The FIA has introduced stricter rear wing flexibility regulations ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, reducing the permitted movement from 2mm to 0.5mm under a 75kg vertical load. This crackdown, aimed at preventing excessive flex and the so-called “mini-DRS” effect, has forced some teams to make adjustments.

Alpine has confirmed that it had to modify its rear wing at short notice to comply with the new directive. Speaking about the rapid turnaround between Australia and China, Alpine Racing Director Dave Greenwood explained the team’s approach to the changes.

“We’ve had to do some work back at the factory to make sure we were in a correct place here, but I think that’s fairly normal in these situations,” he told Motorsport.com.

“When a rule and an allowance of deflection changes, you need to check that you are going to be able to comply with that as well.”

While top teams such as Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes have not needed to make adjustments, midfield outfits like Alpine and Haas have had to act. Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu admitted that his team also had to stiffen its rear wing, as they were close to the limit in Melbourne.

The timing of the rule change left Alpine with little time to react, but Greenwood remained confident in his team’s ability to adapt. “The time scales were very small, so it’s not like you can do something revolutionary. But yeah, there are things we can do to make sure we comply,” he said.

He praised the team’s factory in Enstone, highlighting the rapid response from their engineers. “At the end of the day, we’ve got a factory back in Enstone with a great number of people who are very skilled and know how to do these things. So fundamentally, the factory has reacted, and we have what we need to be compliant.”

Looking ahead, the flexibility restrictions will tighten further in Japan, where the temporary 0.25mm tolerance introduced in China will be completely removed.

Greenwood downplayed concerns over this upcoming change, stating: “I think the solutions are fairly robust. We are talking about 0.25 of a millimetre here. So fundamentally, yeah, we like to push fine margins, but we need to have a bit more margin than that.”