Oscar Piastri has revealed that McLaren ran a revised front wing to comply with the new Formula 1 technical directives prior to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The hotly anticipated TD108, which comes into effect at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, enforces more stringent flexibility on front wings under heavy load.
An explanation of the technical directive [TD] from the FIA states that “vertical deflection must be no more than 10mm and applied to only one side of the car the vertical deflection must be no more than 15mm” when load is applied.
This has led to speculation that McLaren, the current runaway championship leaders, may suffer the most as a result.
As the ruling’s introduction nears ever closer, there has been mixed opinion as to which teams will benefit and which will suffer, or indeed if there will be much change at all.
Speaking to select media, including Motorsport Week, ahead of this weekend’s race, Piastri revealed that team-mate Lando Norris used the wing in FP1 ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, and believes the ruling will make little difference.
“I think the biggest problem is going to be how overhyped it is, probably!” he said. “We know what’s different. I think everyone will have to change, at least to an extent.
“I’ve not run the front wing, but Lando’s already run the front wing before this year, so we’re confident that’s not our magic bullet. We don’t have a magic bullet, but that’s not our main trick.”
Norris: ‘Nothing will change’ about McLaren setup ahead of Spanish GP
McLaren has been a big beneficiary of the flexi-wing design previously, helping to create debate around it after its visible usage on the rear wings at last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix helped Piastri take victory.
The controversy around them instigated the FIA’s decision to implement small cameras mounted on all cars to check their individual usage of the wings.
Original 2025 regulations stipulated that the maximum tolerance of the ‘slot gap’ would be 2mm, but before Round 2 in China, the tolerance was reduced to 0.75mm, and before Round 3 in Japan, it was lowered even further, to 0.5mm.
Since then, McLaren has still been able to secure wins in all but two of the races contested ahead of the Spanish GP.
Norris aligned his viewpoint to Piastri’s, and said that the way the team will setup the MCL39 will not be altered due to the TD’s introduction.
“I mean, like I said, there’s little tweaks here and there, but nothing that will change how we have to do it,” he said to media, including Motorsport Week.
READ MORE – Max Verstappen downplays impact of F1 flexi-wing change
