McLaren team boss weighs in on ‘bendy’ wing test delay after Red Bull claim – ‘Not happy’

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McLaren say they “strongly disagree” with a two-race delay for new tests implemented by the FIA to deal with suspected illegal flexible wings in Formula 1.

Team boss Andreas Seidl said the team welcomed the idea, but were left unhappy with the delay as tests will not be introduced until 15 June.

It comes after Hamilton raised concerns during the Spanish Grand Prix claiming his main rivals Red Bull seemed to be exploiting a more flexible wing.

“The Red Bulls are really fast on the straights,” he said to Sky Sports F1. “They have this bendy wing on the back of their car which they put on today and they gained at least three tenths.”

However, the Red Bull boss Christian Horner refuted the suggestions, and was adamant their car was fully legal, and that their cars’ rear wings had passed stringent tests.

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Since the allegations were made, Formula 1’s governing body the FIA sent a note warning teams saying they are to introduce new rear wing flexibility tests after suspecting teams were gaining an aero advantage.

However there’s still a few races before such testing will be implemented with Monaco and Baku on the calendar ahead of the French Grand Prix, and McLaren have made their stance on the delay clear.

Seidl said: “We welcome the reaction from the FIA with the technical directive, which we are happy with for the basic content.

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“When you see all the videos and pictures from Barcelona, it’s pretty clear what is happening. Therefore we welcome the reaction from the FIA with the technical directive, the basic content of which we are happy with.

“Where we strongly disagree is the timing of the implementation because, from our point of view, there is no reason for many teams having still the advantage of doing things which, in our point of view, are clearly against the regulations.

“But now, allowing them to have further advantage for some more races, is clearly something we strongly disagree with, and where we are in conversation with the FIA.”

Seidl added: “We simply hope that the FIA shows a very strong hand because from our point of view it’s simply not acceptable, because it puts the teams that comply with the regulations at a big disadvantage.”

The McLaren team boss however did not mention any team names regarding the claims, but said it was obvious from the video footage who could be in the spotlight.

“I’ve no interest to put names on the table at the moment,” he said. “It’s down to the FIA, to make sure that we have fair competition between teams and enforce the regulations.

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