No grey areas
After the Chinese Grand Prix, images began circulating online showing the Mercedes front wing performing unusually slow DRS closure at the braking point for turn 14, even appearing to move in two distinct stages. This was clearly anomalous compared to competitors, whose wings moved cleanly and consistently. In the days leading up to the Japanese Grand Prix, rumors spread that several teams had asked the FIA for clarification regarding the wing’s movement. Online speculation ranged from the plausible to the far-fetched, suggesting Mercedes was exploiting a “grey area” in the regulations. The reality, however, is that there is no grey area: the rules are crystal clear. Wings may only have two defined positions—for straights and for corners—and must move between them at a constant speed, completing the transition within 400 milliseconds. This clarity was intentional, as the FIA wanted to prevent teams from using active aerodynamics, originally designed to reduce drag on straights and save battery energy, in ways that would alter wing angles depending on track sectors—something interesting to experiment with, but irrelevant under current rules.
Malfunction as the only acceptable loophole
The only “loophole” allowed by the FIA is for genuine malfunctions. Wings must have only two positions unless there is a verified system failure—the movement is monitored by FIA control units. Such malfunctions should be occasional (not recurring every weekend) and must be demonstrated to the FIA. From the outset, the most likely explanation for the wing behavior on Antonelli and George Russell’s cars in Shanghai was a malfunction. In qualifying, the front wing caused significant issues for Toto Wolff’s team, leading to a hurried replacement on Russell’s #63 car, with Antonelli reporting similar problems. The “malfunction” explanation mainly clarified two things: why Mercedes was not investigated more deeply after the race and why competitors limited themselves to seeking clarification rather than formally protesting the championship-leading team.
A miscalculation
New information reported by The Race indicates that Mercedes explained the issue as a technical problem—a malfunction—but caused by a miscalculation by the engineers in Brackley, who underestimated the hydraulic pressure needed in the system. At very high speeds, such as at the end of the straight before the hairpin, the aerodynamic load was too high, and the actuator pressure was insufficient to close the wing within the 400ms required by the regulations. While this is not a conspiracy topic, if this explanation is accurate, it raises the question of whether a simple miscalculation should really be treated as a “malfunction.”
Miscalculations are everywhere
Beyond this specific case, irregularities in F1 cars are often due to engineering miscalculations. Insufficient fuel at the end of a race reflects underestimated consumption, an underweight car (like Russell in Belgium two years ago) reflects miscalculated tire wear, and excessive plank wear—seen in McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes in recent seasons—is another calculation error. There is a key difference between a genuine malfunction, caused by random events like track contacts or debris, and a miscalculation, which is the team’s clear responsibility. We are not advocating for severe sanctions, though in theory a car that violates technical regulations should be disqualified. Mercedes’ “loophole” comes from the new regulation’s need for calibration. Yet, at a delicate time for F1—just before a Grand Prix that could exacerbate the new rules’ challenges and ahead of a five-week break—presenting a simple engineering error as a “malfunction,” shrugged off with a promise it won’t happen again, is not intellectually honest.
While Mercedes has been cleared by the FIA for their front wing behavior in China, the precedent set by labeling an engineering oversight as a “malfunction” raises questions about future technical compliance. Based on the content of these latest reports, the paddock will be watching closely to see if other teams attempt to use similar “calibration errors” to circumvent the strict 400ms transition limit.
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