Rear wing and mini-DRS, Lando Norris holds his head high: “We are compliant. In fact, we’re not pushing enough”. Lando Norris reacts to FIA’s introduction of new tests to monitor the flexibility of rear wings.

A matter of flexibility

In the few days between the end of the Melbourne weekend and the start of the one in Shanghai, one of the most significant pieces of news in the Formula 1 world was the FIA’s introduction of new tests to monitor the flexibility of rear wings. The federation decided to drastically reduce the tolerance from one race to the next, lowering the permitted flex from 2 to 0.5 millimeters, with a 0.25-millimeter allowance for the Chinese Grand Prix due to the short notice given to teams.

Lando speaks: McLaren is fine, but the others…

Many have interpreted this decision as an ‘anti-McLaren’ move, as the Woking team had already come under scrutiny at the end of last season for its seemingly too-flexible rear wings. This led to the term ‘mini-DRS,’ used to describe how the excessive flexibility of McLaren’s wing gave Norris and Piastri’s cars an additional DRS-like effect on straights compared to the rest of the grid, providing an advantage that some critics deemed illegal.

“We don’t have to change anything,” Lando Norris said regarding McLaren’s rear wing. “Ours is fine. In fact, ours is probably too good, and we’re probably not pushing the limits enough. If this technical directive had been applied last weekend, we would have been fine. It’s not aimed at us but at other teams, which probably means we need to push a bit more,” the Briton commented. Words that are sure to add even more heat to the Shanghai weekend.