McLaren calls for FIA intervention on Esteban Ocon’s rear wing in Canada
Last Sunday during the race, Esteban Ocon's Alpine's rear wing was dangerously oscillating, which Lando Norris didn't fail to report multiple times on the radio. McLaren is now demanding explanations and a clear intervention from the FIA and the other teams.
As Lando Norris was fighting for 8th place on the track (despite his 5-second penalty), McLaren stated that the rear wing of Ocon was oscillating extremely. Although nothing happened until the finish, McLaren was afraid that it could detach and violently hit Lando Norris’ car. The British team is calling for an investigation.
« “He can’t swing like that, outside of his normal behavior,” said Andrea Stella, team manager at McLaren. « “I’m sure this wing isn’t functioning according to its design. You need to know the construction of your car.”
Alpine responds to McLaren
On the other hand, the French team defends itself by claiming that the wing stayed in place. “It didn’t fall off, it stayed in place,” exclaimed Otmar Szafnauer.
We test this in R&D and subject it to these tests, simply because of the way it is assembled. So we observe these types of modes and understand if it will detach or not, so we are happy that with all the tests we do, this has not been the case,” he defended himself to the media.
The Alpine team manager was even very confident in the last laps of the race regarding this oscillating wing. Even with the arrival of the FIA to study this issue, Otmar Szafnauer didn’t flinch: « We looked at it and we talked about it, but we were confident a few laps before the end and we knew that everything would go well.
The teams are going to meet to discuss safety
Since last year, the race management « has entrusted the duty of vigilance to the teams », declared Stella. So, it is the team that decides whether or not to bring in their driver for safety. But as the McLaren team manager reminds us, « it is a delicate question when teams are in competition and there is a conflict of interests in terms of the safety of all individuals involved and the maximization of the results. »
The teams will therefore discuss it as soon as possible to avoid dangerous situations in the future. In an upcoming meeting, they will go back to this safety rule. « This is a debate that we reserve and we ensure that it will be addressed again at the next meeting of the Sports Advisory Committee. »
As Lando has said repeatedly, it is not pleasant to follow a car with a wobbly rear wing and that can hit you without anything happening, concluded Andrea Stella.
