F1: Oscar Piastri defends McLaren over rear-wing flex

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during a F1 Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

SINGAPORE — Oscar Piastri says he’s happy with the apparent flexible rear wing on his race-winning car but it’s not a “magic bullet” making McLaren the team to beat in Formula 1 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Widely-shared footage from Piastri’s win last week in Azerbaijan appears to show part of the rear wing flexing under the airflow at high speed, in a way that could potentially reduce drag and allow the car to go faster.

“It’s legal,” Piastri said of the wing Thursday. “We get tested a lot and it passes. It’s certainly not the magic ticket or magic bullet for why we’re competitive, but it’s legal. It passes all the tests, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

READ: F1: Oscar Piastri wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix, McLaren overtakes Red Bull

Piastri added the wing isn’t in a “grey area” in the F1 rules, which generally ban moving aerodynamic devices, with the exception of the overtake-assisting DRS rear wing flap that all cars have.

“I honestly didn’t even know that it did that until three days ago,” Piastri said. “Obviously in the sport you find every bit of performance that you can without breaking the rules. I feel like that’s what we’re doing, and that’s what you need to do to become a championship-winning car and a championship-winning team.”

Piastri argued that on-form teams like McLaren — which overtook Red Bull in the constructors’ standings last week — inevitably attract more attention.

“There’s going to be scrutiny of people curious to know why your car is competitive so I certainly don’t think it’s personal to us,” Piastri said.

READ: F1: McLaren set to favor Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri

Piastri is fourth in the standings, 91 points off leader Verstappen and 32 behind teammate Lando Norris of Britain, who is Verstappen’s closest challenger. A race win is worth 25 points.

Piastri closed the gap with his win in Baku, where his teammate recovered to fourth after qualifying a long way back, but the Australian said he’ll still be expected by McLaren to help out Norris.

“If I’m in a position to still win races, then that’s what I want to do and I think I showed in Baku that I’m capable of doing that,” he said. “But naturally if there’s times where I can help out for Lando’s championship bid then I’ll be happy to help out as well.”