McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is confused over why a debate over flexing wings currently exists in Formula 1.

Insisting McLaren are operating fully within the regulations, Stella would throw the ball back into Red Bull’s court, analysing their solution as one specifically designed to eliminate flexing for the performance gains that come with that.

F1 flexi-wing debate: McLaren and Red Bull each end of the scale?

It has been a topic thrust back into the F1 spotlight in recent times, with the FIA already announcing more stringent load tests ahead of the F1 2025 campaign, before clamping down even further ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

McLaren’s ‘mini-DRS’ system from last season had proven a key spark, with Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache claiming during F1 2025 pre-season that “McLaren are doing the mini-DRS stuff still”.

A video which emerged following the Japanese Grand Prix – one reposted by Jos Verstappen, father of Red Bull’s reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen – only further heightened the flexi-wing debate, with the rear wing on Norris’ McLaren appearing to expand down the straight as he defended from team-mate Oscar Piastri.

However, Stella very much believes this to be a non-story, and reversed the attention onto Red Bull.

McLaren has won three of the opening four grands prix in F1 2025, and leads the Constructors’ Championship by 58 points over Mercedes.

“I’m really wondering what is exactly the news here? Like, what are we talking about?” Stella began when speaking to Viaplay.

“Are we talking about that there are cars that decide not to have any flexibility at all, and there are cars that decide this is what I’m allowed within the regulations and that I may allow some deflection? Any structure when is loaded with 100 or 200 kilogrammes does deflect.

“Then, if you decide to do it in within the regulations, your performance is actually almost a trade-off, because there are advantages in doing what Red Bull is doing, and they are working very hard to do that.

“They want to retain the load in high-speed, even if this causes a little bit of drag, which is lap time.

“In our case, we want to shed a little bit of drag and a little bit of load, but as long as you do it within the regulations, and that’s the case, then it’s more of a technical point rather than a legality point, if that makes sense.

“So I’m really wondering like, what kind of news are we discussing here?”

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McLaren’s Drivers’ Championship leader Norris was pressed on the Japanese GP video in Bahrain, and offered a blunt response.

“I think people get it the wrong way round. We’re all fully within the rules. We’re doing a good job,” he was quoted by The Independent.

“Red Bull have had plenty of time to do the same thing as us and they’re not. It is more that they should do a better job rather than keep complaining about things.

“The rules are there. We’re within the rules and that’s all you can ask for.

“There are plenty of things Red Bull do that also push the limits just as much.

“I think also the people who just look at these videos are a bit clueless.

“How do they know it’s the rear wing that’s flexing? They don’t, it could be the whole car so people can just come up with what they want but really they have absolutely no idea.

Norris goes into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix three points ahead of Piastri in the Drivers’ standings, with Verstappen P3 and another five points further back.

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