McLaren’s controversial ‘mini-DRS’ made headlines during the previous racing season and it appears to be in the limelight again, following pre-season testing in Bahrain for the upcoming 2025 F1 championship. The modifications made by the team to their rear wing slot gap in the last season had raised eyebrows. Even though they didn’t breach any regulations, they did prompt McLaren to “proactively offer” minor adjustments after discussions with the FIA.
The FIA had introduced changes in the rule to eliminate any potential advantage teams could gain from a flexing rear wing when DRS was not activated. The FIA Technical Regulations for 2025 were revised to decrease the minimum and maximum slot gap width in the rear wings.
To further clarify, Article 30.10.10 was amended to tighten the regulations. The article states, “Except in the event of a DRS failure or the transitioning from one position into the other the DRS bodywork can have only two positions, such that the DRS bodywork position must be the same before and after each state of deployment.” Essentially, this means the DRS must be only open or closed, with no gray area in between.
However, a report from The Race following testing in Bahrain suggests that the issue of rear wing flexing might still be prevalent on the grid. It was observed that the entire rear wing, rather than just the slot gap, was flexing at speed, or that slot gap flexibility was still being exploited.
Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché voiced his concerns to The Race, stating the flexing was “quite visible” and indicating that he believed, “It is still going on, I think Ferrari and McLaren are doing the mini-DRS stuff still.”
An anonymous team principal also shared similar observations, stating, “Looking at the videos we have seen, some of the rear wings out there appear to be quite flexible. It is something we are keeping a very close eye on.”
Despite these concerns, it’s worth noting that during testing, rear wing flexing and other technical requirements aren’t stringently inspected for FIA technical compliance. However, Waché anticipates this topic will spark discussion when the teams land in Melbourne for the season opener, and will continue to be a focal point in the early rounds of the championship.
