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Bottas, Mercedes, Azerbaijan

Do Mercedes have a more flexible limbo-wing than Red Bull?

Bottas, Mercedes, Azerbaijan — Photo: © LAT Images

Do Mercedes have a more flexible limbo-wing than Red Bull?

Footage from Azerbaijan GP FP1 seems to indicate a high flex-rate in the Mercedes rear wing

F1's flexi-wing row seemingly took a fresh twist in free practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Mercedes' rear wing appeared to deflect as much as the Red Bull component it has been complaining about.

The furore began at the Spanish GP when video footage of Red Bull's wing showed a considerable amount of flex in a straight line under the heavy drag loads exerted onto it.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff threatened a "messy" weekend in Baku and the possibility of a protest if the wings were in use.

It seems, however, Mercedes has equalled the bend in the rear aerofoil structure.

Mercedes simulator driver Anthony Davidson demonstrated on Sky Sports F1 the difference in flex between the two cars.

In reality, it appeared there was little to no variation across the top two in the field.

In Spain, Red Bull changed the rear wing ahead of qualifying after running a higher-downforce package throughout practice.

It remains to be seen if it will deploy a similar tactic in Baku, maybe to hide the extent of its flex ahead of the race to avoid an early weekend protest.

If Red Bull does not do this, then it is hard to see how Mercedes can make a case for such a protest.

The FIA, ahead of introducing new load tests from the next race in France, has also placed locator dots on the rear wings of all cars running in Baku in a bid to detect the level of flex.

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