Lando Norris has contended that Red Bull should place a bigger emphasis on being “better” rather than “complaining” about whether McLaren’s Formula 1 car is legal.
McLaren’s benchmark pace across the opening events has prompted discussions about whether the team is exploiting the boundaries when it comes to flexing parts.
The Woking-based squad caught the headlines in Baku last year when a slot gap on Oscar Piastri’s rear wing was appearing to open at high speed down the straights.
McLaren was made to impose changes to prevent the design trick that was dubbed ‘mini DRS’, while the FIA also tightened the regulations again one round into 2025.
However, Jos Verstappen, Max’s dad, reposted a video on X which indicated that the rear wing on McLaren’s MCL39 was flexing more than Red Bull’s RB21 at Suzuka.
But while Verstappen suggested that he had also seen the footage, the reigning F1 champion was reticent on the matter as he expressed that “I don’t make the rules”.
There will also be a Technical Directive to clamp down on flexing front wings from the ninth round in Spain, a change that Red Bull has asserted might be “significant”.
Norris, though, has insisted that he harbours no concern that McLaren’s car is operating inside the permitted rules as he urged Red Bull to focus on catching his team.
“I think people get it the wrong way round. We’re all fully within the rules. We’re doing a good job,” Norris told the Independent in Bahrain.
“Red Bull have had plenty of time to do the same thing as us and they’re not. It is more that they should do a better job rather than keep complaining about things.
“The rules are there. We’re within the rules and that’s all you can ask for.
“There are plenty of things Red Bull do that also push the limits just as much.
“I think also the people who just look at these videos are a bit clueless.
“How do they know it’s the rear wing that’s flexing? They don’t, it could be the whole car so people can just come up with what they want but really they have absolutely no idea.”
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