Red Bull under fire: 'Now they are whining, what is it now?'
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F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Sulking Red Bull Racing engineers in the paddock during the test days in Bahrain. They seemed irritated that McLaren and Ferrari were apparently allowed to use rear wings that - in the eyes of the Austrian team - were too flexible. However, Christijan Albers, former Formula 1 driver and team boss, thinks Max Verstappen's team should not "whine" so much.
The FIA came out with a technical directive in late 2024, stating that the flexibility of front wings would be addressed. A change in the technical regulations for the rear wing did not come, however. And perhaps because of that, McLaren's and Ferrari's rear wings seemed to flex under load. Too flexible? Reportedly, according to Red Bull, yes.
According to Albers, however, protesting to the FIA is pointless. "So, at the moment it is allowed," he tells the Telegraaf podcast. "They must have had a guideline somewhere. And then if the guideline is different, you take a risk. But if the wing has to be able to handle at least a hundred kilos, I'm just saying, and it does, then they are complying with the regulations."
'Red Bull must go with McLaren and Ferrari'
For Red Bull, in Albers' view, there is only one thing to do: "Red Bull has to go along, it's as simple as that. That information that Mclaren and Ferrari get, Red Bull can also get. There's nothing exciting about that. If they don't do it, they shoot themselves in the foot."
Albers thinks Red Bull is a bit hypocritical with regards to the complaints, the analyst reveals. "I think Red Bull was the first to start with that, with those flex-wings, with a few teams. And now they've kind of gotten rid of it and are kind of whining. So what is it now?"
"As long as you get through scrutineering, and through testing. Yes, then you pass. That's the risk for everyone. Formula 1 is always going to the limit of the regulations. You want to get the maximum out of it."
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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