McLaren ignore complaints from rivals: 'Only the FIA's opinion matters'
F1 News
Rob Marshall, McLaren's Chief Designer, has dismissed any concern from rivals about the flexible rear wings that became a talking point after Oscar Piastri's win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Marshall reiterated the FIA has cleared the rear wing and that's all that matters to McLaren.
McLaren would've wanted the focus to be on their move to the top of the Constructors' Championship after Baku. They ended Red Bull's streak at the top, which dated back to the Spanish Grand Prix in 2022. Instead, a social media storm followed, with attention on the rear wings, and McLaren's rivals in the paddock picked up on it. The FIA confirmed they comply with the regulations in a statement.
Marshall, who moved to McLaren from Red Bull Racing at the beginning of this year, wasn't concerned. Once you are on top as a team, then everything you do is under a magnifying glass. In this case, it includes the wings. "I think so, yes. Probably," he said in Singapore. "It's very flattering but obviously the nearer the front you are, the more scrutiny you come under. All teams scrutinise their own cars as well as other people's. We scrutinise our car. We work with the FIA to understand the grey areas of whatever element of the car it is and move forward accordingly really."
McLaren are constantly talking to the FIA
Marshall isn't worried about their rivals comments: "They've all got their opinions. We work with the FIA to establish the legality of our car. As long as the FIA are happy, that's the only opinion we need to worry about. There's continued dialogue with the FIA. Week in, week out, day in, day out with various aspects of the car. Yes there has been [communication]. I wouldn't want to focus on what aspects."
McLaren are reaping the rewards from their new wind tunnel. "Yes, you're probably speaking to the wrong person. I was at Red Bull for 17 years and I never went to the wind tunnel once. Now I'm at McLaren, it's now underneath my desk basically. Can't really avoid it. I'm not really the person to speak about wind tunnels, I know that we're happy with it and it's clearly producing good results," Marshall concluded.
This article has been created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen