F1-drive

[SinglePic not found]McLaren have a fallback option should Formula One race stewards take issue with their new car’s rear wing but are confident they will not be using it in Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

“We’re not taking a radically different package, but you just never know what the stewards are going to do on the day,” McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale told reporters on Tuesday.

“We get the best advice we can from the (governing) FIA (International Automobile Federation) in the interests of transparency,” he added.

“If the stewards decide on a different course of action though it’s still our duty to go racing, so we have a contingency, but I wouldn’t put much effort into it.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner questioned McLaren’s rear wing last week, while saying Ferrari appeared to be more concerned about it than his own team.

However a Ferrari spokesman said at the time that he knew of no concerns while McLaren, whose drivers are world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, have consulted the FIA throughout the design process.

“We’ve spoken to (Ferrari team principal) Stefano (Domenicali) and some of the other team principals and colleagues there and of course everyone wants to see clarity,” said Neale.

“We’re doing the same on a number of other teams’ developments. There’s nothing untoward about it though, we’re quite confident the car is legal.”

Reuters