The increasing popularity of F1 has not only brought the sport more armchair experts but also a raft of armchair scrutineers and stewards.

Since Shanghai there has been intense discussion online relating to the movable front wing on the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli which appeared to move in two stages when closing.

While the first stage complies with the 400-millisecond limit as per the regulations, a second stage appeared to extend the period of closure beyond the permitted limit.

As more videos of the wing movement surfaced it was claimed that Ferrari had raised the matter with the FIA, a claim the Maranello outfit has strongly denied.

Nonetheless, the FIA, which is yet to conclude the compression ratio row, was approached by one of the teams and consequently had no choice but to investigate the claims.

This morning, as the Suzuka weekend got underway, it is claimed that the sport's governing body is satisfied with Mercedes explanation that the two-stage closure wasn't a cheat but rather a reliability issue.

Indeed, as the German team seeks to address the issue, it is understood that the two-stage closure would compromise performance rather than aid it since the 'delay' affects the braking phase in corners.

Interestingly, at the height of the online discussions, it was suggested by some that the Mercedes livery for the Suzuka weekend, which features a dragon motif, is specifically to hide the 'illegal' movement.