FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - September 12, 2024 McLaren team principal Andrea Stella during a press conference REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A rear wing controversy that had Formula One rivals up in arms at the Singapore Grand Prix was a 'red herring' and good news for McLaren even if they do not use that version again, according to team boss Andrea Stella.
The championship leaders drew scrutiny after video showed the wing flexing at speed, with talk of a 'mini-DRS' drag reduction effect, during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix won by McLaren's Oscar Piastri the previous weekend.
McLaren agreed to modify the wing, which passed tests but would not have been used in Singapore due to the characteristics of the circuit, for future races after talks with the governing FIA.
Stella said it was all something of a 'red herring', a misleading distraction.
"For us, making changes is pretty much transparent, so we may as well do it," he told reporters at the Marina Bay circuit before the race.
"It won't be a big consequence from a performance point of view.
"Personally, as the principal of McLaren, I find that so much attention on our rear wing is just good news because it means that opponents are not focusing on themselves," added the Italian.
"And Formula One is such a marginal game, it's so complicated... when I see that there's so much attention from other teams, it means that they will be doing work, they will be doing analysis, they will be talking to the FIA.
"There's limited time and limited energy. They're using this time and energy to chase something that I think is a red herring. So for me as McLaren, that's just good news."
McLaren's Lando Norris was dominant in Sunday's race, winning from pole position by 20.945 seconds from Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen whose lead is now 52 points.
Piastri, who started fifth, finished third with McLaren stretching their lead in the constructors' championship to 41 points over Red Bull.
"Definitely the drivers' championship is still on, the mission is on," Stella said after the race.
(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, reporting by Rae Wee, editing by Christian Radnedge)
