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Who are the real winners and losers from the FIA’s U-turn on approving a big mid-F1 2025 change? And is there any truth to the wild conspiracy theories? Jon Noble explains
The news last week that the FIA had changed its mind about getting stricter on flexi wing antics in Formula 1 inevitably prompted intrigue about who stood to benefit the most. Given motor racing’s governing body stating repeatedly during 2024 that it did not see the need for any intervention over what teams were doing with their wings, its change of heart hinted at some behind-the-scenes pressure being put to play. At first glance, the new clampdown on an area of the car where McLaren and Mercedes had maximized gains, and consequently closed on the previously dominant Red Bull squad, would appear to have made McLaren and Mercedes the big losers. So had their rivals been complaining and taken a win in finally forcing through some changes to slow McLaren and Mercedes down? However, the story took an interesting twist when a wild theory emerged that McLaren could actually be the big winner from the clampdown, and that it was bizarrely arch-rival Red Bull that could have been the target. The conspiracy was that McLaren, well aware that its competitor had been making gains over the winter after flexi wings were given the green light by the FIA last year, pulled off a genius move in lobbying to get things tightened up at the 11th hour. This would have had the double whammy of limiting any gains Red Bull could have made over the winter, and also have meant that it would have wasted valuable resources focusing on something that it could no longer use to full effect.
