McLaren’s stunning rise to the top of the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship remains the talk of the paddock ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. After beginning the 2023 season at the back of the field and “simply fighting for points,” as Lando Norris told me ahead of last season’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the team leads Red Bull by 20 points heading into the final stretch, and Norris is closing in on Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.
But it would not be F1 without a little rules-related controversy.
Earlier in the season McLaren’s front wing was called into question by their rivals, along with Mercedes’, as video footage from the Italian Grand Prix showed how the front wing would “flex” under aerodynamic load. Rivals raised concerns regarding that flexible front wing and whether they complied with FIA regulations, but the sport’s governing body issued a statement ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix noting that “all front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations,” settling that matter for the moment.
However a new issue has been raised, specifically the rear wing on McLaren’s MCL38. In the wake of Oscar Piastri’s thrilling win in Baku, astute observers noted on video footage how the rear wing on the MCL38 would also flex under aerodynamic load, lowering and acting as some termed a “mini DRS.” This animation from Just Formulacar provides a great look at this feature:
That rear wing was a topic during Thursday’s media day. The FIA released another statement on Thursday regarding the rear wing of the McLaren, noting that the team passed all testing implemented by the sport’s governing body. An FIA spokesperson told BBC Sport that they were “reviewing data and any additional evidence that has emerged from the Baku GP and considering any mitigating measures for future implementation.”
A McLaren spokesperson also told BBC Sport that the MCL38 is “legal within all the deflection tests and complies with all the regulations.”
Still, both Red Bull drivers raised their own concerns Thursday in Singapore regarding the legality of the MCL38. Speaking with the media in Singapore Sergio Pérez termed the MCL38 an “illegal” car. “It’s clear that it’s out of the regulation,” said Pérez. “It’s an illegal car. But it seems like, it is allowed. I’m very surprised.”
In the FIA Press Conference on Thursday Verstappen was asked about the McLaren rear wing and offered this viewpoint.
“I’ve seen the footage. That’s the beautiful side of social media, right? Everyone has the video ready. And then, of course, a lot of discussion is made. I mean, it’s quite clear, of course, that it’s moving, like, it’s at speed. It might be smart, might not be smart, but at the end of the day it’s up to the FIA of course to decide if it’s legal or not right? Of course, Baku is not the first time that it was used so there were other tracks as well,” said Verstappen. “I guess it’s important to come with a clarification. But that’s not only on the rear wing it’s the front wing as well. What is allowed? How much is it allowed to bend? All these kind of things, right? So we just have to wait and see, yeah from our side.”
Piastri was asked about the legality of that rear wing by the brilliant Ian Parkes of The New York Times on Thursday and stated that the component was “legal” in his mind, and the FIA’s. “To be honest, the first time I knew it did that was the same time as everyone else last week. And it’s not a grey area. It gets tested every week. It’s legal,” said Piastri at the FIA Press Conference. “They’ve got a lot of different tests for the rear wings now. So, yeah, I honestly didn’t even know that it did that until three days ago. So, yeah, obviously in the sport you find every bit of performance that you can without breaking the rules. And, you know, I feel like that’s what we’re doing. And that’s what you need to do to become a championship winning car and championship winning team.”
While the FIA’s position that the rear wing is legal stands for now, this discussion is yet another reminder about the underlying nature of F1. Certainly, a driver’s skill, will, and determination play a massive role in determining winners and losers on the track. But as much as the sport comes down to the drivers in the box, it is also an engineering problem to be solved by the men and women working back in the factory.
And anytime there are rules and regulations to be followed, there are loopholes to be found and boundaries to be pushed.
Following this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, there is a three-week gap until the United States Grand Prix in Austin. We’ll see if the FIA issues further clarification on this issue in that period, or if McLaren’s nine rivals introduce similar rear wings down in Texas.
