Janice R. Andrews
FIA, which is in charge of Formula 1, has confirmed that McLaren’s rear wing follows all the rules. This comes after rivals Red Bull and Ferrari raised worries during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Video from the race seemed to show McLaren’s rear wing bending on the straights, which made Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari wonder if it was allowed.
“Out of the rules” was how Perez put it, and “controversial” was how Leclerc put it. But the FIA has done a lot of testing and confirmed that McLaren’s wing passed all of the necessary bending tests. The FIA said, “McLaren’s rear wing complies with the rules, and the car has passed all flexibility tests regarding bodywork.”
The FIA is still looking over the data from the Baku race and deciding if any new rules need to be put in place. “We are looking over all the data and any new evidence that has come to light, and we are also thinking about ways to make future implementation easier,” the FIA representative said.
Even though their car has caused a lot of trouble, McLaren has stood by its validity. “Our car is legal and passes all deflection tests in line with the rules,” a McLaren spokesman said. As for whether or not the car was legal, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who won the race in Baku, said, “It’s legal.” There are many tests, and the car passes all of them. It’s not the only way to make us more competitive by any means. “I like the way things are.”
There is a lot of debate going on right now, which is bad for Red Bull. Max Verstappen stands in first place in the championship with 59 points, but he hasn’t won in seven races. In contrast, Lando Norris and Piastri have won three times in the last five races for McLaren.
The FIA’s rules on aerodynamics say that all of the parts must be stiff and not move. People were worried that McLaren’s back wing might bend at high speeds, which could give the car an edge by lowering drag on straights and raising downforce when turning. The FIA made it clear, though, that if a team passes all deflection tests and follows the rules, nothing else will happen.
The FIA said again that they have the power to ask for changes to the plans of cars during the season if they need to. “The FIA is keeping a close eye on how flexible the bodywork is on all cars and has the power to make rule changes during the season if needed,” they said.
This reminds me of a similar case earlier in the season, when Red Bull questioned how flexible McLaren and Mercedes’ front wings were. The FIA then said those parts were allowed as well. For now, McLaren is still following the rules, and the team’s recent speed improvement has made the rest of the F1 season even more interesting.
