McLaren director shoots down flexi wing speculation ahead of Chinese Grand Prix

In light of the FIA’s latest technical directive  surrounding the flexibility of rear wings, McLaren technical director Neil Houldey has confirmed that the new restrictions will have “absolutely no impact” on the team’s performance at the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.

The FIA has tightened the regulations around the rear wing ahead of the Shanghai race.  After the analysis of footage and measurements from cars in Melbourne, the governing body has confirmed a change in regulations for the upcoming race weekend, putting an end to what many are calling “mini-DRS.” Now, the tolerance for the slot gap has been reduced from 2mm to just 0.5mm under 75kg of load.

The FIA statement read:

“As has been previously communicated, between the end of the 2024 season and the start of the 2025 season, the FIA exercised the authority it is granted under Article 3.15.1 of the Technical Regulations to introduce either new or more challenging load-deflection tests for the front wing (from Race 9, Spanish Grand Prix), the upper rear wing, and the beam rear wing.

“In addition, the FIA requested to the teams to use cameras in Free Practice Sessions to monitor the on-track deformations exhibited by the cars during the Australian Grand Prix.

“Having analysed footage from the rear wing deformations combined to the static deflections measured inside the FIA garage in Melbourne, the FIA has concluded that sufficient grounds exist for a tougher test to be introduced from the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix on the upper rear wing.

“More specifically, Article 3.15.17, introduced in 2025, states that if 75Kg of vertical load is applied on either extremity of the rear wing mainplane, the distance between the mainplane and the flap (also known as “slot gap”) must not vary by more than 2mm.

“From the forthcoming Grand Prix in Shanghai, this limit will be reduced to 0.5mm. Due to the short notice for Shanghai only a tolerance of 0.25mm will be added to this new limit.

“The teams were informed of this revised test early Monday 17th of March.

“The FIA wishes to further confirm that during the Melbourne event all cars tested against the requirements of Article 3.15.17 and found to comply, therefore all cars raced in Melbourne were deemed to be legal.”

McLaren driver Lando Norris had already spoken to the media regarding McLaren’s part in this, assuring fans of the team that these new regulations won’t affect their dominant performance. 

Houldey confirmed this in discussion with the media today, adding that McLaren’s rear wings were already compliant with the new regulations when tested in Melbourne.

“We were lucky when we were tested in Melbourne and the numbers that the FIA chose to put in the TD are higher than the deflection that we’d seen, so it’s had absolutely no impact on us at this event,” Houldey stated. “The performance should be no different for us, so I think we’ll be okay with that one.”

When questioned about whether teams could adapt their wings within a week’s timeframe, Houldey is unsure how teams struggling with this change will adapt their cars in time.

“We would certainly struggle, so it’s fortunate that we were in the position that we were and didn’t have to make any changes. I don’t know how other teams have managed it, but maybe there are setup changes that they’ve been able to make that don’t require new components or maybe they’ve had to make something incredibly quickly to get it here and become legal.”

The Papaya team also has a low drag wing that is yet to be tested, but the engineer is sure this isn’t going to be an issue either when asked.

“I don’t think [it will be an issue]. I think when you look at some of the footage and some of the images from testing, there were certainly teams that were pushing the boundaries on slot gap opening more than us. So no, I don’t think it was that wing that gave them enough interest to do anything.”

The Silverstone outfit drew attention to their car when footage of the rear wing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was questioned. The team agreed to modify it after a discussion with the FIA, despite them maintaining that it was of legal design. 

McLaren, with momentum built in Australia, will be looking for a double-podium finish in China.