McLaren must modify Baku wing
Red Bull and Ferrari have launched a strong protest against McLaren’s rear wing used in Baku. The bending of the flaps at the edges does not comply with the rules. After lengthy debates, the FIA has instructed McLaren to modify the wing at specific points.
McLaren has gone one step too far. Late Thursday evening before the Singapore GP, the federation informed the championship leader that they must change the rear wing used in Baku at two precisely defined locations. This concerns the area about ten centimeters from the outer edges of the flap, which bends upward at a certain speed.
The decision followed long discussions with Red Bull and Ferrari. Both raised their objections after videos surfaced online showing clearly how the flap bends in the closed position at around 270 km/h when DRS is not activated. This locally increases the gap between the two rear wing elements, reduces downforce, and increases top speed.
A one to two-tenths advantage?
Red Bull claims this trick could be worth one to two-tenths of a second and cites a suspiciously small speed delta between the closed and open flap during the race. It was only 12 km/h, about 8 km/h below the competitors’ values.
However, this was likely an outlier due to a slipstream effect in the non-DRS area, as during practice, the delta for all four top cars was within 1 km/h. And the cars were identical on Saturday and Sunday.
Initially, the FIA saw no reason to act because McLaren had passed all stationary load tests, as all wings tend to bend to some extent, and their calculations indicated that McLaren had no significant advantage over its rivals.
But then McLaren stumbled upon the rule that the gap between the main element and the flap (“slot gap”) must remain constant with closed DRS at all times. This is evidently not the case. Ferrari could also face a problem here, as the slot gap also increases at certain speeds in certain locations.
No issues with Singapore wing
Therefore, McLaren does not need to discard the entire wing. It is sufficient to design the flap at the relevant points to be stiff enough to maintain its position and shape regardless of speed. For the next three races in Singapore, Austin, and Mexico, this will have no impact, as all wings used will have more downforce and are built quite differently.
The next use of the bending wing would be in Las Vegas. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner already announced in an interview with the TV channel Sky that McLaren will not be using the contested wing in the night race in the gambling paradise.
McLaren’s opponents have thus achieved a small victory, but they have certainly not won the entire battle. The secret of the currently best car in the field lies not in the rear wing but in the floor and the front wing.
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