FIA perform surprising u-turn in thorny ongoing F1 saga

The FIA has opted for a surprising U-turn in the flexi-wing saga in a bid to end a gnawing headache.

Front-wing flexing was a controversial topic last year, notably with Ferrari and Red Bull raising concerns over the front wings of F1 rivals McLaren and Mercedes.

Although the FIA regulations have precise limits on flexibility, results are only measured via static tests due to the near-impossibility of carrying out live dynamic testing.

To investigate whether some front wings, in particular, were flexing beyond the legal limit, motorsport's governing body fitted cameras to the cars from the Belgian Grand Prix, imposing measuring points to observe the oscillations of the wing flaps.

The FIA declared itself happy with its testing procedures for the remainder of the campaign, leading to FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis recently declaring there would be no change to the tests for the coming season.

Tombazis, however, recognised that "one of the challenges in the front wing is that, compared to other parts of the car, the front wing loading is much more varied between cars in a given location and so on", meaning measurements may not always be 100 per cent accurate.

Nevertheless, Tombazis' position remained clear, and seemingly unequivocal.

A month on, however, and the FIA's stance has altered dramatically, and there will now be additional rear-wing testing from the first race in Australia in mid-March, whilst a clampdown on front wings will be in place from the Spanish Grand Prix in early June.

A statement released to RacingNews365 confirmed: "After further analysis by the FIA Single Seater Department following the 2024 season, we are determined to ensure that bodywork flexibility is no longer an issue for the 2025 season.

"As part of this effort, we will expand the scope of rear wing testing from the start of the 2025 season and introduce additional front wing testing from the GP of Spain. This phased approach will allow teams to adapt without unnecessarily discarding existing parts.

"These adjustments are aimed at controlling and enforcing body flexibility rules to create a level playing field for all competitors and promote fair and exciting racing."