McLaren’s dominance, according to Zak Brown, is not due to flexible wings. The Woking-based team was caught by rivals using flexible profiles on both the front and rear wings. A small “scandal” erupted between the Italian Grand Prix and Azerbaijan Grand Prix, culminating in the decision to modify these components ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Formula 1 is known for being a constant engineering battle. To win, it’s crucial to build a good mechanical package, and to do that, you need to thoroughly study the technical regulations. Finding gray areas in the rules and exploiting them for a lasting or temporary advantage over rivals is a task that falls squarely within the realm of engineers, sometimes supported by lawyers specialized in the field.
In short, the search for a “trick” is well-known, and McLaren, with its flexible wings, has simply dived into a sea already explored in past seasons. However, according to Zak Brown, CEO of the Woking team, modifying the components in question is not a major loss for his squad. The secret to the MCL38’s success, in fact, does not lie in those wings.
“Everyone looks at the winning car to figure out what they’re doing,” he explained in a recent interview for the Times. “It’s completely natural for people to be looking at our car right now and drawing their own conclusions, many of which are wrong. We’ve passed every single test. We offered to make a small modification just because we don’t think it will make much difference.”
“There’s a lot of noise around this topic,” Zak Brown continued. “To prove there’s no secret recipe, we said: ‘Well, we’ll make a slight modification.’ Anyway, they wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t make noise. It’s a compliment that people are looking at our car and testing us.” – the McLaren CEO concluded ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
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