McLaren baffled by rivals' 'flexi-wings'

McLaren's engineering director Paddy Lowe admits the Woking squad remains mystified by how Red Bull and Ferrari are able to run their front wings so low to the ground but is determined to find out so that it reaps the same performance gains.Photographs circulated in the Hockenheim paddock showing the Red Bull and Ferrari front wings apparently flexing under load and tilting downwards provoked suspicion among rival teams, but both the RB6 and the F10 were given the all-clear by the FIA in post-race scrutineering.Regulations require F1 cars' bodywork to be rigid and tests are carried out to ensure that wings do not flex by more than a stated maximum, but these tests do not fully replicate the 5G loads cars generate in high-speed corners or under heavy braking.The ground effect from running front wings lower is a potentially significant advantage, affording not only more downforce overall but a better aerodynamic balance offsetting the increased rear downforce generated by exhaust-blown diffusers.Red Bull and Ferrari have dismissed the photographic evidence as being unscientific and unreliable, suggesting numerous factors (such as fuel loads, the braking forces being generated, tyre pressures or simply different camera angles) could explain the visual discrepancies.But speaking in Wednesday's Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in, Lowe insisted there was a fundamental difference in car behaviour.I've seen a lot of pictures on this subject, he said.We believe, and we're not alone, that two cars Ferrari and Red Bull have wings existing at a much lower position than we're able to deliver.There's a difference of a reasonably large degree, so it's difficult to explain by relatively subtle effects such as fuel weight, tyre pressure or differences in end-of-straight or high-speed set-up.These things affect the car to a relatively small degree, much smaller than the differences that we've seen in the pictures.So there is a phenomenon that we're seeing. It may be entirely legitimate, it may not be.Team boss Martin Whitmarsh has made it clear that, rather than protesting its rivals' front wing designs, McLaren will seek to emulate them.Lowe admits it has made little progress in discovering the secrets so far, however.We just don't understand it, he said.So what we're doing at the moment is working really hard to try to understand it and see, if it's worth performance to us, whether we can also deliver that.