certain extent.

The teams’ perspective
Being able to use certain materials allows engineers to make their car pass the FIA’s static tests while having a vehicle that meets their needs. It’s “just” a matter of knowing how to exploit certain material properties. It’s about research. When the car is in motion, the mechanical parts are subjected to frequencies. If engineers can exploit these frequencies to make the materials used resonate, then the flexing effect can be even greater than expected. This is precisely why the Federation has mandated the addition of further cameras on the cars from the 2024 Belgian GP onwards, to ensure they know exactly what the teams are doing (Mercedes is the team most under scrutiny).

What we are describing does not always happen. Every material has its resonance frequency, and this can only be triggered at certain speeds (engineers, forgive us, we’re simplifying things). It’s all a research process, and it’s the most exciting part of Formula 1. Even though it’s not something the public can directly perceive, this is what makes the difference out there when the cars are on track: research and development.

Especially concerning the differences between top teams, who, in some circumstances, contravening the will of the FIA, continue to spend time and money researching these materials. Having wings that flex at the right moment can generate the additional downforce needed in a particular corner or significantly reduce drag on the straights.

Do we want a standard or research? This is the question we must ask ourselves
The FIA has long sought to counter all this because the top teams already have a certain expertise in using these materials, and with certain adjustments, they can make progress that goes beyond the budget and knowledge available to smaller teams.

The question we should ask ourselves is the following: do we want a more or less standardized Formula 1, like IndyCar, or a sport in continuous development? Qualifying has become something exceptional, with cars showing performances that are very close to each other. On Saturdays, it’s no longer clear who will actually be the fastest on track.

However, this all affects the race. Even if the cars are close in performance, the aerodynamics, which teams still heavily invest in to gain any possible advantage over their rivals, disturbs the slipstream, and we’ve seen how penalizing this can be for the chasers, even if they are faster than the target, when trying to overtake. Eliminating the budget cap and liberalizing everything would allow teams to give space to ideas, greatly enhancing the performance of the cars.

The Federation has to make a choice. The more we move towards aerodynamics standardization, also pushing the budget cap, the more teams will try to find loopholes to circumvent the regulations. If, instead, we move towards a certain liberalization, while we may see a marked disparity in performance between the cars, on the other hand, we will have much more motivated and effective research teams.

Research is the beating heart of humanity, and Formula 1 should be no exception.