Red Bull ‘make complaint FIA complaint’ about Lando Norris’ car | F1 | Sport
Red Bull reportedly filed a complaint to the FIA about a detail on Lando Norris‘ McLaren car which could impact them ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The constructors’ leaders reported a possible infringement on the MCL38 – McLaren‘s car for the 2024 season – which may have contravened the FIA’s technical regulations.
The Austrian team apparently alerted world motorsport’s governing body to an ‘additional hole’ being left uncovered in the brake drum of both McLaren cars.
The Papaya have since moved to cover the hole, although it is unclear whether they were specifically instructed to by the FIA following the complaint.
Auto Motor und Sport report that Red Bull noticed the small ‘hole’ in the brake drum at recent races following McLaren‘s recent pace improvement, with the Woking team now considered one of the fastest on the F1 grid.
While teams are allowed to fit sensors to help gather data during free practice sessions, they are instructed to cover them again on Saturday when qualifying begins. Simply leaving the hole uncovered would create a problem for McLaren, as it could be seen as a way of gain an advantage by cooling the brakes.
The AMuS report adds that Red Bull recently made the discovery about a second unidentified team, who were also alleged to have kept the hole open.
Following Red Bull‘s complaint to the FIA, which requested further scrutiny of the affected area, the holes were reportedly covered as normal for the Austrian and British Grands Prix. McLaren used a small piece of tape to cover the issue and it did not appear to affect their performance after taking home 58 points from the two aforementioned races.
It was in Austria where Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen and McLaren driver Norris collided after fighting for the lead, resulting in the latter’s retirement from the race. But it was established throughout the weekend that the British team were faster than Red Bull.
It comes just days after McLaren CEO Zak Brown insisted the team would not play ‘nasty’ to knock Red Bull off the top of the standings. The American is known to have a strained relationship with his counterpart Christian Horner and this complaint could change his view on their potential championship battle.
“We’re prepared to go toe-to-toe,” Brown said. “Nasty is not how McLaren goes racing. I think you can go toe-to-toe, but you don’t have to be nasty about it.
“They [Red Bull] seem to, at times, have a win-at-all-costs mentality. That’s not how we go racing, but we think you can go toe-to-toe and take the fight to them our own way.”
