McLaren F1 Thrilled: Rivals Distracted by Rear Wing

Andrea Stella celebrates as competitors obsess over McLaren’s rear wing, losing sight of their own strategies.

Andrea Stella, McLaren F1’s team principal, has hit back at rivals who have been “too distracted” by his team’s rear wing and not sufficiently focused on their own performances.

Stella pointedly targeted Red Bull Racing, which has admitted to lodging three informal protests against McLaren’s flexible wings, with the most recent complaint concerning the mini-DRS effect observed in Baku.

This time, the FIA has opted to intervene, requesting McLaren to amend its wing, a directive the team has complied with to avoid a showdown, despite the wing’s current legality under established tests.

Speaking after the qualifying round in Singapore, Stella was resolute in his response to queries about the rear wing. The Italian stated that the impact of this modification was “absolutely nil.”

“Yes, absolutely,” he added when it was suggested his response might seem incredible. “The effect is absolutely nil. I think that was evident during the qualifications.”

“For us, it’s merely good news that our competitors are too distracted by such matters, because it means they are not concentrating on themselves, and for us, that’s just an advantage.”

“We are quite confident that it’s somewhat of a red herring. The wing is legal.”

“There’s really no issue. I think it’s just a story, but it appears everyone is looking for stories. That’s fine, it’s good for us.”

“We remain focused on ourselves, grounded, continuing to propose improvements and that’s what we do. We speak on the track.”

Toto Wolff, director of Mercedes F1, acknowledges that his team played no role in the saga surrounding McLaren’s wing.

Wolff stressed that Mercedes F1 needed to first get its house in order rather than engage in “this mini-DRS game of McLaren.”

“And we were so busy addressing our own issues that we didn’t have it on our radar.”

“Now, you can say whether that’s naive or not, but certainly at Monza and Baku, it could have had an effect, especially given the tight race at the front that ensued. Fred (Vasseur) mentioned it, it may have played a role for them.”

“But we weren’t part of that game, so it was a secondary priority for us.”