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McLaren baffled by flexi-wings

The Red Bull wings flex up to 25mm lower to the ground at high speed © Sutton Images

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McLaren engineering director Paddy Lowe has admitted his team does not yet know how to replicate the flexible front wing set-up so successfully pioneered by Red Bull.

The legality of the front wings had been questioned by certain teams before last weekend's German Grand Prix but they were approved by the FIA after close scrutineering. The wings, that flex up to 25mm lower to the ground at high speed, produce more downforce as a result.

"I've seen a lot of pictures on that situation," said Lowe. "We believe, and we're not alone, that two cars - Ferrari and Red Bull - have wings existing at a much lower position than we're able to deliver.

"It is a phenomenon we're seeing. It may be entirely legitimate, it may not be. We don't understand it. It is a difference to a reasonably large degree so it's difficult to explain by relatively subtle effects like fuel weight, tyre pressure, or high-speed set-up. These things affect a car to a relatively small degree - much smaller than the degree we've seen in pictures.

"At the minute we are working really hard to understand it, and if it is worth performance to us, to deliver that."

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