FIA ruling on McLaren, Mercedes wings will ‘encourage’ Red Bull to follow suit

The FIA’s clearance of the McLaren and Mercedes front wings – after clarification was sought over their flexibility – will “encourage” Red Bull to follow a similar route, says Christian Horner.

After the Monza race, Red Bull and Ferrari wanted a definitive answer from the FIA over the legality of McLaren’s and Mercedes’ front wing designs, with the understanding that these were flexing significantly while on track.

The FIA has been monitoring the levels of on-track flexing in the wings since the Belgian Grand Prix, and declared that all 2024 wings were legal within the bounds of the regulations. 

Horner says that the decision from the governing body to declare the wings legal will likely encourage his own team to pursue a similar design – one that meets the static load tests but introduces aeroelasticity in dynamic conditions.

“I think what’s crucial for any team, as with all these things, is always clarity,” Horner said.

“Is something acceptable or is it not? If it’s deemed to be acceptable, then obviously that encourages you to pursue similar solutions yourself. 

“So the regulator, obviously they have all the information available. They have all the analysis that they’ve recently put cameras on, many cars. 

“They’re collecting that data. But yeah, it’s one of those things, as I say, that if it’s deemed to be acceptable, then you pursue that route.”

The FIA had previously stated that it would not be looking to ban any designs amid its front-wing data-gathering exercise, and that any potential regulatory changes would be kept for the 2025 season.

Although it is generally assumed that a wing is free to flex wildly on track as long as it passes the static load tests, the technical directive TD34 states that the FIA does not consider “designs whose structural characteristics are altered by secondary parameters” as legal.

This includes aerodynamic load and temperature, although it also notes that a wing cannot be infinitely stiff and will flex under some load. 

At its core, reducing the overall front wing camber under load helps to shift some of the drag away from the front wing in straightline sections, but the effect on the rest of the car downstream is also of interest.

It has been suggested that much of McLaren’s successes – and Mercedes’ uptick in performance – across 2024 is through the balance benefits offered by a flexing front wing.

The…