The first round of 2025 was extremely unpredictable, with wet conditions throwing a spanner in the works immediately. Even before the rain, several midfield drivers (Tsunoda, Albon, Gasly, Sainz) upset the front-runners in qualifying.
On race day, whilst rain made it difficult to directly compare performance, the likes of Williams and VCARB showed solid pace.
This increases the pressure on the top teams ahead of this weekend’s Chinese GP – when a new technical directive could impact performance.
Why the FIA’s latest directive matters
As mentioned previously on LWOS, the FIA is implementing new measures to control the ‘Mini-DRS’ phenomenon that is becoming increasingly prevalent across the field.
McLaren were the first to push the regulatory limits with their rear wings at Baku last year.
During the winter, the FIA determined it was necessary to impose harsher tests and regulations.
This was in response to fears that teams had found ways to pass the FIA’s static tests (which measures wing flexing) whilst still benefiting from the aeroplasticity of flexi-wings on track.
Although a new technical directive was due to be applied at the Spanish GP (round 9), the FIA were proactive.
F1’s sporting body introduced new cameras to monitor rear wing movement last weekend in Australia.
Their response was swift and emphatic, introducing new measures for teams to adhere to at the Chinese GP.
Further restrictions and tests will be imposed at round three in Japan. The aim is to completely eliminate this grey area for the remainder of 2025.
For the FIA to immediately implement a new technical directive indicates that several teams were benefiting from a flexible rear wing.
Although the performance gain from this component is unclear, the impact of revising their wings to be compliant with the regulations should cost certain teams a few tenths per lap.
The question, inevitably, is who will be most impacted.
McLaren and Ferrari under the spotlight in Shanghai
Previously on LWOS, we analysed the potential winners and losers from the FIA’s latest clampdown.
Over the winter break, the FIA’s first steps to restrict flexi front-wings (separate though not unrelated to the changes for this weekend) generated different reactions across the grid.
McLaren, understood to have started pushing this area before anyone else, were relatively unbothered by the latest announcement over winter.
The same can be said for Ferrari, who downplayed the impact of the incoming directive.
However, at pre-season testing, it was Red Bull who suggested that Ferrari and McLaren were still benefiting from ‘Mini-DRS’.
This was the suspicion of Red Bull’s technical director – Pierre Wache. It was the Frenchman’s comments that reignited concerns about flexible wings in pre-season.
According to a report from it.motorsport, there are four main teams suspected to have benefited from flexi-wings in Australia:
Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine and Haas.
At this stage, reaching conclusions about which teams were pushing the limits of the regulations is difficult.
Only the FIA and teams themselves will have concrete data on this issue.
Still, considering that adjustments to become compliant with the regulations have been ordered immediately, anyone who was gaining an advantage in this area will be caught out.
Even if they only lose a few tenths per lap, it could tip the scales in an increasingly competitive field.
Considering that teams are already switching their focus to the 2026 regulations, any difficulties at the early stages of this year could complicate resource allocation further down the line.
