Mercedes left in “no mans land” due to F1’s ‘half baked’ flexi-wing approach

In a fresh move to prevent teams from gaining an unfair advantage by using so-called “bendy” wings, the FIA has issued a technical directive that will come into effect from next month’s French Grand Prix.

But the timing of the clampdown means that teams will be able to continue using their flexi-wings at the next two events in Monaco and Baku, where McLaren has claimed teams complying with the regulations will face a “big disadvantage” compared to those suspected of bending the rules.

While Wolff accepts that immediate intervention from the FIA would have been very difficult, he does not understand why the process cannot be sped up.

“We have seen in the past that complicated redesigns for teams have [been] delayed, it’s clear that if you have a back-to-back race or maybe even two weeks, it’s too short for everyone to adjust,” Wolff said.

“But we have four weeks until Baku and it is incomprehensible that within four weeks you can’t stiffen up a rear wing for the track that is probably the most affected by flexible rear wings.

“That leaves us in no man’s land, because the technical directive says that the movement of the rear wings has been judged as excessive.

“So teams who would run this kind of thing are prone to be protested and probably this is going to go to the ICA [International Court of Appeal] - and nobody needs this situation.”

Wolff revealed that Mercedes first contacted the FIA regarding its concerns over the use of flexi-wings as early as last summer but received no feedback. He reckons the situation should have been clarified much earlier and joked Mercedes will now have to modify its wing.

“We have been left in a limbo since a long time,” Wolff explained. “We have flagged a flexible rear wing situation last summer without having received any feedback.

“I understand some of the team’s frustration when making the concept of this year’s car that that was an area that should have been tackled much earlier.

“We will need to modify our wing. We need to soften it, our wing is extremely rigid, complying to the famous Article 3.8 that it must remain immobile.

“The new test that has been introduced is a half-baked solution which is giving us opportunity, the whole thing can soften and bend more in the future.”

And Wolff warned that F1 is at risk of a “messy” protest situation due to what he described as being a “half baked” approach to the clampdown.

“We had in the past a situation, I remember DAS last year and every year we have these situations,” he added.

“It leaves us in a legal vaccum and leaves the door open for protests, it’s not only us but it’s probably two other teams that are most affected, maybe more. Obviously a protest could end up in the ICA, so that’s a messy situation, it can take weeks before we have a result.

“We should not have this situation if we are having four weeks until the race that is most relevant in the calendar.”