McLaren to modify rear wing after talks with FIA

SINGAPORE - Formula One (F1) leaders McLaren will modify the rear wings on their cars after talks with the governing FIA at the Singapore Grand Prix following concern from rival teams.

The British-based team went top of the standings in Azerbaijan last weekend but drew scrutiny of how the rear wing functioned at speed, with talk of a 'mini-DRS' drag reduction effect.

"Whilst our Baku rear wing complies with the regulations and passes all FIA deflection tests, McLaren have proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to the wing following our conversations with the FIA," the team said in a statement on Friday.

"We would also expect the FIA to have similar conversations with other teams in relation to the compliance of their rear wings."

McLaren are 20 points clear of champions Red Bull in the constructors' standings with seven grands prix and three sprints remaining.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner earlier told Sky Sports television that he expected the FIA to ban the McLaren rear wing.

"I’d be surprised if we saw it again," he said. "It sets a precedent... we don’t want to rush to design wings that deform like that. If it’s deemed okay, then everybody will do the same."

McLaren boss Zak Brown emphasised that the car had passed every test.

"Good on our team for coming up with something that is high performance," he said. "I think it's great for the championship. We're running at the front, so there are going to be things that are clearly working well on our race car.

"Everyone else is going to try to speed up and slow us down at the same time. Welcome to Formula One."

The flexing feature offers maximum effect on low downforce tracks like Baku and would be of far less benefit on a circuit like Singapore.

"I think it's more than borderline. We all saw the video and the picture of this," said Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, who had Charles Leclerc finish second in Baku, of the flexing.

"And it's a bit frustrating when, if you remember perfectly the situation in Monza, we had five cars in 200th of a second. And you move from P1, P2 to P5, P6 for 200th of a second," added the Frenchman.

"In Baku, we arrive 10 laps in a row, side by side, at turn One. You can imagine that we have a bit of frustration."

—Reuters