Adrian Newey F1 future set for resolution as FIA issue flexi-wing response

Your daily dose of F1 news is here, and we have plenty of the biggest headlines to get through for you in what is an extremely busy time.

Not the least of which is that there seems to be an ever-increasing degree of certainty to where Adrian Newey could be about to end up next, among the other news of the day.

F1 news: Adrian Newey poised to complete Aston Martin deal in coming days

Having been at the centre of Formula 1’s ‘silly season’ for months when he isn’t even a driver – such is the success he has had in the sport – Adrian Newey, PlanetF1.com understands, is set to sign terms with Aston Martin in the coming days.

Aston Martin have been heavily linked with the outgoing Red Bull chief technology officer since it was announced he would be leaving the team, along with the likes of Ferrari, Williams and, more recently, Alpine.

As we understand it, though, it appears the Formula 1 design legend is looking set to move to Silverstone from the first quarter of 2025, though nothing has been signed as it stands.

FIA clarify ‘flexi-wing’ stance in fresh statement

With multiple teams having urged the FIA to take a look at the potential legality of the front wing of McLaren and Mercedes, the sport’s governing body issued a statement clarifying that every front wing in Formula 1 is currently legal.

It clarified that more stringent testing has been put in place, but there is not a front wing on the grid that breaks its current regulations.

“All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations,” the FIA wrote among its statement.

“Since the Belgium Grand Prix, the FIA has acquired additional data during FP1 and FP2 sessions to assess dynamic behaviours through an FIA-mandated video camera which captures areas of the front wing that are not visible through the official FOM cameras.

“This exercise will continue at least up until Singapore to ensure every team will have been running the mandated FIA camera on different types of tracks (low, medium, high, and very high downforce).

“This will ensure a large database allowing the FIA to draw the most objective picture of the situation and quantify differences between the various dynamic patterns observed on track.”

McLaren confirm ‘we want to give it a go at the championship with Lando’

Andrea Stella acknowledged that McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ of engagement may be tweaked over time as things move forward, and he confirmed that Lando Norris is in the driving seat for a title battle with the team.

Asked by media including PlanetF1.com whether there will be a stage where Norris is McLaren’s number one driver, Stella replied: “Well, already in our conversation, even before the race here, we acknowledge that Lando is in the best position from a Drivers’ Championship point of view.

“So we have conversations with Oscar, we have conversations with Lando, and we have conversations together, and then we kind of define our rules of engagement.

“We need to take a look at the first lap, but it has to be done in a way that is competent, is detailed, specific, takes into account the videos, takes into account what was the driver’s expectation, and then see what can we learn from this situation to adjust the future situations.

“I state the fact that we do want to give it a go at the Championship with Lando.”

McLaren ‘between a rock and a hard place’ with team orders

Toto Wolff knows more than most about managing two drivers at the front of the field, and he acknowledged the situation facing McLaren is an extremely difficult one from Stella’s perspective.

“I think as a racing team that is battling at the front suddenly, you are between a rock and a hard place because on one side they are racers like we are racers,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com at Monza.

“We want to make sure that the best man wins but on the other side when it starts to become dysfunctional and impacting your team performance then how do you react to that.

“The team is always on the losing end because if you freeze positions and have team orders then you have maybe not what our racing soul wants to do but the rational side needs to prevail.

“At the end you don’t want to lose out on a championship by three or five points that you could have easily made. So walking that tightrope is so difficult and there is no universal truth of how to handle it.”

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