Belgian Grand Prix footage of Mercedes car tipped to ‘catch attention’ of F1 rivals

The FIA is using cameras to test the flexibility of the front wings of F1 cars at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Mercedes among the teams chosen to collect the data

Mercedes were among the teams who had a camera attached to their cars at the Belgian Grand Prix as the FIA begins its analysis of so-called ‘flexi front wings’.

Formula 1 teams have been designing their front wings to give the cars greater balance at different parts of a racing circuit. But they can only go so far as all cars have to pass mandatory FIA flexibility tests.

And there has been some suspicion among teams that some of their rivals may have been pushing the regulations a little bit too far in this regard. So, for practice at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday, the governing body chose to carry out some checks.

Mercedes were one of the teams selected to have the cameras fitted to their cars, along with the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Haas. But the Silver Arrows’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin dismissed the analysis as little more than “data collection”.

He said: “We haven’t got a concern on the flexibility because, like any bit of the car that’s subject to a deflection test, it’s designed to pass the test. That activity is one of data collection.

“I think they’re trying to understand what the entire grid is doing in terms of the stiffness and the flexibility on track. We’ll help them with that, we’ll collect the data, we’ll see what’s next. But we’re not concerned about the regulation.”

It wasn’t long after the first practice session of the weekend began that the first slow-motion images of the Mercedes front wings were broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Commenting on the amount of movement that could be seen, pundit Karun Chandhok felt it would be of interest to other teams in the paddock.

The former racer said: “Look at the movement on the front wing there. That’ll catch the attention of lots of other teams up and down the pit lane, as well as the FIA. Flexing the bodywork is a massive talking point.”

The FIA doesn’t plan to clamp down on teams this year, but instead plans to use the data to inform its regulations for the future and to help them decide if rule changes are needed for 2025. A spokesperson said: “The collected data will be used to enhance overall understanding of bodywork flexibility when defining future regulations.

“It is also reiterated that all front wings checked so far this season have passed the existing deflection tests and are deemed legal. This new technical directive is the result of a long-standing desire to better capture front wing behaviour under aerodynamic load.”