McLaren responds to Red Bull's flexi wing claims

McLaren has shifted the flexible rear wing debate back to Red Bull - suggesting their rival should not ignore the advantages of its rigid design as it tries to stir up debate.

Red Bull have been keeping a close eye on McLaren's rear wing concept since pre-season testing in Bahrain, after they expressed concern that McLaren was using some new mini-DRS tricks.

This has prompted the FIA ​​to tighten tests and change the rules since the Chinese Grand Prix to prevent teams from experimenting with slot manipulation. But that hasn't stopped further suspicions about what McLaren is doing.

Footage from the Japanese Grand Prix that surfaced on social media showing the MCL39's rear wing flexing attracted attention after it was shared by Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen.

Max added fuel to the fire by declaring that "it's pretty obvious what's going on." When asked about the situation, he said:

"I don't make the rules, nor do I enforce them. What I see, many others probably see - but that's it."

McLaren offered a different perspective – suggesting that it was technical choices by the teams, rather than a deliberate exploitation of a gray area in the rules.

Instead, McLaren reckons it all comes down to simple technical decisions – and that Red Bull have deliberately avoided a flex wing because they don't want the compromise it brings.

Speaking to Viaplay about the flexible rear wing debate, McLaren boss Andrea Stella said:

"I really wonder - where is the news? What are we talking about?

"Are we talking about some teams deciding not to have any flexibility, and others deciding to allow some bending within the allowed space in the rules? Any structure when loaded with 100 or 200 kilograms bends."

"If you're doing it within the rules, then it's actually a compromise in performance, because there's an advantage to what Red Bull is doing, and they're working really hard to make it happen."

"They want to keep the load at high speeds, even if it causes extra drag, which affects lap times."

"We want to reduce drag and light load – but as long as we do it within the rules, and that's the case, it's more of a technical issue than a legal one, if you understand me. So I really wonder - what kind of news are we even talking about here?"

A flexible rear wing that retracts at high speeds offers less grip in fast corners than a rigid design – but teams compensate for this loss of grip by increasing speed on the straights.

The upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be particularly interesting from a flex wing perspective, as there are a number of super fast corners where teams with flex wings may be at a disadvantage compared to those with stiffer setups.

Too much paranoia in F1?

The recent bendable wing debate is just a continuation of the technical sparring between McLaren and Red Bull over the past 12 months.

This included McLaren's bendable front wings and mini-DRS, while Red Bull's front rack became the subject of interest at last year's US Grand Prix.

One of the more interesting stories was Red Bull's suspicion that McLaren was putting water in the tires to cool them. At last year's Brazilian Grand Prix, the FIA ​​was forced to investigate the matter after Red Bull claimed it had "evidence" of what McLaren was doing.

However, after a detailed analysis by the FIA ​​and discussions with Pirelli, there was no evidence of irregularities.

The FIA's director of single-seaters, Nikolas Tombazis, believes that such accusations are the result of paranoia among teams, who believe that others are ahead simply because they break the rules.

Asked if this had gone too far, Tombazis said:

“Yes, but it’s always been like that. I’ve been on the other side, and I can’t generalise from my experience, but when you work in a top team, you develop a certain level of paranoia where you think everyone else is cheating.”

One idea that could limit such technical controversies is to introduce a formal complaints process – with teams perhaps even having to pay a fee to the FIA ​​to start an investigation.

Asked if this was feasible, Tombazis said:

“It’s an interesting idea! We spend a lot of time on these things. Complaints are nothing unusual. They’ve always been there in F1. I think they came out last year because the championship was uncertain.”

“When Red Bull was dominant, nobody was too worried about them. Everyone was looking to improve their cars. It was the same when Mercedes was dominant.”

"But when Mercedes and Red Bull were evenly matched in 2021, suddenly all these problems appeared and complaints started: it's a natural process because of the competitiveness of this sport."