EXPLAINED: Everything You Need to Know About F1’s New Front Wing Rules
From the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, tougher load tests on front wings will take effect. These changes aim to address concerns about flexibility and ensure fair competition among teams. But why are the updates being made now, and how will the process work? Let’s break it down.
What’s Changing and Why It Matters
The new directive brings stricter load tests for F1 front wings. The goal is to prevent teams from gaining performance advantages through flexible components. During the 2024 season, engineers experimented with designs that could reduce drag or shift the car’s balance between low and high speeds. As a result, the FIA decided to introduce “either new or more challenging load-deflection tests for the front wing, the upper rear wing, and the beam rear wing.”
“When championship battles become intense, teams tend to focus on each other’s cars a lot, and naturally they raise concerns and over the latter half of the season we came to the conclusion that we needed to toughen a bit more the tests for 2025,” explains FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis.
These measures are coming mid-season because they were finalized late in 2024. Tombazis explains that cameras installed on cars during and after the Belgian Grand Prix confirmed the need for tougher regulations. He notes, “That conclusion was arrived at quite late in the year, however, and we felt that if we had introduced extra tests at the start of this season, it would have been tough on teams and may have led to existing front wings being scrapped, and extra expense. Therefore, we felt that deferred introduction was more sensible.”
How the Tests Will Be Conducted
The revised load tests are defined under Articles 3.15.4 and 3.15.5 of the 2025 Technical Regulations. These cover both front wing bodywork and flap flexibility. Previously, the rules allowed up to 15mm of vertical deflection when 100kg of load was applied symmetrically and 20mm when the load was applied to one side. From Spain onward, the limits drop to 10mm and 15mm, respectively.
For the flaps, the allowed deflection has been cut from 5mm to 3mm under a 6kg point load. This reduction should make it harder for teams to exploit flexible elements that could shift aerodynamics at speed.
The FIA will also continue regular inspections to verify compliance. “We check the teams at various points across the season and we ask them to bring certain components along and we’ll check them in isolation and sometimes test them on the whole car,” Tombazis says. These inspections will often take place under parc ferme conditions, where teams cannot modify their vehicles, ensuring full transparency.
Lessons from Rear Wing Adjustments
This new approach mirrors recent steps taken for rear wings. Earlier in 2025, the allowed movement under 75kg of load was progressively tightened—from 2mm down to 0.5mm after the FIA identified the so-called “mini-DRS effect.” Tombazis remarks, “The 2025 regulations were designed to counteract the so-called ‘mini-DRS effect’ that became quite a talking point in the autumn of last year. That test was applied from the start of the season, but it soon became apparent it was insufficient.”
Similar vigilance will now apply to front wings. Frequent and precise checks will help ensure that no team runs an overly flexible setup during competition. Furthermore, the FIA may also test cars after races if suspicions arise. Those procedures, according to the regulations, will use static load methods as described in Article 3.15.
