FIA contact McLaren as brake drum hole raises Red Bull alarm – report

McLaren driver Lando Norris in action at Silverstone

McLaren has reportedly received an FIA reminder to cover a hole in the brake drum after practice to comply with the regulations, after Red Bull apparently raised the alarm.

Both McLaren and Red Bull will hope to chase victory this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but ahead of the on-track action commencing, a feature of the McLaren brake drum continues to attract attention.

McLaren reportedly receive FIA regulations reminder

German publication Auto Motor und Sport reported that Red Bull had spotted a hole on the McLaren brake drum at recent races which needs to be covered once practice is complete, but McLaren and another team had allegedly not re-covered them.

Teams are permitted to fit sensors during practice for data gathering, which potentially explains the presence of this hole, but Red Bull apparently suspected that an additional cooling mechanism was being created, against the regulations, by keeping the holes open, prompting them to lodge a complaint.

The holes were reportedly covered again, by tape, for the Austrian and British GPs.

And according to Motorsport.com, the FIA has been in touch with McLaren to ‘quietly remind’ the team to cover the brake duct holes so that the MCL38 complied with the regulations under parc ferme conditions, though the governing body apparently looked upon this case as ‘very minor’.

For clarity, Article 3.13.2 of F1’s Technical Regulations states: “For each drum, a circumferential, continuous (around an arc of 360°), and uniform aerodynamic seal must be fitted in the outboard of the two annotated volumes, in order to prevent any significant aerodynamic or heat transfer flow between the drum and the axle.”

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McLaren and Red Bull have increasingly been involved in a one-sided war of words over recent weeks, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown doing the talking, which ramped up after Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided while battling for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Suggesting Red Bull are “scared” of Verstappen and saying Red Bull principal Christian Horner “says and does stuff” that is “wrong”, Brown has not held back, with Norris asked in Hungary for his take on the situation.

Asked if he is starting to look at Red Bull as an enemy too, Norris replied: “No. We’re competitors. We’re competitors with every team.

“But you give and you take and when other teams give it to you, you’ve got to give it back sometimes.”

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