The FIA has issued a strong rebuttal to recent claims made by GPDA chairman and former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz regarding alleged aerodynamic modifications in karting.

The Austrian alleged that all “20 F1 drivers” had united to call for immediate action, as he branded the supposed developments in karting “absolutely insane” and “dangerous”.

His comments derived from an exclusive interview with GPBlog, during the Belgium Grand Prix weekend at Spa back in July, where he launched an attack on the way karting events are governed by the FIA and how the governing body has supposedly “allowed aerodynamic parts on the karts”.

In response, after the story’s publication, the FIA issued a statement firmly rejecting Wurz’s assertions and the claims reported in the article.

“The FIA strongly refutes a number of assertions made in comments carried in a recent article published by GPBlog.com,” the official statement read.

“These statements are incorrect and misrepresent the CIK-FIA Karting Technical and Homologation Regulations which govern FIA-sanctioned Karting events and explicitly prohibit modifications to the aerodynamics, wings, or floors of karts.

“To clarify: Article 4.6 of the Karting Technical Regulations, updated by the World Motor Sport Council in February 2025, specifically prohibits alterations to the floor trays of karts. The technical regulations also stipulate that only components expressly approved by the FIA may be used, thereby preventing the use of untested or non-homologated parts.

“All homologated bodywork must undergo FIA-standard crash testing, ensuring safety and integrity. There are currently five manufacturers who have homologated bodywork parts with a numbering system in place to ensure and track regulatory compliance.

“Under Article 22 of the Homologation Regulations, bodywork must be air-blow moulded, which inherently prevents adjustable aerodynamic features.

“Additionally, Article 3.2 of the Technical Regulations prohibits any modifications to homologated bodywork as inferred was possible or taking place in the article.”

FIA reaffirms karting regulations and safety standards

Continuing in its response, the FIA underlined that karting regulations leave no room for ambiguity, stressing that all components (aerodynamic or otherwise) are tightly controlled and their compliance rigorously enforced.

“The FIA welcomes the opportunity to clarify these points and reiterate the strict regulatory framework in place which ensures consistency, safety, cost containment and fairness in karting,” the statement added.

“The claims made in the article regarding alterations are not permitted in FIA-sanctioned Karting events and it is important to note that all components, including bodywork, are tightly controlled through homologation and scrutineering procedures that prevent any unapproved modifications.”

The FIA also responded directly to Wurz’s comment that, “We are looking out for the kids in karting, and we are concerned. We think it’s in the wrong direction and it should be stopped”.

The governing body slammed Wurz for his choice of words surrounding the basic safety of the junior competitors, saying: “Safety will always be the key priority of the FIA. Suggestions that safety has been compromised to accommodate kart upgrades are entirely baseless and untrue.

“In fact, the technical regulations have been strengthened this year to further enhance safety standards. The FIA has in recent years developed several new safety standards for karting, such as the karting body protection, karting light panels and karting helmet standards. 

“The FIA continues to strengthen safety standards in karting and will shortly release a completely new safety device initiative for karting.

“The FIA remains deeply committed to making karting more accessible and inclusive. Through our Global Karting Plan, we are introducing new categories and competitions such as the FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup in November where standardised karts will ensure technical and financial parity in a competition that identifies and rewards racing talent.”

Why the wait and why now?

This matter is not over in the eyes of the FIA and in the coming days they will actively seek a retraction of the spurious claims allegedly made by Wurz if not the whole article. 

Just how (and when) the GPDA and all of their “20 F1 drivers” have allegedly and suddenly become involved in campaigning for this, as heretofore unknown, alleged breach of safety for junior competitors is not known. 

But recently, the current political climate that has been invading the sport when anything related to the FIA is mentioned is concerning. Just why the GPDA Chairman would choose a little-known Dutch website to expose these alleged safety concerns of all “20 F1 drivers” is also concerning.

And, as to why that website would wait nearly a month before publishing their ‘scoop’ is debatable but clearly there is an agenda in play and one that is currently not obvious. 

Given the period of time that passed between the alleged exclusive interview and publication, could they not have engaged the FIA directly for a statement, especially as the author of the article was seen speaking to FIA officials in Budapest the following week and did not even bring up the matter.

