It is only the middle of the 2024 F1 season and things have already started heating up. In the last race in Canada, Red Bull did not display the performance expected from a reigning World Champion. On the other hand, Mercedes showed off their newfound speed in Montreal. The team had its two recruits secure the P3 and P4 positions. McLaren also shone through with Lando Norris scoring the second spot behind Max Verstappen. The gap between them was of only 3.879s.
This shows that Red Bull’s rivals might be closing in on their drivers. However, the Austrian team seems to think Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari are all resorting to unfair means to catch up.
Previously, the reports suggested that the Milton-Keynes outfit has already lodged an informal complaint to urge the FIA to check Mercedes’ new front wings, which made a debut in Canada. Now, it seems that Red Bull is also targeting their rivals from Woking and Maranello in their latest complaints to the FIA.
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Naturally, the fans of all three teams—Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren-are enraged. They have not taken kindly to the news of Red Bull urging the FIA to investigate the issue of illegal front wings in F1. They used social media to bash the Austrian squad. And the fans even mocked Red Bull for frequently complaining about its rivals to the governing body of Formula 1.
Fans claim fear to be the cause behind Red Bull’s flexi-wing concerns
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As the current World Championship title holder, Red Bull should be winning the F1 racers with a huge margin over its rivals. But that has not been the case lately. At the Qualifying Canadian GP, Max Verstappen could not even get the pole position as George Russell clinched it. And then, Auto-Motor-und-Sport broke the news that Red Bull wants Mercedes’ front wings to be investigated since they have allegedly crossed the permissible level of flexibility. If this is true, then the Silver Arrows might have enjoyed an aerodynamic advantage over the team’s rivals.
Following the allegations against Mercedes, Red Bull also fired up claims regarding the front wings of Ferrari and McLaren. Interestingly, all the three teams that Red Bull is implicating in its complaints are its chief rivals this season. This has led to the fans believing that the complaints have not been made fairly. One of the X users, @carmothy, said, “One minute it’s Merc, next minute it’s McLaren and Ferrari? RB feeling the heat.” Another user named @michaeldon40443 asked, “Who’s next? McLaren? There also trying to chase you down.”
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The fans’ ridiculing comments on Red Bull’s flexi-wing complaints did not just end there. One of them alleged that the team is simply afraid and asked why they are not resorting to Max Verstappen’s help for winning the Grand Prix. He said, “Scared already? How about the Max Factor?” And another X user mocked the Austrian outfit by saying, “Cry babies as usual.” Yet another fan, @carrybaliname, wrote, “Classic Red Bull—whenever another team is competitive. But at least they’re making it interesting.”
While Red Bull is claiming that some of the teams are using flexi-wings despite them being banned from Formula 1, no official comment from Mercedes, McLaren or Ferrari has been released yet. Do you think the other teams are staying silent on this issue by neither accepting nor dismissing the charges because they are not paying any attention to the false claims? Or are they choosing not to speak since there has been some wrongdoing involved on their part?