Red Bull made complaint about ‘extremely important’ McLaren part this season to the FIA

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The battle between Red Bull and McLaren has heated up in the last couple of races, after the latter brought significant performance gains to their car.

McLaren started the season as the third quickest car behind Ferrari, but as they have brought updates it has elevated them to the top with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri consistently challenging for wins and podiums.

Red Bull’s advantage that it had last year appears to have been slashed considerably, with Max Verstappen’s average winning margin shrinking from over 20 seconds to just three seconds.

Although the team brought floor updates to the RB20, they have not met the performance targets on track causing Red Bull to rethink its approach. This has left the door open for McLaren and Mercedes to catch up before the summer break.

It has been an intense battle on track between Norris and Max Verstappen, but Red Bull has also spotted something else that was giving McLaren a performance advantage according to AMuS.

Red Bull files complaint about McLaren brake covers

F1 is all about fine margins and teams often exploit certain grey areas in the rules to achieve split seconds in performance on track.

According to the report, Red Bull has been unhappy with how McLaren has left a hole uncovered in their brake covers which could gain them a performance advantage.

The hole located near the brake ventilation inlets is believed to be used to access a temperature sensor but McLaren has reportedly been using the “extremely important” area to control tyre temperatures.

Any additional cooling channel other than the ones mandated by the FIA is not allowed within the regulations, with Red Bull suspecting that McLaren has been exploiting this area and making a “complaint” to the FIA.

McLaren gains tyre wear advantage through brake cover trick

The FIA allows teams to mount sensors in the brake drums during Friday practice to collect data, but on Saturday when Parc Ferme rules come into play, teams must cover the holes or remove them entirely.

Red Bull alleges that McLaren has not been covering them during the race according to AMuS, with the FIA putting the Woking-based squad under scrutiny in the last couple of races.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

The main purpose of the trick is to control tyre temperatures better, something McLaren was able to do at races such as Imola where overheating was common.

However, the last two Grands Prix have seen that advantage disappear with Norris struggling to stop his used soft tyres from degrading at the end of the British Grand Prix.