The FIA will be keeping a watching brief on all rear wings this weekend in Baku. RacingNews365.com understands that all cars are to be fitted out with a series of yellow dot stickers on their rear wings, which will allow for easier monitoring of the flex on the wings. Twelve 10mm dots, six on the main plane and six on the flaps, are to be fitted to each car at pre-determined spacing and will be in place for the remainder of this season. The ongoing flexi-wing debate continues this weekend under threat of protest, particularly between Red Bull and Mercedes. Mercedes have stated they intend to protest the Red Bull rear wing if the championship leaders run their flexi-wing, with Red Bull threatening to protest the Mercedes front wing flex in response. However, the FIA themselves are now interested. While the rear wings in question pass all current FIA static load tests, the governing body has already said that enforcement can also be done through the rear facing cameras. Use of the dots for mapping purposes would allow the FIA to get a better handle on just how much flex is going through the rear wings at different speeds and different loading. From June 15, new FIA tests are to be introduced with the intent of clamping down on rear wing flex. For a period of one month, these tests will have a 20% leniency. From July 15, there will be zero leniency on flex above the regulations. The dots will also allow for comparison between the wings as they are fitted now, against the wings that are run once the FIA's new tests are introduced. This will also give the FIA the ability to further refine their tests, if it turns out that the more stringent tests don't actually fix the issue.
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The FIA has placed yellow sticks on the rear wing of each car to analyze the flex of the rear wings this weekend #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/ePa0JbWCeR — Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) June 3, 2021
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