McLaren have made a huge step forward in terms of performance over Red Bull since its Miami GP upgrade. In the last six races, the Woking outfit has been consistently challenging for race wins and it has unsettled the defending champions. McLaren has unsettled Red Bull so much that the Milton Keynes-based outfit are now trying to closely inspect the MCL38 to find any secrets. However, in turn, they have suspected that McLaren are in breach of the rules with an additional cooling channel in their brake linings.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, the FIA allows teams to have sensors in their brake drums to collect data during free practice and for which they make holes in the brake covers. However, from qualifying onwards, these holes must disappear or the team should cover them.
Red Bull suspected that McLaren might’ve created an additional cooling channel that is not permitted
FIA allows teams to fit sensors in the brake discs during practice on Friday for data collection, but from Saturday onwards, holes must either disappear or be covered.… pic.twitter.com/7jcXzeiOJI
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 16, 2024
Red Bull have accused McLaren of exploiting these open holes as cooling channels which may have indirectly helped them to avoid overheating their tires. Now, the MCL38’s tire wear has been a clear advantage for the Woking team with the car getting quicker toward the end of any tire stint.
Previously, the Austrian team had already voiced its concerns about McLaren and other teams like Ferrari and Mercedes using flexi-wings. They had noticed the front wings of these teams’ cars flexing and tipping back, presumable more than the allowed limit.
However, as they had passed the stress tests of the FIA, no action was taken against any of these three teams. Soon after, Red Bull also stated that even they would resort to such tactics if it handed too much of a performance advantage to its rapidly closing rivals.
Is Red Bull’s suspicion about McLaren a big issue?
When the FIA checked the cars at the last two races, McLaren had closed these holes by sticking tape on them. Regardless, the way Norris managed his tires in Imola and Barcelona to attack Max Verstappen may still keep Red Bull suspicious of this brake cooling channel.
However, the Milton Keynes outfit may still be content with the FIA not taking any action against McLaren. The Papaya team just haven’t capitalized on the pace of the MCL38 since the Imola GP and missed out on multiple Grand Prix wins.
Meanwhile, Red Bull has won two races in Imola and Canada, with Verstappen scoring a decent chunk of points in Monaco, Austria, and Silverstone. With Red Bull somehow managing to score decent points in recent races despite not having the fastest car, the onus is on McLaren to iron out its issues with its race execution and strategy to start winning consistently.
