Last Updated on September 18 2024, 9:37 am

McLaren are the talk of the F1 paddock having turned around their cars which scored just 17 points in the first eight races of 2023 to one now considered to be the quickest on the current grid. Both their drivers have won their maiden Grand Prix this season and last time out Oscar Piastri doubled his career tally to two victories.

Much of the paddock talk now is how Red Bull have lost the performance in their all dominant car which delivered seven race wins for Max Verstappen in the first ten weekends but sees the world champion without a win in the last seven outings. Yet a new story is set to explode onto the pages of F1 news all about the apparent “illegal wing” McLaren are using on their car.

Oscar Piastri made a bold move into turn one to take the lead of the race in Baku following him having pitted for fresh rubber which Charles Leclerc admitted “took me by surprise.” The Aussie then defended against the Ferrari driver for some 31 laps with Leclerc in DRS range for most of the time, which is highly unusual for two reasons.

 

 

 

Piastri rear wing clearly deflects

Firstly the DRS in Baku is powerful and as Leclerc explained he believed it would return the lead to him in a couple of laps time. Yet the Monegasque toiled for lap after lap behind the McLaren and even with DRS fully open he made no progress in regaining the lead.

A video which showed the rear wing view of Piastri’s McLaren travelling down the 2km front straight went viral and a number of F1 fans accused McLaren of “cheating.” Others have described it as “engineering brilliance” as the wing clearly deflects under the load of the air pressure, which reduces drag and increases the top speed of the car.

The FIA regulations state that other than for the DRS there should be no moveable aero parts on Formula One cars. F1’s governing body regularly tests the cars at random to ensure they pass the specified deflection tests. These are performed when the car is static and weights are placed on both front and rear wings to see if the bend beyond the allowable tolerance.

The last time ‘bendy’ wings were a hot topic in F1 was during the 2021 season long battle between Mercedes and Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Both sides claimed the other was using rear wings which were deflecting beyond the acceptable limit but neither claim was supported by the FIA findings.

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FIA confirm front wings are all legal

Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying in Brazil that year for a rear wing infringement, but it was due to the maximum gap when the DRS is open being outside the allowable range provided for in the regulations. This was a mistake from Mercedes, not some engineering ‘brilliance.’

Early this season there were mutterings that certain F1 teams (Mercedes and McLaren) were using bendy front wings and despite them passing the FIA tests it was decided that cameras would be fitted to random teams and cars starting at the Belgian Grand Prix. The FIA then declared before Monza that all teams’ front wings were legal but the accusations did not stop there.

A statement from the FIA said: ”The FIA is examining front wings at every event with numerous checks (conformity of surfaces, conformity of deflections) with respect to the relevant F1 Technical Regulation. All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations.”

However, the sport’s governing body had admitted it was not seeking to change the tests used to determine legal aeroelasticity but may use the data collected to improve their testing for 2025.

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McLaren rear wing deflection gives Piastri the advantage

The latest row involving McLaren’s rear wing is brewing following footage which went viral showing Piastri’s rear wing acting as a mini DRS even when he was in clean air and had no car ahead within one second – the time allowed for a driver to deploy the Drag Reduction System (DRS).

As the McLaren picked up speed, fans noticed the rear wing of Piastri’s car flexed as the aerodynamic load increased, which then created a bigger opening between the top two panels. These should be closed completely unless a driver is in DRS range of a car in front.

The advantage Oscar’s McLaren would have gained would only need to be 2-4 kph, even at speeds of 240kph, to make a significant difference. Lap after lap Charles Leclerc closed down the front straight but the McLaren appeared to gain a little on the Ferrari as the first corner approached.

Whilst fans were not convinced of the legality of McLaren’s engineering, former Red Bull Racing engineer Blake Hinsey pointed out the FIA perform several load tests on the cars to ensure compliance.

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Red Bull engineer calls McLaren design ‘legal’

“If the technical regulations have specifications for rear wing deflection and this passes the tests, then it’s legal,” he said. “Every piece of bodywork moves in complex ways under aerodynamic load.

“If McLaren have found a way to reduce the drag on their rear wing in a different way – congratulations, they’ve done a brilliant job engineering this system.”

For the engineers finding loopholes to exploit what should be black and white regulations is all part of the essence of F1, which is completely different to Indycar where each team runs a Dellara built chassis.

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Red Bull copy in process

The rear-facing camera on Piastri’s car showed only a small gap in the rear wing when the car was travelling at low speed. However, the same shot at the end of the straight when the wing had squatted down under load clearly showed the leading edge of the wing had also lifted, which widened the gap.

Rear-facing cameras on the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars also showed the wing flexing, but none lifted the leading edge in the same way, yet no other team has protested the legality of the wing.

As TJ13 reported yesterday, Red Bull have their own version of the McLaren rear wing in development but whether it will be ready for Singapore is as yet unknown. Whilst the FIA may not rule these elastic wings as illegal this year, they will certainly be looking towards 2025 for a better methodology to test the flexibility of the F1 cars moving parts which are mandated to be static.

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Bottas: My F1 retirement

Bottas mulls F1 exit as Zhou eyeing reserve role – As the 2025 Formula One season approaches, uncertainty surrounds the futures of Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou. Both drivers face significant challenges in retaining their positions within the Sauber team as they vie for the remaining seat next season.

While the experienced Bottas is exploring potential opportunities outside the elite series, Zhou seems resigned to a supporting role within Formula One. Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish driver with an impressive F1 pedigree, finds himself in a precarious position. His future with Sauber, the team expected to rebrand as Audi in 2026, is under threat as the team evaluates its options for the second cockpit alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the 2025 season.

While Bottas remains a strong contender for the seat, but there is no guarantee that he will be retained and the uncertainty has led him to explore alternative career paths. Indeed it appears he himself is admitting to Formula 1 retirement and a move to another racing series according to sources within the paddock… READ MORE