Red Bull has lodged a complaint with the FIA against McLaren

The battle at the front of the grid continues to intensify. While the first Grand Prix races of the season have highlighted Red Bull’s impressive dominance, rival teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren have recently introduced surprising innovations to compete with the Austrian team, sometimes pushing the boundaries of the regulations.

The race for technology and performance

During a recent racing weekend, several rival teams of Red Bull presented flexible front wings (notably Mercedes in Monaco), allowing to generate more aerodynamic downforce thanks to a better fed tunnel. This solution offers a significant advantage by reducing aerodynamic load and improving top speed.

Red Bull then requested clarification from the FIA regarding the regulations on front wings, but the Formula 1 governing body decided not to intervene. It explained that if these wings pass the flexibility tests, they are compliant. This response did not satisfy Red Bull, whose team principal Christian Horner reacted strongly: “If this continues to be tolerated, we will have to follow the same path.” This tense situation reemerged recently around the brakes of the McLaren team.

Brakes deemed too advantageous by Red Bull

According to the magazine “Auto, Motor und Sport”, Red Bull has reported to the FIA the existence of an uncovered sensor in the McLaren brake drum. Our German colleagues also reported the discovery of an additional hole in this drum, used by McLaren in previous races, which is prohibited by the regulations.

Indeed, it stipulates that the sensors can be placed in the brake drums during Friday’s free practice sessions, but the holes must be closed for qualifying and the race. Yet Red Bull reportedly observed these holes open during the race, possibly explaining McLaren’s recent performances, with Lando Norris able to compete with Verstappen in Miami and Imola thanks to better tire management. As the tires wore out, the McLaren seemed faster, raising questions from Red Bull.

« As McLaren’s advantage in terms of tire wear hasn’t been so obvious recently, the opposing camp naturally believes that it could have helped in the past », reports AMus, highlighting Red Bull’s concerns about its rivals’ pace.

Reaction of the FIA and consequences

In response to these accusations, the FIA checked the McLarens at the last two Grand Prix in Austria and Great Britain and confirmed the compliance of the cars. However, McLaren made some adjustments as the team covered the holes with adhesive tape to comply with the FIA regulations.

McLaren’s performance was visibly slightly affected during the last race weekend, where Norris was unable to manage his tires as effectively as in previous races. He was overtaken by Max Verstappen towards the end of the race, despite Red Bull’s driver having normally less performing tires.

Despite these adjustments, McLaren continues to make life difficult for Red Bull every weekend. The Austrian team, for its part, is looking to counter its rivals’ innovations by requesting thorough inspections of the cars by the FIA, illustrating the current closeness and competitiveness in Formula 1. The technological and regulatory battle shows no sign of easing, promising an exciting end to the season for Formula 1 fans.

Parts subject to the commissioners’ checks at every innovation.

To avoid successive complaints from competitors that may have been experienced in previous seasons, the FIA has implemented a new procedure for introducing parts in F1. From now on, each team must inform the FIA of its innovations, and parts considered questionable must be approved by the FIA.

Furthermore, each team must come with the list of new features during the Thursdays of each race weekend in order to be transparent with the commissioners who can thus judge what is legal or not.

This process thus allows to avoid many claims.