New flexi-wing discovery with McLaren not alone in making wing changes

The FIA has confirmed that several F1 teams have had to modify their rear wings for the United States Grand Prix.

Following additional scrutiny on the rear wings being used by the F1 teams, McLaren is not the only team that has had to modify its design.

FIA confirm ‘two or three’ teams had to make tweaks

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the possibility of excessively flexing rear wings became a prevalent topic as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won using a flexible rear wing that increased the slot gap for enhanced straight-line speed – which quickly became dubbed a ‘mini-DRS’.

Rival teams raised concerns with the FIA about McLaren’s design, with discussions thus ensuing between the governing body and the Woking-based squad.

McLaren’s wing had passed all required static load tests but, ultimately, the FIA deemed the wing’s behaviour unacceptable and McLaren “proactively” agreed to adjust its low-drag specification.

The FIA has since issued clearer guidelines for all teams regarding acceptable rear wing designs, as other teams were also found to be experimenting with slot gap openings.

Nikolas Tombazis, head of single-seater matters at the FIA, has revealed that several teams had to make adjustments for Austin, with McLaren being the only one to confirm changes – albeit with denial that this was as a result of a direct request from the governing body.

“McLaren proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to our rear wing following the Azerbaijan GP,” a McLaren spokesperson told PlanetF1.com.

“We have made minor adjustments to all our rear wings since Baku to varying extents to ensure no further issues in this area.”

Tombazis, speaking to Motorsport.com in Austin, said: “We issued after Singapore some communication about rear wings, saying what we would consider acceptable or not acceptable, and two or three teams had to make some small tweaks to adjust to that.”

It’s unconfirmed which other teams have had to make modifications.

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Tombazis noted that the new guidance specifies that any increase in slot gap exceeding 2mm when DRS is closed would be deemed illegal.

“We don’t want the amount of opening there to exceed 2mm,” he said. “There’s some natural opening, because of the way the wings are mounted and deform and so on, but some teams were deforming more.”

To better monitor compliance, the FIA will implement reference dots on rear wings, allowing for a more accurate assessment of deformation via rear-facing onboard cameras.

Tombazis added: “We just want to make sure that there isn’t any sort of continuing trend in a certain direction, but it’s not because we have any immediate plans to introduce a new test or anything.”

Although McLaren’s ‘mini-DRS’ wing complied with regulations, the FIA expressed dissatisfaction with the design.

When asked if McLaren would have faced a report for a rules violation had they continued using the wing, Tombazis confirmed the Woking-based squad had received a direct communiqúe regarding the issue: “Yes, we would have, because we specifically gave a warning to them.

“We said, ‘Look, we consider that as something you need to change.’ If they had ignored us, and they generally don’t, then we would have reported them.”

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