Horner comments on 'reasonably significant' flexi-wing adjustment in Barcelona

16:37, 30 May

byOlly Darcy

Christian Horner has said that the flexi-wing Technical Directive "is quite subtle", but that change made by the FIA is also "reasonably significant" at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The FIA brought in this directive to change the flexing of the front wings, with more rigerious tests taking place, resulting in flexing dropping from 15 to ten millimetres.

There was plenty of intrigue surrounding the first free practice session around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to see who would have the early pace now that new rule has come into affect, with Lando Norris taking P1 ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to open up the weekend, despite talk of McLaren potentially being hampered by these new changes.

Verstappen finished behind Norris in the FP1 in Barcelona as the Dutchman searches for his third win of the season this weekend

Flexi-wing changes to be more evident throughout the weekend, says Horner

FP1 also gave everyone the first chance to see what driving with these new front wings would be like, although there was not a lot of chatter over the team radios about it.

"Well, the drivers were making all the usual comments about understeer and front grip and so on," Horner stated in Friday's press conference in Barcelona.

"The change is reasonably subtle, but it is reasonably significant. Now, whether it's the same effect for each of the teams, it's difficult to tell, but they were just working on getting a balance.

"It's incredibly hot out there, so the tyres are getting a bit of a pounding. Particularly now that we're on the old circuit configuration, the front left really gets a hard time around here, so I think it's going to take more than one session to see if there is an impact, or if so, how has it affected the different cars?" continued the 51-year-old.

"It's again difficult to say. It didn't sound from the driver's comments too different to a normal Friday. For sure, it is different, and I think there's a lot to understand, and it's probably on long runs as well as short runs that it is going to play a factor. So, still early days, but the net effect, to us, has been rather small."

Horner realistic: 'McLaren remain the favourites'

However, even with the changes that might have shaken up the current pecking order of th grid, Horner still sees McLaren leading way throughout the wekeend.

"You've got to say McLaren have got to be the favourite here this weekend. They've looked incredibly strong throughout all the early races," the team boss said.

"We take a lot of hope from the race we had in Imola, where we had great pace and were able to win that race. But for sure, in these temperatures, they're going to be super competitive.

"Now, whether it's Lando or Oscar is difficult to say. But for us, what's crucial is that we definitely try and take points off them this weekend. We're only approximately a third of the way through the championship, with a long way to go. But we need to start nibbling away at their points advantage.

"I think Barcelona is a proper workout. The high speed, medium speed, not so much low speed these days. But if you've got a good working chassis, then you'll see that here, particularly with the range of corners that there is and also how hard the car is on the tyres. That's going to be a crucial factor, that there is and also how hard the car is on the tyres. That's going to be a crucial, crucial role in the race on Sunday," concluded Horner.

This article was written in collaboration with Mitchel van de Hoef