Prepare yourselves for wing-gate.
The legality behind Red Bull’s frankly crushing margin of superiority over the opposition has been called into question. Sebastian Vettel blew away the opposition at the Hungaroring on Saturday, claiming pole by over four tenths of a second from his team-mate Mark Webber, which was impressive enough in itself.
However, it was the gap back to Fernando Alonso in third and Lewis Hamilton in fifth that really raised eyebrows. Vettel went over a second quicker than the Ferrari and nearly two seconds quicker than McLaren’s championship leader. You did not need to be a genius to realise this might cause a stir.
Sure enough Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren’s team principal, was quick to flag up the latest technical row which threatens to overshadow Formula One when he declared himself reasonably happy with Hamilton’s effort given the fact that both Red Bull and Ferrari are now running ‘flexi-front wings’ which bend downwards at the tips at high speed. According to Whitmarsh, it’s just not cricket.
"I think getting in front of Felipe Massa was do-able for Lewis, but still, to be the first of the fixed-wing vehicles is something,” Whitmarsh said. “That's how we feel at the moment. There's a regulation about the wings needing to be 85mm above the ground, and to be rigid. Perhaps it's time for some clarification.”
In actual fact, this row first came to light in Germany last weekend when pictures emerged of the front wings of both the Red Bull and the Ferrari ‘flexing’ at speed. At that stage McLaren, together with Renault and the other frontrunners on the grid, were still hopeful the wings might be banned.
The FIA, Formula One’s governing body, had been apprised of the situation and had accumulated a whole dossier of evidence. Then the Ferrari ‘team orders’ row happened and suddenly ‘flexi-wings’ were not such a priority. By the time the FIA declared they had passed post-race scrutineering last Sunday night, no one was the slightest bit interested.
One week on and everyone is interested again, with Red Bull’s dominance now bordering on the obscene. Even Ferrari, who actually have a similar device, were left choking on their exhaust fumes. “I am surprised at the size of the gap,” Alonso admitted. “Six days ago we were the quickest car at Hockenheim. Now we are a second behind. But I think there are people more worried than us.”
No kidding. McLaren admit they have no idea how Red Bull are achieving the ‘flexing’ effect without breaking the regulations, although Red Bull insist the wing passes every test the FIA throw at them and claim this is just the latest effort to unsettle them.
"There is a clear FIA test the cars have to pass,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “We're happy the car complies. This week it's the front wing, before that it was active suspension, before that diffuser. The team should take it as a compliment. We're focused on our own performance, hopefully we can get two good starts and get our heads down and leave the rest behind."
That is what McLaren are afraid of - and not just with regards to Sunday afternoon’s race. As it stands they are sitting ducks at the top of the championship and Hamilton admitted that he and team mate Jenson Button, who qualified way back in 11th place, could only laugh at the speed being generated by their rivals.
"It [fifth on the grid] was really my target,” Hamilton said. “I mean, your target is always pole, but the Red Bulls are impossible to beat - they are 1.7secs ahead. For Jenson and me, we just look at the onboard footage and laugh. I don't know what they (Red Bull) are doing, but it's incredible. It was possible I could get close to Massa, but I don't think I could have beaten him today. I pulled every inch out of the car and I'm happy with the job I did. It's a long haul down to Turn One so anything's possible. Fourth or third would be spectacular."
Button, who lost out to Hamilton in qualifying for the seventh time in eight races, was downbeat. The world champion won his maiden grand prix here in 2006 having started from 14th on the grid, but there is no chance of him repeating that today. “I was OK on the prime tyres, but I couldn't get the options working,” he said. Not good enough, according to BBC pundit Anthony Davidson. “It's becoming like a broken record with Jenson complaining about not being able to find the grip in qualifying this season,” Davidson said. “He's not making that up, but Lewis is managing to drive round it. Jenson has to knuckle down and find that extra grip, perhaps by being more aggressive in the car.”
The excuses are running out all around. McLaren have already profited this season from exploiting a technical loophole; their controversial F-duct, which every other team has had to copy, gets around the ban on moveable parts by making the driver a moveable part. Now they must get to grips with the ‘flexi-wing’. They know they cannot rely on the FIA to save them in this fight, even if they are hoping beyond hope that might still happen.
Grid positions for Hungarian Grand Prix
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 18.773secs
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:19.184
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:19.987
4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:20.331
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:20.499
6 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:21.082
7 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:21.229
8 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:21.328
9 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:21.411
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.710
11 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:21.292
12 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:21.331
13 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:21.517
14 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:21.630
15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.897
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:21.927
17 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.998
18 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:22.222
19 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:24.050
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 1:24.120
21 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:24.199
22 Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 1:25.118
23 Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 1:26.391
24 Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) HRT-F1 1:26.453
