F1 scandal comes to light as McLaren and Ferrari accused of 'mini-drs' by rival

Last year's F1 championship had teams throwing allegations at each other for finding loopholes in the championship. The one that stood out the most was McLaren's 'mini-drs', which was subsequently taken action by the FIA. However, the talks related to rear-wing flexibility have returned as McLaren and Ferrari are accused of incorporating the 'mini-drs' in their rear wings by Pierre Wache.

At the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, fans and experts took notice of how the McLaren MCL38's rear wing flexed backward, allowing for a slot to open up in the rear plane. This helped decrease drag and possibly helped Oscar Piastri defend his lead from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Though Ferrari and Red Bull were vocal about the issue, FIA initially stated that they were happy with the condition of the aerodynamic flexibility in the cars. However, this changed with the new ruling incorporated for the 2025 season, which states that a stringent test will be used to determine whether teams are following the rules surrounding aerodynamic flexibility.

After witnessing the onboard footage of rival teams, Red Bull's technical director, Pierre Wache, voiced his concerns. He reckoned that both Ferrari and McLaren were still utilizing the loopholes of the regulations, and said (via Motorsport Week):

"It is still going on. I think Ferrari and McLaren are doing the mini-DRS stuff still."

FIA's Technical Directive explicitly states that F1 cars' wings should not flex more than 13mm under aerodynamic load.

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How the ball lies in FIA's camp to police F1 teams

FIA has laid out multiple load tests on wings to check their flexibility. An allowance of 13mm is given, as nothing can be made 100 percent rigid. Despite this, teams often try to find grey areas and gain an advantage in the process.

Similarly, when the mini-drs talk sparked up last year, an unnamed team principal revealed how the governing body has to take up the initiative to clampdown on F1 teams exploiting rules, and said (via Motorsport.com):

"Aero elasticity has been a factor for many, many years now, and even if a wing passes the FIA test the regulations remain very clear - the component cannot be designed to flex. We rely on the FIA to say, okay, what are the boundaries of that? Of course, everything will flex to a certain degree, but what is acceptable and what is not?"

"We're starting to see extremities be exploited again, and I think it's down to the FIA to decide, is that okay, in which case everybody will pile in or, as per the regulation, the way it's written, does that comply?"

F1 pre-season testing ended on February 28, with Carlos Sainz's 1:29:348s being the fastest a driver did around the Bahrain International Circuit. The Spaniard had set the fastest lap time 12 months ago and continued the tradition while wearing blue this time.