Red Bull chief Helmut Marko thinks Mercedes have changed their rear wing after constant complaints from his team. Max Verstappen was slapped with a heavy £42,000 fine for touching Lewis Hamilton’s wing while trying to inspect it following Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.
Christian Horner has led Red Bull’s very vocal discontent over the Mercedes rear wing.
The FIA conducted an investigation and introduced new wing tests in Qatar last weekend. There was no wrongdoing on the Silver Arrows’ W12.
However, Marko has a theory that Mercedes changed their wing to reduce the flexibility in Qatar and that is why Lewis Hamilton apparently lost some speed.
Marko about SPORT 1: “We saw in Qatar that Hamilton’s speed advantage on the straights in Qatar was no longer that great and was more or less within the normal range.
“This is due to the fact that after more stringent tests by the FIA, Mercedes no longer used its extremely flexible rear wing.”
Mercedes have always denied Red Bull’s claims and there has been no proof that any of the FIA’s regulations have been broken.
Horner made similar comments to Marko in that he feels that Mercedes’ straight-line speed is back under control.
“I think the load test has done its job, because their straight-line speed is under control,” said Horner.
“Suddenly, we’re line on line. We haven’t seen that for about four or five races. So, as I said before, this is all about, not so much this circuit, but it’s very much about Jeddah and Abu Dhabi, where there’s a massive premium on straight-line speed.”
The F1 season heads to Saudi Arabi next weekend where Verstappen will look to extend his eight-point lead over Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship.
If Hamilton fails to finish higher than seventh and Verstappen wins the race, the Dutchman will also secure the world title.
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