Perez speaks out on McLaren's 'flexible' wing: 'I am very surprised'

F1 News

perez finds mclaren of lando norris and oscar piastri an illegal car
19 September at 17:05
Last update 19 September at 17:13
  • Ludo van Denderen

Max Verstappen kept a low profile. The Red Bull Racing Dutchman - engaged in a fierce battle with Lando Norris for the world title - claimed that the "flexible" rear wing on the McLarens has been tested and approved by the FIA, and is therefore legal. However, his teammate Sergio Perez thinks very differently about the latter.

Virtually no conversation with the media in Singapore went by on Thursday without asking about the McLarens' wing. Footage clearly showed that it was moving, but the FIA never labeled the wing illegal. According to Perez, it should have been. "I think it is clear that this is not in the regulations and it is a legal car," the Mexican said. "I am pretty surprised by this."

At this, Perez did let it be noted that this is his "personal opinion". "You can clearly see that the wing is bending. But obviously, they (the FIA) have done their checks and it seems that it's a legal car. Also, they've done a few races with that rear wing on, but nothing did happen," Perez said, going on to say, "I'm not obviously very expert on technical stuff, but I'm sure the team (Red Bull) is looking at why all of a sudden now it's allowed. So yeah, very very surprised."

Perez especially wants to look at Red Bull

So, McLaren has its act together at the moment, unlike Red Bull. Perez therefore preferred to put his energy into that, rather than a team over which he has no influence. "We did a lot of damage [in Baku] in terms of the championship. They're now ahead. So I think if we are able to get back into it and hopefully get some strong momentum on our side, then that would be really good."

Note: It was initially written that Sergio Perez thought it was an 'illegal' wing. Red Bull meanwhile said via a message to the international media - who reported it en masse - that due to the Mexican's accent, it might have been heard that he said 'illegal', but according to the press officer he said 'legal'.