Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has pointed to the controversial use of flexi-wings by rival teams as a decisive factor in the tightly contested 2024 Formula 1 season.
Last summer, the Italian outfit, along with Red Bull, sought clarification from the FIA regarding the alleged flexing wings used by McLaren and Mercedes.
The FIA subsequently introduced monitoring cameras at the Belgian Grand Prix but ultimately deemed the designs legal.
Furthermore, Formula 1’s governing body has not implemented new testing protocols for the 2025 season, a situation that has frustrated Vasseur.
Asked if flexi-wings had impacted the championship, the Frenchman said: “I think so”.
Vasseur then elaborated on the difficulties Ferrari faced in reacting to the situation, hampered by the cost cap regulations and the time taken for the FIA's assessment.
"I'm a bit frustrated with this, because it's clear performance, and we wait two months for the decision if it's legal or not," the Scuderia chief explained, quoted by Motorsport.com.
"And with the cost cap, you have always to keep in mind the cost cap. It means that you have to be efficient with the budget.
"It means that if you start to do a development and at the end, it's a no-go, you burn €600,000.”
He also emphasized the impact on development resources.
“We had the discussion with the story of Red Bull two years ago, is that it's not because you are burning half a million, that is half a million out of 150 million,” he added.
"It's half a million out of three or four millions of development, because you have your guys, you have the racing costs, you have this, this and this and at the end, you have the development, and you have X millions of development.
"But it's a small X, and if you burn for nothing half a million, you can't spend somewhere else. And for sure, that's when, for me, it was more than on the edge the story."
Vasseur highlighted the significant performance gains even small amounts of flex could provide, especially in a closely contested season like 2024, citing the tight margins at Monza as an example.
“It is true that the more the competition will be tight, the more we will look after details,” he said.
“I’m not sure that when you had six-tenths between the cars that we are paying so much attention to details.
“But when you had races like Monza, you had four or five cars within a tenth, if you have a flexi-wing and whatever, for sure, it’s making a huge difference.”
He linked the flexi-wing debate to the current regulatory environment and the increasing competitiveness of the sport.
“I think it’s more the consequence of the fact that perhaps the fact that we have a tough regulation and it’s not easy to develop, but also that the championship is getting more and more tighter,” commented Vasseur.
When asked if the delay in implementing their own flexing wing had a greater impact than their underperforming Spain upgrade, Vasseur offered a nuanced perspective.
“I don’t know [if not having a flexi-wing cost more than the floor] because you can’t redo the season. And it’s not the same approach.
“One is something that we knew, and we are a bit on the back foot to decide to go for it. The other one is a development, and that we didn’t expect to have this problem.
“With the wing it’s just a mathematical approach.”
As the season concluded, Vasseur’s frustration highlighted a broader truth: in a championship as close as 2024, even the smallest flex can swing the balance.
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