McLaren not ruling out joining Mercedes in flexi-wing protest

McLaren

McLaren not ruling out joining Mercedes in flexi-wing protest

McLaren waiting on dialogue with the FIA

Sam Hall

Friday 28 May 2021 10:33

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McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has confirmed the team will wait to conclude its dialogue with the FIA before deciding on its next course of action in the flexi-wing saga.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen's rear wing was seen to be flexing in a manner that allowed Red Bull to run a higher downforce set up without the trade-off of lower top speed.

While the wing had previously passed the FIA load tests, after the footage emerged a technical directive was issued detailing more stringent tests would be introduced from the French GP onwards.

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The delay in the application, however, has caused a furore, with Mercedes indicating a potential legal challenge if the matter is not dealt with more swiftly.

Asked if McLaren would join this action, Seidl said: “Obviously, we are independent of what Mercedes is doing. We have a dialogue on this matter with the FIA.

"As we have said, we are absolutely not happy that our competitors can keep running these cars that from our point of view are clearly not within the regulations.

“That is why we have this dialogue with the FIA at the moment and then we have to take it from there."

Seidl maintains that "in principle", he is "not a big fan of protesting other teams", although has not ruled out the possibility.

He added: "As I say, we are in dialogue with the FIA to understand what they will put in place in order to make sure that teams that have designed devices, or parts, that allow things that we have seen in Barcelona simply can’t use these devices or parts anymore from now onwards. Then we will take it from there.”

Ferrari and Red Bull to gain an advantage in Baku?

Given the long straight at the Baku circuit that stages the next race in Azerbaijan, Seidl shares Mercedes' concern that rival teams, including Ferrari, could have an unfair advantage if the FIA fail to introduce its test for the weekend.

McLaren is currently embroiled in a fight with Ferrari for third in the constructors' standings, with every point quite naturally crucial.

“In the end, you simply can run a lot more downforce and still have the top speed, which is why this topic keeps coming back every now and then," explained Seidl.

“But again, there are regulations in place and every car has to comply with the regulations. It is as simple as that.”