'Red Bull see competitors entering grey area and threaten to do the same'

In August last year, a new technical directive tightened the rules. This led to Aston Martin having to modify its front wing because it was allegedly too flexible when attached to the nose. The British F1 team, which was a regular guest on the podium in the first half of the season with Fernando Alonso, was significantly less competitive in the second half of the season.

'Red Bull wanted Aston Martin to join'

Aston Martin's reduced performance is said by some to be related to the aforementioned technical directive. For this reason, Red Bull are said to have made an attempt to involve Lawrence Stroll's team in a protest, but Aston Martin wouldn't hear of it. The reason: the Silverstone-based team is said to be working on a similar solution itself by now. So reports the usually well-informed Auto, Motor und Sport.

McLaren and Ferrari would be the first teams to come up with the solution. According to AMuS, this was noticed by Mercedes, but instead of protesting, the German team would have decided to go to the drawing board itself. In Monaco, George Russell was already driving with the new front wing and in Canada it was also Lewis Hamilton's turn. That weekend, Russell was in pole position and finished third in the race, just ahead of his teammate.

'Red Bull threaten to use flexible front wing too'

Each team is said to have its own way of passing the FIA's tests, but still deflecting the front wing while driving further than allowed by the technical regulations. Recently, the same medium reported that Red Bull had made an unofficial request to the FIA to scrutinise the flexible front wing. Should no action be taken, the Austrian racing stable is threatening to do the same, according to AMuS.

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.