After being excluded from the Constructors’ Championship battle, Red Bull took the opportunity to address the McLaren rear wing, which was introduced in Baku and later deemed non-compliant. FIA checks arrived too late to penalize the wing, which caused controversy from September onwards.
Now, ahead of Abu Dhabi, Pierre Wache, Red Bull’s technical director, revisited the issue to discuss his team’s season. With Sergio Perez’s retirement in Qatar, Red Bull was mathematically eliminated from the Constructors’ Championship fight.
“This year has been frustrating for us not winning every race, especially after what we saw last season. We went from winning all the races to winning just under half, which was definitely strange, but it will be our new starting point,” Pierre Wache said in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365.
Without McLaren’s rear wing in Baku, the championship would be different
“There are definitely grey areas in development for us engineers, and we must be precise in our actions. For example, the rear wing McLaren brought to Baku was much more than a grey area. Without that wing, they wouldn’t have won in Baku. This means the Constructors’ Championship would currently look different, and it has been different since then,” the Frenchman added.
Pierre Wache then summarized and explained what truly bothered him. “As an engineer, you must prove that what you’re doing is legal and that you’re following all the rules. It’s part of the game; sometimes you don’t realize things don’t meet the regulations, but that doesn’t make them right.”
So, does the FIA share some blame? “In the past, it happened to Ferrari as well; everyone wants to have their fair playing field within the limits. But this season, some limits were crossed, and that is undoubtedly frustrating,” Pierre Wache concluded.
A very strong statement that also highlights why the world champion team pushed so hard for the ban of the rear wing. The Red Bull technical expert refers to a potentially narrower gap with McLaren, which clearly suggests that Ferrari could be even closer to Zak Brown’s team. It’s clear that the rear wing of the MCL38 in Baku was an essential tool for Oscar Piastri to defend himself from Charles Leclerc’s attack, as the Monegasque could never close the gap on the Australian down the main straight, even when using DRS, which in Azerbaijan allows for relatively easy overtakes.
“The solution was interesting, I won’t deny that, but as an engineer, you also have to respect the rules. It’s part of the game to look for grey areas, but at the same time, there are limits. Just because the FIA doesn’t spot certain solutions doesn’t mean they’re legal. Look at what happened to Ferrari in the past, for example, this is more than just exceeding limits,” Wache stated, clearly referencing the engine used by the Italian team in the 2019 season. “If you have a good idea, you have a good idea, but when you step outside the playing field, it’s simply not right.”
