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…
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