Since climbing to the front of the field last year, there have been several theories about how McLaren managed to create such a competitive advantage.
Towards the end of last year, the MCL38’s rear wings captured the attention of the paddock in Baku.
When the F1 broadcast switched to McLaren’s rear wing, some observers noted the team’s use of a ‘Mini-DRS’ system to improve their top speed.
This catalysed a series of accusations from rivals about the Woking squad’s different technologies.
Since the early days of Formula 1, such claims between teams have been relatively standards. Teams are always working to see if others have exploited any loopholes of divergent interpretations of the regulations.
In the face of these claims, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella insists the new technical directive will have little impact.
McLaren reject flexi-wing accusations
The pre-season months were dominated by discussion about the FIA’s announcements regarding flexi-wings.
Debate and discussion became commonplace after the federation’s clampdown on flexi-wings was confirmed.
Red Bull were of the opinion that McLaren’s performance could be attributed to their development on flexible wings.
Of course, the papaya team’s components always passed the FIA’s checks and static tests.
However, the Austrian team suspected that McLaren found a way to pass these checks whilst still enjoying the benefits of flexi-wings during races.
This is why Red Bull have long-anticipated that the Woking team would suffer from the Spanish GP onwards.
Even during Bahrain testing, Christian Horner’s squad continued to have their suspicions about their main rivals.
In the meanwhile, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has categorically rejected any such suggestions.
He insists that it benefits his team when rivals embark on these wild goose-chases:
“It’s good news when our rivals,” he stated in Imola, “Get their focus, rather than on themselves, onto some of the aspects that allegedly are present in our car – and that effectively are not even present.
“Certainly, even if they were – let’s say, flexi-wings like a front wing deflection, like everyone else – it has nothing to do with the reason why McLaren is very competitive.
“I hope that in the future there will be more of these kinds of sagas. Because it means that our rivals keep focusing on the wrong things.
“And this is, for us, just good news. It’s just helping our quest.”
Rivals pay close attention
Ultimately, the next 72 hours will determine whether the theories from Red Bull and other teams had any validity.
Of course, the entire grid has had several months to make adjustments in preparations for this new directive.
This means it is plausible that teams who benefited from flexi-wings could have found solutions that will prevent them from losing any team.
Then again, the cars which were more reliant on flexible wings for performance, almost inevitably, will pay the price in Spain.
Even if the time lost is a few tenths, this could be sufficient in offering an advantage to rivals – especially those who are bringing performance upgrades that are not directly related to the technical directive.
Main photo: Steven Tee/LAT Images (via McLaren media gallery)
