Flexi-wings may have played key factor in 2024 F1 teams’ title battle

Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur has claimed the looks of flexi-wings and the FIA’s choice to not take a extra hardline method in direction of them performed a vital consider 2024’s System 1 constructors’ championship.

The Scuderia was certainly one of two groups, together with Purple Bull, who sought clarification from F1’s governing physique over the obvious use of flexing entrance wings by McLaren and Mercedes.

The FIA launched cameras for the Belgian Grand Prix to watch the wings, however declared that it was pleased with the designs. It later stated that it would not make any changes to the current front wing tests.

When requested if flexing wings had been a defining issue within the championship, Vasseur replied: “I believe so” and defined his frustration that Ferrari couldn’t essentially capitalise instantly owing to the choice time and the affect of the price cap.

“I am a bit pissed off with this, as a result of it is clear efficiency, and we wait two months for the choice if it is authorized or not,” Vasseur defined. 

“And with the price cap, you might have at all times to bear in mind the price cap. It signifies that you need to be environment friendly with the price range. 

“It signifies that should you begin to do a growth and on the finish, it is a no-go, you burn €600,000. We had the dialogue with the story of Purple Bull two years in the past, is that it is not since you are burning half 1,000,000, that’s half 1,000,000 out of 150 million. 

McLaren MCL38 rear wing element

Photograph by: Giorgio Piola

“It is half 1,000,000 out of three or 4 tens of millions of growth, as a result of you might have your guys, you might have the racing prices, you might have this, this and this and on the finish, you might have the event, and you’ve got X tens of millions of growth.

“However it’s a small X, and should you burn for nothing half 1,000,000, you may’t spend some other place. And for certain, that is when, for me, it was greater than on the sting the story.”

Vasseur says that the efficiency achieve of a flexing wing, even when small, would translate to a big bounce in place given the closeness of the 2024 discipline – citing Monza’s slender margins for instance.

Requested if Ferrari’s lateness to implementing its personal flexing wing – believed to be a part of its Singapore improve bundle – was a much bigger hit to its title possibilities than its misfiring Spain improve, Vasseur replied that the 2 circumstances weren’t significantly equitable.

“It’s true that the extra the competitors will likely be tight, the extra we’ll take care of particulars. I am unsure that once you had six-tenths between the vehicles that we’re paying a lot consideration to particulars.

“However once you had races like Monza, you had 4 or 5 vehicles inside a tenth, in case you have a flexi-wing and no matter, for certain, it is making an enormous distinction. 

“I believe it is extra the consequence of the truth that maybe the truth that we have now a troublesome regulation and it is not simple to develop, but in addition that the championship is getting increasingly tighter.  

“I do not know [if not having a flexi-wing cost more than the floor] as a result of you may’t redo the season. And it is not the identical method. 

“One is one thing that we knew, and we’re a bit on the again foot to determine to go for it. The opposite one is a growth, and that we did not count on to have this drawback. With the wing it is only a mathematical method.”