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Waché on McLaren's clever trick: 'As a result they are now ahead of us'
- Cas van de Kleut
Last season, Red Bull Racing lost their huge lead over the competition. The other teams improved the balance in their cars, making them stronger than the Austrian team, while they struggled with consistency and balance. Pierre Waché, Red Bull's technical director, told The Race that a trick by other teams caused the Austrian team to lose their advantage.
At some point, Red Bull Racing's period of dominance was expected to come to an end as every dominant period did so far in the competition. More surprising was the nature of how it came to an end. The Austrians fell back relative quickly in the rankings, and especially struggled towards the second half of the season, something many people had not seen coming. During last year's winter tests, Fernando Alonso said there were already 19 drivers who knew they were not going to be champions, referring to the fact that Max Verstappen would easily win the title in 2024 as well.
While Verstappen did become champion, it was by no means easy. The other teams developed and got better and better throughout the season. McLaren, for instance, also introduced a flexible front wing, and also in Baku, a flexible rear wing was noticed, but the Woking-based team had to remove the latter. Mercedes also introduced a similar front wing.
Waché: 'As a result, Red Bull lost advantage'
The benefits of the concept were greater than expected. In fact, it caused Red Bull to lose their lead, says Waché: "We had some other aspect of the car which allowed us to rebalance the car. We benefited from this for two years. The others introduced this front wing deflection to allow them to balance the car and, in that aspect, they are now in front of us.
"We could rebalance the car by other means, while the other teams used front wing deflection. To get a different aero balance as a function of speed, you need some movement of the suspension, and the softer you are the better that is. This is good for balance but maybe not for downforce. So their front wing allowed them to still rebalance a much stiffer suspension," concluded the Frenchman.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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