McLaren’s controversial rear wing is “certainly not the magic ticket”

Oscar Piastri says McLaren’s controversial rear wing deflection is not the “magic ticket” for the team’s championship-leading pace, defending the “legal” component as he eyes down back-to-back wins in Singapore. 

Running at the front of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix proved to have its obvious positives and slight negatives for McLaren after onboard cameras picked up on its officially “legal” party trick. 

Broadcasted during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, rear-facing TV pictures were common as Piastri led Charles Leclerc into the first corner for 30 laps.

And while fans may have been focused on the Ferrari closing in, the competition had its eye on a small gap between the main plane’s trailing edge and the leading edge of the flap on the MCL38 which appeared to slightly deviate in the high speed. 

The vision, gaining much attention on social media, placed McLaren under the FIA’s looking glass, with the sporting body concluding that “if a team successfully passes all deflection tests and adheres to the regulations and technical directives, they are deemed to be in full compliance, and no further action will be taken”.

The winner of last weekend’s thriller, Piastri was agreeable with the FIA’s quick handling of the situation, dismissing claims that the team had disobeyed the rulebook.

“Is it too much fuss about a few millimetres? Well, I mean, it’s legal,” Piastri said.

“As long as it passes all the tests — we get tested a lot, and it passes. 

“So yeah, I mean, it’s certainly not the magic ticket or magic bullet for why we’re competitive.

“But it’s legal. It passes all the tests. So I’m pretty happy with it.”

Creating a slim opening would work to reduce drag, acting as a low-level Drag Reduction System advantage without DRS being engaged, a feature Piastri says he was not aware the MCL38 possessed until Sunday night.

“To be honest, the first time I knew it did that was the same time as everyone else last week,” Piastri said.

“And it’s not a grey area. It gets tested every week. It’s legal. 

“They’ve got a lot of different tests for the rear wings now. 

“So, yeah, I honestly didn’t even know that it did that until three days ago. 

“So, yeah, obviously in the sport you find every bit of performance that you can without breaking the rules. 

“And, you know, I feel like that’s what we’re doing. 

“And that’s what you need to do to become a championship-winning car and championship-winning team.”

But it’s not the first time, and it’s certainly not the last time teams will raise their concerns about components on the front running car, with Piastri describing the attention as “natural” after McLaren moved into the lead of the constructors’ championship in Azerbaijan. 

Piastri noted Mercedes’ 2021 rear wing controversy that saw Lewis Hamilton disqualified from qualifying in Brazil and Max Verstappen fined €50,000 for examining the component in parc fermé, deeming the current issue not personal between McLaren and the other nine teams.

“I think you look at any car that’s been competitive and it always gets scrutinised to the highest level,” he said.

“You look at the Mercedes a few years ago with their rear wing and the infamous 50K touch. 

“You know, you look at a lot of the teams trying to work out Red Bull’s DRS effect for the last couple of years. 

“You know, we’ve seen flexi front wings in the past and all sorts, so I think naturally, you know, there’s going to be scrutiny of just people curious to know why your car is competitive. 

“So, I certainly don’t think it’s personal to us. 

“You know, all the other teams are trying to find, including ourselves, we’re not just thinking that we’re the best out there and we don’t need to learn anything from anyone else. 

“You know, we’re always looking at the other teams as well. 

“So I think it’s only natural and when you’re at the front and when you have a car within a second of you for 30 laps and the rear wing camera on there for 30 laps, then naturally people are going to notice it more too.”

The legal declaration by the FIA doesn’t mean the team are fully in the clear, however, with history showing the sporting body isn’t afraid of mid-season clampdowns on technical directives or inventing new measures/parameters to reaffirm the MCL38’s legality.

Ahead of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, the FIA introduced a new technical directive aimed at reducing the phenomenon of flexible wings which, at the time, allowed teams to generate less drag and find higher top speeds.

But with no changes made this time around, McLaren is free to race with its current rear wing in Singapore as Piastri starts his weekend with practice tonight, aided by a long-lasting “confidence boost” from Baku.

FP1 will kick off tonight at 7:30 PM, AEST, with McLaren sporting a slightly different colour scheme as Piastri and Lando Norris run in a livery celebrating the MP4 era.

Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

2024 Singapore Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, September 20th:

FP1: 19:30 – 20:30

FP2: 23:00 – 00:00

Saturday, September 21st:

FP3: 19:30 – 20:30

Qualifying: 23:00 – 00:00

Sunday, September 22nd:

Race: 22:00

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