Sergio Perez has bluntly accused McLaren of running an ‘illegal car’ despite the FIA insisting their rear wing design is within the rules. The configuration of the MCL38 has sparked controversy after footage emerged on social media after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
In a video widely shared after the race in Baku, the rear wing could be seen flexing upwards at high speeds, supposedly giving their drivers a bigger straight-line advantage when DRS was not activated.
It came just days after checks on McLaren’s front wing cleared the team of any wrongdoing after some of their rivals, including Red Bull and Ferrari, had raised corners about possible flexing.
The FIA have confirmed that McLaren’s rear wing is within the regulations, saying in a statement: “The FIA is closely monitoring the flexibility of bodywork on all cars and reserves the right to request teams to make modifications at any point during the season.
“However, 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.”
Perez, however, is not convinced that McLaren are playing by the rules despite the FIA brushing off concerns over any potential breaches.
Asked for his thoughts in a press conference on Thursday, the Mexican driver said: “It’s clear that it’s out of the regulations. It’s an illegal car but it seems like it is allowed. I’m very surprised.”
Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, was adamant that his team were not involved in any foul play when quizzed on the furore surrounding the design of their rear wing.
“Well, it is legal,” he declared. “As long as it passes all the tests, and we get tested a lot, it passes, so it is certainly not the magic ticket or magic bullet for why we’re competitive. It is legal, it passes all the tests, so I am pretty happy with it.
“To be honest, the first time I knew it did that was the same time as everyone else last week and it is not a grey area. It gets tested every week, it is legal and they’ve got loads of different tests for the rear wings now, so I honestly did not know it did that until three days ago.
“Obviously in the sport you find every bit of performance that you can without breaking the rules, and that is what we are doing and what you need to do to become a championship-winning car and team.”
