F1 teams look ahead to two-part 2025 season

Feb.21 (GMM) 2025 may be the last year of the current regulations, but teams have marked a very important mid-season date in their diaries.

McLaren, at the centre of flexible wing controversies last year, insist that the FIA’s new flexibility criteria for this season is not a “headache”.

But from the first race, stricter flex tests for the rear wings will apply, while from round nine of the world championship in Barcelona in June, the front wings will also need to comply with much harsher measures.

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says that’s why the nose and front wing on the newly-revealed 2025 car looks very similar to its predecessor.

“If the rules are changing (in Barcelona), it makes sense to combine this with a development of the wing,” he said.

“For me it’s not a problem – it’s good to have clarity,” the Frenchman is also quoted as saying by DAZN. “We can discuss the calendar, as the regulations will come into force the week after Monaco, but in the end I think it’s a fair measure.

“The worst scenario would have been to start the season and, after two races, receive a technical directive forcing us to change,” Vasseur added. “That would have been much more difficult to manage, but today we all know what we will have to do.”

Fernando Alonso, driving for Aston Martin, says the Barcelona front wing changes are making him feel more relaxed heading into what he thinks is now a two-part 2025 season.

“I feel that the Bahrain test and the first races are going to be less relevant than usual,” said the Spaniard.

“Before, it seemed that starting the year well already guaranteed you continuity, but in these last two years we have seen radical improvements at McLaren in 2023, Mercedes last year, even Haas.

“If the team hits the nail on the head in race nine, the season is so long that there is still a lot to sort out by race 24,” Alonso, 43, continued. “So I’m taking it a bit more calmly about how to approach the pre-season.

“A good year for us means at least matching what we did last year. We were fifth in the constructors’ championship, but I don’t think we were the fifth fastest at the end of the year.”