Protests at McLaren and Mercedes front wings rejected

Formula 1's governing body has rejected complaints from Red Bull and Ferrari about the legality of the front wings on the McLaren and Mercedes cars.

Red Bull and Ferrari believed the front wings flexed excessively and were not compliant with the rules.

But the FIA said on Tuesday: "All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations."

Red Bull and Ferrari have not responded to requests for comment.

The complaints were raised in the context of the increase in competitiveness of the McLaren and Mercedes cars in recent months.

Red Bull dominated the start of the season, but find themselves under increasing pressure from McLaren in both drivers' and constructors' championships.

The world champions admit they do not yet know the solution to handling problems which are affecting the competitiveness of their car, and after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix Max Verstappen said: "At the moment, both championships are not realistic."

Verstappen, who has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, has a 62-point championship lead over McLaren's Lando Norris with eight races to go - and 232 more points available.

McLaren are just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

The FIA statement added that the governing body was continually assessing the flexibility of bodywork, including with new onboard cameras that had been in use since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.

It said: "The FIA has the right to introduce new tests if irregularities are suspected.

"There are no plans for any short-term measure, but we are evaluating the situation with the medium and long-term in mind."

Short-term in that context means this season, medium-term next year and long-term 2026, an FIA spokesperson said.

The controversy has been bubbling away for some races but blew up at Monza after footage from an onboard camera showed McLaren’s front wing bending and oscillating.

If a wing can be made to flex in a certain way it can increase speed on the straight by reducing drag, and then increase downforce again by returning to a different angle in the corners.

While the current focus is on McLaren and Mercedes, Red Bull have often found themselves at the centre of such discussions in the past - such as in 2021 when the FIA made a change to the rules after complaints about the Red Bull front wing.

The FIA said it examined front wings at every event and had been "acquiring additional data since the Belgian race with an FIA-mandated video camera which captures areas of the front wing which are not visible through the official F1 cameras."

It said the exercise would continue "at least" through the forthcoming races in Azerbaijan and Singapore this month "to ensure every team will have been running the mandated FIA camera on different types of tracks".

"This will ensure a large database, allowing the FIA to draw the most objective picture of the situation and quantify differences between the various dynamic patterns observed on track," the statement said.