McLaren wanted to avoid disqualification in Barcelona
Unable to go through the FIA's test bench, the McLaren team preferred to forgo its new front wing. Indeed, although it barely passed the compliance tests conducted at the Woking factory, McLaren feared that the said wing might fail the traditional post-race inspections, potentially leading to the disqualification of its cars at the finish line.
After a difficult start to the season, the McLaren team brought a series of new updates to Spain in hopes of revitalizing the MP4-28, which had fallen short of winter expectations. Among these numerous developments was a new front wing, which the Woking team ultimately decided not to use during qualifying and the race due to concerns it might fail the flexibility tests mandated by the FIA: “We were not able to be certain that it would comply with regulations, and we decided that unless we were confident it would pass the tests, we would not use it,” explained Martin Whitmarsh in Autosport.
If, according to McLaren, this new front wing would have successfully passed the tests conducted by the team in its Woking facilities, Martin Whitmarsh acknowledges that only the tests conducted by the FIA on the circuits have real value: You see people lining up in front of what is called the “bridge of sorrows,” it’s the tests conducted there that determine whether your car is legal or not. Like other teams, we test our parts before they arrive, but the margin of error in terms of stiffness and dimensions is very slim. Everyone conducts their own tests, but everyone tests their most important parts on FIA equipment. If you don’t, given the margin of error, you’re taking a risk.
However, McLaren simply could not access the FIA’s equipment to test the compliance of its wing, with the Spanish Grand Prix, the first round of the European season, generally being an opportunity for teams to bring a plethora of new developments, especially since the new McLaren wing arrived late in Barcelona: « We hoped to be able to go to the test bench but the FIA is not obliged to make its equipment available to us early on Saturday morning, so there is no criticism directed at them. Without this test, it was not prudent to go further [with the wing].
