Lando Norris hints that McLaren rivals have ‘complained about’ more parts amid rear wing scandal

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McLaren agreed to change their controversial low-downforce rear wing during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Multiple rivals had raised doubt over the legality of the part.

Onboard footage from Oscar Piastri’s race-winning car in Azerbaijan showed the bodywork moving to create a ‘mini DRS’ effect. This increased their straight-line speed.

Red Bull discovered that McLaren were gaining two-tenths from the trick. They were far less reliant on conventional DRS than other teams.

Under pressure from competitors and the FIA, McLaren say they ‘proactively offered’ to modify the wing. If it appeared on the MCL38 again in its Baku form, they risked a formal protest.

That in turn could trigger a disqualification if the car was deemed illegal. The MCL38 had passed all of the relevant tests up to that point.

McLaren are leading the constructors’ championship by 41 points heading into the final six races. Lando Norris won the Singapore GP, with Oscar Piastri finishing third.

Lando Norris hints that rear wing isn’t the only part McLaren have been forced to change

McLaren weren’t running their low-downforce wing at Singapore, a slow-speed circuit. In fact, it wasn’t expected to appear on the car again until Las Vegas, the third-to-last round of the season.

But speaking in the post-race press conference on Sunday, Norris hinted that McLaren had had to make further changes. Rivals have ‘complained about’ multiple parts on their car.

As it stands, the enforced ‘tweaks’ have had little visible impact. Andrea Stella’s squad have been the best team in F1 since their major upgrade at the Miami GP.

In that time, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes have all taken victories, but only McLaren have scored a podium at every race weekend. Their consistency and versatility have been impressive.

“We’ve even had to make tweaks to some of our wings and things that people have complained about,” Norris said. “But we’ve still had a great weekend and probably one of our most dominant weekends here.”

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko demands that the FIA examine another area of McLaren’s car

Earlier in the season, McLaren had to close a hole in their brake covers after Red Bull took issue. The team maintained that the hole only existed so they could access a temperature sensor.

But Red Bull felt it also worked as an artificial brake cooling device. Such disputes take place in F1 every year, particularly among the top teams who operate closest to the limit of the regulations.

Christian Horner and co. aren’t yet satisfied that the MCL38 is a legal car. Speaking in Singapore, Helmut Marko demanded the FIA examine McLaren’s front wing next.

During the summer, the FIA carried out investigations into the legality of various team’s front wings. They confirmed in a statement at the start of September that they were all compliant with the rules.