McLaren’s Mini-DRS Trick Sparks FIA Crackdown, Leaving Teams Scrambling Ahead of Chinese Grand Prix
Lando Norris kicked off the 2025 Formula 1 season in electrifying style, converting pole position into a commanding victory at the Australian Grand Prix, snapping Max Verstappen’s record-breaking streak and seizing the early Drivers’ Championship lead. The McLaren star’s clinical performance in Melbourne showcased the team’s blistering pace, with Norris fending off a sluggish start and leveraging aggressive defending to secure the win.
However, the triumph was bittersweet for McLaren, who sit tied with Mercedes at 27 points atop the Constructors’ Championship. A controversial team order midway through the race forced Oscar Piastri to back off from challenging Norris, a decision that ended with the Aussie spinning into the gravel at Turn 4 after a daring move in wet conditions. While McLaren’s dominance was undeniable—potentially finishing 30 seconds ahead without safety car interruptions—their glory has now been overshadowed by an FIA bombshell that’s rocking the paddock.
Just days after Australia, the FIA dropped a game-changing directive targeting the ‘mini-DRS’ trick—a rear wing flexing tactic McLaren famously exploited in 2024’s Baku Grand Prix. This loophole allowed the upper rear wing to subtly open on straights, mimicking DRS to reduce drag and boost top speed without triggering the official mechanism. Following Melbourne, where onboard cameras captured suspicious wing behavior, the FIA analyzed footage and concluded that some teams were pushing the boundaries too far. While all cars passed Australia’s scrutineering tests—allowing a 2mm gap variance under a 7.5kg load—the governing body has now slashed that tolerance to 0.75mm for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, tightening further to 0.5mm by Japan. The sudden shift, announced on Monday, has left teams with mere days to adapt, igniting chaos as engineers scramble to redesign and reinforce rear wings.
Though the FIA hasn’t named culprits, McLaren’s history with the mini-DRS trick makes them the prime suspect, especially given their standout pace in Australia. Preseason whispers from Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen pointed fingers at McLaren and Ferrari for flexing wings, while Mercedes’ captured footage showed similar behavior. Yet, Norris brushed off the speculation in China, cheekily suggesting McLaren might not have pushed the limits enough.
Meanwhile, Alpine and Haas have already confessed to tweaking their wings to meet the new standards, hinting at broader implications across the grid. Red Bull, vocal critics of the trick, seem unlikely offenders, leaving Ferrari and McLaren under the microscope as potential pace-setters hit hardest by the clampdown.
The timing couldn’t be tighter—producing F1 parts is a months-long process, not a five-day sprint. Teams caught out may resort to makeshift fixes, potentially compromising performance in Shanghai. For McLaren, the stakes are sky-high: their early season momentum could falter if their pace was tied to the now-illegal wing design. Fans are divided—some applaud the FIA’s aggressive stance on fairness, while others lament the disruption to a thrilling title fight. As the Chinese Grand Prix looms, all eyes are on McLaren to see if Norris and Piastri can maintain their edge, or if this rule change will shuffle the 2025 pecking order. One thing’s certain: the mini-DRS saga has turned F1’s technical arms race into a full-on scramble.
