Winging it? F1 rule change raises hopes of a reset
Ferrari front wings. 2025 Formula 1.
Photo:
Clay Cross / Photosport
McLaren's Formula One rivals hope stricter front wing tests could help to close the gap to the runaway leaders in Spain this weekend.
Even if title-chasing team mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are confident little will change, others remain unconvinced.
F1 teams were told in January that the front flex tests would be implemented from 1 June after rear wings came under increased scrutiny when the season started in March.
Teams have had to redesign their front wings to make them stiffer, which will affect the aerodynamics.
"I think Barcelona is on the calendar of everybody in the paddock with the new regulation for the front wing," Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, whose team are fourth overall and a point behind Red Bull, said in Monaco last weekend.
"We are working on it for ages now and this can be a game-changer for everybody because we don't know the impact on every single team of the new regulation."
Champions McLaren, winners of six of eight races so far and a mighty 172 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors' standings, say the circuit itself could have a bigger effect with high-speed corners not naturally suiting their car.
Rivals will be watching closely either way.
"What we don't know is how it will affect others. It's a significant change," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner, whose champion Max Verstappen is chasing a fourth successive Spanish victory.
Barcelona is high-downforce and overtaking is not easy, although fans can hope for a better race than Monaco's no-overtaking procession.
Championship leader Piastri is only three points clear of Norris after the Briton's win in Monaco on Sunday and both will be at the centre of attention.
Norris has the momentum, beating Piastri in the last two races even if the Australian leads four wins to two.
The Briton still smarts from a win that got away in Spain last year after taking pole and then losing out at the start to Verstappen.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton has won a record-equalling six times in Spain but is still waiting for his first win with Ferrari, apart from a Shanghai sprint victory, since he joined from Mercedes in January.
Mercedes are also looking to return strongly after a double blank in Monaco with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso will have strong support and hopes to end his worst start to a season in a decade, the Aston Martin driver pointless after eight races.
Carlos Sainz is making his home return in Williams colours after losing his Ferrari seat to Hamilton.
Barcelona faces an uncertain future, with the contract running out in 2026 and Madrid set to host the Spanish Grand Prix from next year.
Max Verstappen (NED) , Red Bull Racing.
Photo:
Joma Garcia / PHOTOSPORT
Formula One statistics for the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, the ninth round of the 24-race championship:
Lap distance: 4.657 km. Total distance: 307.236 km (66 laps)
2024 pole position: Lando Norris (Britain) McLaren One minute 11.383 seconds
2024 race winner: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull
Start time: 1300 GMT (1500 local)
Race lap record: Verstappen 1:16.330 (2023)
The high-downforce Circuit de Catalunya is hosting what will be the 55th world championship Spanish GP, and the last of a 'triple header' of three races on successive weekends.
Lewis Hamilton has won the Spanish GP six times (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), a record he shares with Michael Schumacher.
Verstappen has won four times (2016, 2022, 2023, 2024), and finished on the podium in the last seven Spanish Grands Prix, with Fernando Alonso winning twice (2006, 2013).
Verstappen took his first F1 win in Spain.
The winner at the Circuit de Catalunya, which has a mix of fast and slow corners with two long straights and a smooth surface, has started on pole 24 times in 34 races there.
Overtaking is not easy: the only drivers to win in Barcelona and not start on the front row were Schumacher (third on the grid in 1996), Alonso (from fifth in 2013) and Verstappen (fourth in 2016).
Alonso and Williams's Carlos Sainz are the only Spanish drivers in the race.
Ferrari are the most successful team at the Circuit de Catalunya with eight wins. Since 1951, the Italian team have won 12 times in Spain.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri leads the drivers' championship by three points from team mate Norris. Verstappen is 22 points behind Norris.
Leaders and champions McLaren are 172 points clear of Mercedes, with Red Bull four further back.
Piastri has won four out of eight races, Verstappen and Norris two each.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 364 starts. Verstappen has won 65 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.
Piastri and Norris both have six career wins.
Piastri and Verstappen have both been on pole three times this season, Norris twice.
Norris has started on the front row in four of the eight.
Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary in 2023.
Both McLaren drivers have finished on the podium seven times so far in 2025, Piastri seven times in a row.
Leclerc's second place in Monaco was Ferrari's best result of the season so far.
Piastri, Norris and Verstappen are now the only drivers to have scored in every race this season after Mercedes's George Russell finished 11th in Monaco.
Piastri has scored for 34 races in a row, the third-longest scoring streak in F1 history.
Aston Martin's double world champion Alonso has yet to open his account, his worst start to a season in 10 years.
Two rookies have yet to score this season - Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine's Franco Colapinto, who replaced Jack Doohan after six races.
-Reuters
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