Red Bull's Wing Dilemma: Will FIA Intervention Decide 2024 Title?
Sep.3 - Red Bull looks set to reluctantly follow the lead of McLaren and Mercedes in terms of front wing design.
Although the reigning champions started 2024 strongly, the car's handling, resistance to tyre degradation and pace have significantly waned through the car update process.
"I think Max (Verstappen) was able to keep up the good results for a while thanks to his talent," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff speculates. "But now it seems that they have collapsed.
"I say this without understanding the exact situation, and without knowing what is happening in the team."
So deep is Red Bull's confusion about what has happened is that team consultant Dr Helmut Marko freely admits that engineers are currently in the process of backtracking the season-long developments to see where they made a "wrong turn".
However, the team is also looking outwards - to McLaren and Mercedes.
"The front wing of McLaren and Mercedes must be analysed," Marko said at Monza last weekend.
The concern is that after the FIA clamped down on excessive flex in Red Bull's wings back in 2021, McLaren and Mercedes have found new ways to pass the FIA checks whilst now achieving flex at speed.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the team is not accusing its rivals of clear wrongdoing.
"I think the regulations are very clear. I think it's an FIA issue to look again at the wording," he said.
"If you think back to 2021, around Baku, there was a change in the regulations for the front wings," Horner recalled. "Although our wings passed the tests, they were using air elasticity. So again, that's an FIA issue.
"We have to have a bit of faith that they'll sort it out, but we will also have our say."
And if the FIA doesn't act?: "Well, if it's acceptable, then you have to join in."
In the meantime, Max Verstappen has found himself in the awkward situation of now managing just how many points he loses to McLaren's Lando Norris at each race.
At Monza, his lead to Norris fell from 70 to 62 points.
"Max is keeping Red Bull afloat," surmised the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He has transformed from an all-winning cannibal into an accountant, but that is what he needs to do to win the title."
Marko agrees with that assessment.
"Max cannot fully utilise his talent anymore," said the 81-year-old. "He cannot push hard to the limit, because the car does not allow it. The car is too unpredictable for that - too unstable.
"What we have recognised is that we need to go back to the moment when we took a wrong turn. We will see how quickly that will work out."
Interestingly, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur admits he also has some unanswered questions about the McLaren and Mercedes wing designs.
"I don't want to discuss this with the press," said the Frenchman, "but I will have a conversation with (the FIA's) Nikolaos Tombazis. We must respect the federation's decision, but we will discuss it behind closed doors."
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