Red Bull suspects McLaren of violating regulations

Until recently, Red Bull’s advantage was such that the championship team could afford to make miscalculations in chassis set-up or other small mistakes, as these had no effect on the final result. Max Verstappen has always won races. But this year everything has changed.

McLaren, Ferrari and now Mercedes have noticeably caught up, and suddenly it turned out that all the nuances associated with settings, with tactics are important, that mistakes are no longer in vain and that it would be necessary to take a closer look at other aspects of cars.

The rivals managed to push Red Bull out of their comfort zone, and now experts agree that McLaren is the fastest car in the championship. The MCL38 has a minimal speed advantage, but it is still there. That is why the team engineers from Milton Keynes are very carefully studying photos of their rivals’ cars, although they did the same last year in Woking, Brackley and Maranello, in an attempt to understand what the secrets of the amazing RB19 car are.

As this process continues, the FIA ​​​​periodically receives complaints from certain teams who suspect their opponents of violating the technical regulations. At one point, there were also complaints against Red Bull Racing, after which the federation issued special technical guidelines.

But last year, for example, Aston Martin also had to make adjustments to the design of the front wing, which was suspiciously deflecting at a certain speed. Perhaps no one would have paid attention to this if Fernando Alonso had not been on the podium so regularly in the first half of the season.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, Red Bull decided to strike back in 2024. Of course, the McLaren team came to their attention: already during the race weekend in Imola there were complaints that the moving element of the front wing leans backwards under a certain aerodynamic load on some cars, and when passing through fast corners the balance of the car shifts towards the rear axle.

Of course, everyone can be suspected of this in one way or another, but Red Bull believes that this phenomenon is most noticeable on cars from McLaren and Ferrari, and from the podium of Monaco – on the Mercedes W15. But since these elements of all cars undergo FIA stress tests, the federation saw no reason to intervene. Therefore, Aston Martin also developed a wing similar to what Mercedes presented in Monte Carlo. Thanks to this, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished in the top ten at Silverstone.

According to the German publication, the most recent example of this kind clearly shows the great attention with which teams spy on each other. Recently, Red Bull observers suddenly discovered an extra hole in the front and rear brake housings of the McLaren MCL38. It seems that there should not be such a hole there. Or at least: if there can be, it is not always there.

It is believed that a cable runs through this hole to a sensor that measures the temperature in the brake cooling drum. This data is extremely important because the temperature of the wheels and tires is also monitored via ventilation holes in the brake housings.

Red Bull believes that thanks to this hole in McLaren they can probably organize an additional channel for cooling, and this is already a violation of the regulations. Red Bull’s suspicions only increased after the McLaren team won the race in Miami; the drivers were also very fast in Imola and Barcelona, ​​​​where Lando Norris took pole. There is another characteristic point: the McLaren car holds the track perfectly, even on worn tires, although previously only Red Bull distinguished itself with this.

The technical regulations are quite specific: during Friday practice, the FIA ​​​​allows teams to install various types of sensors on the brake drums to collect data. From Saturday, all extra holes on the rollers must disappear or be covered. It is already assumed that another team besides McLaren is doing similar things.

According to Red Bull’s observations, these holes remained open at some races. After receiving the complaint, the FIA ​​began a more thorough inspection of the MCL38 car and at the last two races the holes in question were closed, as required by the rules. McLaren simply sealed them with tape.

Since their advantage in tyre wear was not so apparent in Austria and Silverstone, Red Bull believes this trick could have helped McLaren in some earlier stages.

All Formula 1 teams that claim victory are always closely watched. Rivals in turn watch everything Red Bull does, and the main thing here is to try to unravel the tricks of others. The end of these stories is not yet known in any case and the final word always remains with the FIA.