Hi friends,
McLaren are leading the Constructors’ Championship. The last time that happened we were all doing the ice bucket challenge and Taylor Swift released “1989” (for the first time). I feel so old all of a sudden.
Top story of the week: The FIA issues a statement that the McLaren rear wing is deemed to be in full compliance of the regulations, but that they are considering “mitigating measures for future implementation”
Yep, we’re going to talk about wings.
After Oscar Piastri’s win in Azerbaijan, the paddock (and the internet) have been lit up by discussions focussing on the McLaren rear wing. Onboard footage shows how the rear wing is designed to flex in a way, that could cause the it to act as a sort of passive mini-DRS.
Why is this important? Throughout the history of Formula 1, the teams that have had success have often been the ones who manage to operate successfully in what we consider the grey areas of the technical regulations, and this could be no exception.
While we have no idea how much of a performance increase if any, this design provides, it does show that McLaren are working hard to keep challenging Red Bull for the Constructors’ Championship.
As of now the design is deemed fully compliant with the regulations by the FIA, but they also say that may change in the future. For now, it would appear that McLaren have found a rather clever solution to gain even just the slightest bit of performance.
There’s a very deep rabbit hole to descend into if you’re interested in these “loopholes”. Everything from fan cars to draining water tanks in the sidepods and extra brake pedals.
The rest of the stories this week:
- Sergio Perez’s father, Antonio Perez Garibay, suffered a medical emergency after his son’s crash in Azerbaijan
- We’ll likely know who takes the 2nd VCARB seat for 2025 before the US GP
- FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem wants the drivers to swear less on the radio: “We’re not rappers, you know”
- Verstappen’s Race Engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has been promoted to Head of Racing, but will continue as Verstappen’s Race Engineer as well
- Red Bull believe they have identified the origin of their recent performance issues
- A group representing the employees at Renault’s engine factory in Viry will meet with CEO Luca de Meo on Friday to discuss the plans to shut down engine production
- A post-season non-championship sprint race for rookies is likely to happen this year
- The British GP ticket prices have been revealed, capping dynamic pricing and adding more capacity in the cheapest options
- LEGO and F1 are partnering to bring a new formula collection featuring all 10 teams
- We’re getting some custom liveries for Singapore: Mercedes, McLaren, VCARB
- Red Bull have cancelled their planned special livery for Singapore and the US GP, because it “compromises performance”
- The FIA have created a new Officials Department to train and develop race officials
- Alex Palou has won the 2024 IndyCar championship – his 3rd title in 5 seasons
- Prema has signed Callum Ilott for their 2025 IndyCar entry
- The FBI are conducting an investigation of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan IndyCar team factory in relation to a possible intellectual property violation
- Toyota is joining the Repca Supercars Championship from 2026 with GR Supra
And one final thing – I’m keeping track of the Formula 1 Championship math over on Twitter. So far Norris is still clinging to his Championship hopes. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you can go check it out right here.
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
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