Fred Vasseur Reveals FIA Frustrations After Missed Ferrari Development Opportunity In 2024

Saajan Jogia | Jan 4, 2025

Fred Vasseur / Ferrari Press Image

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has shared his frustration over the FIA's delayed response to a complaint filed by Ferrari and Red Bull regarding the allegedly illegal flexi front wings used by Mercedes and McLaren.

The governing body took two months to conclude its investigation, ultimately ruling in favor of the Papaya and Brackley outfits. Vasseur criticized the delay, as it prevented Ferrari from pursuing similar development strategies for its SF-24 F1 car. This delay, he believes, compromised Ferrari's competitiveness in the 2024 championship battle.

The FIA installed cameras on F1 cars starting from the Belgian Grand Prix to monitor potential flexing of the front wing. Despite finding no issues with any of the cars, the governing body rejected requests to modify its testing methods for wing flexibility, especially since the current regulations will remain in effect until the end of 2025.

With Ferrari losing out on a Constructors' Championship win to McLaren in 2024 by 14 points, Vasseur thinks the flexi wings played a role in deciding the outcome of the championship. He said:

"I think so.

"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.

"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. 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. 

"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."

Ferrari's team principal claimed that a flexing wing could provide a significant performance boost but acknowledged the difficulty of making such decisions amid a closely contested F1 grid and stringent regulations, leaving Ferrari uncertain about pursuing a similar approach with its car. He added:

"It is true that the more the competition will be tight, the more we will look after details. 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. 

"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.  

"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."