20/05/2025
NEWS STORY
While attention is focussed on the effect of the Technical Directive that comes into force in Spain, was McLaren compromised by those sent out ahead of the Imola round?
Ahead of the Emilia Romagna weekend the FIA sent out a couple of TDs with the aim of clarifying certain aspects of the regulations, not, contrary to the TD that comes into effect in Barcelona, an actual change to the regulations.
The first concerned skid blocks and their mounts, an ongoing concern within the sport which has already seen a couple of disqualifications this year as teams seek to lower ride height as much as possible.
The second was related to tyre cooling, and followed concerns raise by a number of teams as to what methods could and could not be used.
In the wake of Max Verstappen's victory in Imola, which came just two weeks after McLaren's domination in Miami, there is feeling within the paddock that the two TDs played a part.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Andrea Stella, though not mentioning the TDs, played down rivals' concern at the legality of the McLaren, insisting that while focussed on the Papaya team they were losing focus on their own hopes.
"For us, it's good news when our rivals get their focus, rather than on themselves, onto some of the aspects that allegedly are present in our car, and that effectively are not even present," he told reporters. "And certainly, even if they were, let's say, flexi-wings like a front wing deflection, like everyone else, it has nothing to do with the reason why McLaren is very competitive.
"So, I hope that in the future there will be more of these kinds of sagas because it means that our rivals keep focusing on the wrong things, and this is, for us, just good news. It's just helping our quest."
Interestingly, in the aftermath of the Imola race, in which the Woking team's tyre wear was nowhere near as good as in Miami, Christian Horner told reporters: "We were sort of more surprised about McLaren's lack of performance."
At the same time, Red Bull's technical director, Pierre Wache insisted while his team's upgrades weren't as significant as some believed, he was surprised by the relative lack of pace of the McLaren.
That said, others believe Red Bull's performance at Imola was due to the fact that its car's performance is track specific and doesn't indicate that the McLarens have been compromised.
"I think it's very track specific," admitted Max Verstappen. "I mean, every time that we have been really competitive, it's been high-speed tracks, high-speed corners.
"Of course, we brought upgrades," he added. "I think they worked, but Monaco is very different. It's not been our strongest track with the car that we have, so let's see how we are going to perform there."
Whatever the impact of the two TDs, the real test will come next week in Spain.