Mercedes And McLaren Likely To Protest Against Ferrari And Red Bull

Mercedes and McLaren are likely to escalate their issue against the flexible wings that Red Bull and Ferrari have been trotting on their cars especially before the Azerbaijan GP in Baku. The FIA has already issued a technical directive and issued a new test for which the teams are adapting but those rules come into force at the French GP. For Mercedes and McLaren, the advantage their rivals are enjoying is unacceptable and the fact they can run their wings, which according to the British teams is illegal and should be contested.

We'll see what we see, and figure out what to do when we see it," said Mercedes technical director James Allison on the sidelines of the Monaco GP referring to the new tests for wings being delayed till the French GP. When he was specifically asked about a protest, he said "I'm not saying anything."

Toto Wolff was the first one to talk about the flexible wing in the Red Bull
Photo Credit: AFP

The FIA has already said some of the movement seen in some of the wings is excessive which according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was going to be prone to a protest. He also said that the Mercedes wing was very rigid but claimed the test was a half baked solution which will open up avenues for more exploitation of the rules.

The flexible wing will be particularly effective at Baku which has a very long straight, in fact, the longest one on the calendar. It will help reduce drag and improve the straight-line speed of the cars before snapping back in place optimally for down-force in the corners. This allows the cars to have more down-force on the corners by running more wing but also allows them to sidestep the drag penalty in straight-line speeds.

Binotto claimed that Ferrari was exploiting the rule, but shrugged off the change
Photo Credit: AFP

Ferrari has admitted to being exploiting this rule but has said that its car wouldn't be impacted hugely by the new tests. For Red Bull, this is a bigger deal as Christian Horner has characterised it as a fundamental rule change something that's been echoed by Alpine and Alfa Romeo chiefs Laurent Rossi and Fredrick Vasseur as well.

FIA's argument for the delay in the new tests is that it needs to give teams enough time to make adequate changes. Red Bull's chief Horner has already said that change entails a cost of half a million dollars which in the age of the cost cap is quite a huge deal. Mercedes and McLaren are of the belief that there is enough time for the teams to make the changes.