For that matter why the GPDA did not immediately engage directly with the FIA when this matter became an issue for all “20 F1 drivers” (if indeed it is), is also a question that needs to be answered by Alex Wurz.

Looking in from the outside, there are more questions than answers at this stage with it being as clear as mud as to who or what is driving this agenda… 

READ MORE – Why the FIA isn’t worried about lap times with the 2026 F1 regulation overhaul

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FIA Formula 3 is back in action this weekend at Imola, nearly two months after the last round in Melbourne Australia and a number of the drivers revealed how they’ve kept sharp during the long break.

After that long break, F3 will now contest two rounds back-to-back at Imola and Monaco, before a nearly month-long break ahead of a European triple header.

Alpine Academy Driver Sophia Floersch said that preparing for this condensed period of the calendar was important during the prolonged gap between Australia and Imola.

“I mean obviously now all the European races are coming and we have them pretty tight together,” she said.

“So obviously you just kind of try to use those two months to prep for all those rounds a little bit to use obviously the time in the sim, spend time in the gym and work with the team to try and prepare as much as you can already for all the European races.” 

Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz, adapting to F3 in his rookie season commented on how physical preparation is necessary to compensate for a lack of track time.

“I think the most important is to train as much as possible,” he said.

“We’ve had one test in Barcelona and then it’s not much driving.

“It’s a bit difficult with the testing limit here. But yeah, I worked quite hard off track to get physically fit.

“[I’ve] been on the sim with the team in Switzerland, so yeah, prepped as much as I could for over two months for this round and the next one.”

Aiding Wurz in his preparation as a rookie is the fact that Imola is the first track on the 2024 F3 calendar that he has raced on before.

The young Austrian has experience of the Emilia Romagna circuit in both Formula 4 and the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, which should stand him in good sted ahead of this weekend’s action.

“This track I’ve raced twice before in F4 and in Freca,” he noted.

“It’s a difficult track to get a good flow and really to put the lap together is not easy, but it’s a track I really enjoy and with the downforce of the F3 car it’s fun to drive.

“I think it’s definitely helped, especially tracks like Melbourne that I didn’t know and Bahrain as well. 

“Yeah, first track of the season that I know, I think that will give me a bit of an advantage and just a bit more confidence going into this race.

“Just that I know where to go, I know the track, I know the references so feeling more confident for this round and yeah, just ready to go straight from [practice], beyond the limit straight away.

“I think that’s important for F3 to be straight there and I feel confident to do that.” 

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Alex Wurz, Chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, believes it is “very likely” that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will clash once again in 2021.

The two title protagonists were eliminated from the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month after making contact at Turn 2.

Verstappen was deemed at fault for the incident, and was issued a three-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix.

It marked another coming together between the duo this year, after they clashed at Imola and Silverstone earlier in the season.

When asked by Sky Sports how likely another incident between Hamilton and Verstappen in 2021, Wurz replied: “I think very likely, to be honest. 

“Both have to mark their territory, that’s sport. If you watch boxing, football, handball whatever it is, when two greats are coming together, those things happen. I hope that this will remain fair. 

“Outside of the car, I talked to both and they talked to each other, they have great respect for each other, which is really nice to see. 

“But on the other side, on the track, it’s ‘we are here to fight, we are here to win the Formula 1 world championship’. 

“Don’t get me wrong, they have to fight, it’s part of the game, hopefully with the respect they need, for their own team and own results, not only for each other.

“To finish first, you have to finish first. They can’t afford too many crashes.”

Following the clash at Monza, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the incident was a “tactical foul” from Verstappen, who sensed he was to lose the position to his championship rival.

However, Wurz disagrees with his fellow Austrian, believing Verstappen’s aggressiveness was “normal racing tactics”.

“A comment of Toto, a dear friend of mine, I don’t see it as a tactical foul,” Wurz said. 

“I see it as normal racing tactics, when the driver in the lead of the championship is building on that. 

“If you are leading in a tennis match, you can afford to be more aggressive, if you are leading in football, you have different tactics. If you are leading the [F1] championship, you can also have different tactics. 

“Then it’s down to the second position driver to judge his risk management. In this case it didn’t work out, I think it was more the fault of Max that they collided. But once again, from me, it was a racing incident.”

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