Zak Brown responds to Christian Horner ‘surprised if we see it again’ McLaren rear wing verdict

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says his team’s rear wing is “clever engineering” as Christian Horner said he’ll be “surprised” if it’s seen again.

The flexing rear wing of the McLaren MCL38 has caught the attention of the F1 paddock, with its ‘mini-DRS’ characteristics visible in Baku as Oscar Piastri defended against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Christian Horner: As long as the FIA is happy with it…

With no question marks over the legality of the McLaren rear wing as it passed every FIA scrutineering and static load test applied to it, the possibility is that McLaren has discovered a clever way to design its rear wing to flex at high speed without falling foul of any of the existing technical checks.

With plenty of analysis going on into the level of flexibility of front wings after the introduction of an FIA technical directive at the Belgian Grand Prix, the governing body has explained that its taking on board data and “additional evidence” from Azerbaijan for the consideration of any “mitigating measures for future implementation”.

For now, no changes are expected to be made to the wing static tests, although the FIA does have the authority to introduce regulatory changes during a season, if deemed necessary.

An unnamed team approached the FIA after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to seek clarity on the situation regarding the rear wing of the McLaren, while there were several voices of murmuring discontent during Thursday’s media day in Singapore.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italy on Friday, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the next step will be for every other team to introduce a similarly flexible rear wing.

“I mean, obviously, it passed the test, so as long as the FIA is happy with it then…” Horner said.

“It sets a precedent now for, you know, we don’t want to rush to design wings that deform like that. So, look, if it’s deemed okay, then everybody will do the same.”

Asked if it would be easy to replicate, Horner said: “I’d be surprised if we saw it again.”

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Zak Brown: The FIA is fully aware what’s on our car

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, McLaren CEO Zak Brown was quizzed on the topic of the flexible rear wing, saying: “It’s passed every single test. So I think this is Formula 1, and it’s clever engineering, and the FIA is fine with it. So it’s business as usual.”

Elaborating, Brown said the governing body had been kept abreast of the changes being made to the MCL38, and the FIA had no issue with the rear wing design.

“They’re fully aware of everything that’s on our race car, and they’re comfortable,” he said.

“So I think it’s inevitable, now that we’re leading the championship, that everyone will be looking at our car and go ‘I’m not sure I like that and like that’, and that’s the nature of the game.”

With Horner’s comments being put to him, Brown was asked for his response, and the American pointed to how Red Bull has frequently been the trendsetter when it comes to technical innovation.

“I think he’s spot on. It’s been passed by the FIA. These Formula 1 engineers are very clever,” he said.

“They’ve certainly had some pretty awesome race cars in the last decade, and they’ve passed the tests.

“So good on our team for coming up with something that is high-performance.

“I think it’s great for the championship. We’re running at the front, and so there are going to be things that are clearly working well on our race car. Everyone else is going to try and speed up and slow us down at the same time. Welcome to Formula 1!”