Mercedes stunned everyone with its stellar front-running pace at the Canadian GP. This improvement was a result of their upgraded new spec front wing, which first came on George Russell’s car in Monaco. In Montreal, even Lewis Hamilton got this front wing and the Silver Arrows got a pole and a podium, while being in contention for the race win too. Apparently, Red Bull is unhappy with this and has lodged an unofficial request for an investigation of the Mercedes’ front wing to the FIA.
According to Formu1a.uno, Red Bull engineers are closely looking at the Mercedes’ new spec front wing. The report further read, “An unofficial request has been submitted to the FIA technical office to monitor the flexing at the W15’s front wing and nose”.
Red Bull have submitted an ‘unofficial’ request to the FIA, questioning the legality of Mercedes’ front wing
The Mercedes front wing is always within legal limits during FIA’s static checks. However, the W15 flexes more compared to the initial specification at certain load… pic.twitter.com/gmIqEmKU7o
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) June 14, 2024
The FIA keeps a stringent check on all teams’ front and rear wings’ flexion levels and conducts static checks. After the initial checks, the FIA determined that Mercedes‘ front wing was within the legal limits.
However, the new spec wing on the W15 in Montreal was flexing more relative to its older spec, as confirmed by many insiders. As of yet, there is no word from the FIA to launch any official investigation of the Mercedes’ upgraded front wing.
However, the sudden performance jump they have taken seems to have rattled Red Bull. It is natural for the Milton Keynes outfit to be concerned about the Silver Arrows’ improvement as they were within touching distance of beating Max Verstappen to victory in Canada.
However, even Mercedes are unsure about their step-up being track-specific or consistent enough to challenge Red Bull in the upcoming races. Thus, this debate on their front wing might unfold further as another subplot during the triple header, starting in Spain.
Are Mercedes having another false dawn in 2024?
Due to the kind of performance Mercedes showed in Canada, it is quite natural for them to claim that they are back at the front of the field. However, the Silver Arrows have been at this juncture in the past two seasons. They have flattered to deceive with such one-off weekends showing some incredible promise and their performance has withered away later on.
Cases in point are Russell’s win in Brazil (2022), the success of the W14B in Spain (2023), and the competitive pace shown in Singapore (2023). Thus, Toto Wolff and Co. would be wary that their impressive pace in Montreal could be another false dawn.
It would be interesting to watch how this situation around the grievance by Red Bull about Mercedes’ new front wing develops. The Brackley team would certainly want to avoid any clampdown from the FIA, just when they are getting back to a respectable level of performance.
