HOCKENHEIM, July 27 – McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says his team may copy the front wing designs of rival teams Red Bull and Ferrari after their disappointing performance at the German Grand Prix.McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished fourth and fifth respectively at the Hockenheimring here on Sunday, but were never able to match the pace of front-runners Ferrari and Red Bull.
After the race, both drivers expressed concerns that McLaren must improve if they are to maintain their lead in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
Both Ferrari and Red Bull’s front wings were put under the microscope of governing body the FIA on Sunday after some photographs led rival teams to claim they were using flexible parts to help the performance of their cars.
However, after close inspection the FIA gave the teams the all-clear by saying that the designs were within the rules, and although Whitmarsh admitted he did not fully understand the concept, he said McLaren would be working hard to implement a similar design.
"The pictures I was shown, neither myself nor our engineers can explain," said Whitmarsh.
"That may be because we are not clever enough, but it is unusual. We would like to understand it, because if you can do what they are doing legally then we would like to do it.
"If you can get your endplates down by the ground they can get more efficiency. And if they are doing that in a clever and legitimate way then we need to do it."
Whitmarsh added that he was not considering a protest of any kind as he will be devoting all his time to helping improve his team’s car.
"We are not going to protest," he said. "I think our modus operandi is to make our car as quick as we can, and concentrate on that.
"We’ve got good harmony in our team, possibly better harmony now than our neighbours on either side, and we are leading the championship. We have to accelerate the process of developing the car and I think we can do that.
"We are delighted to leave Hockenheim still leading both championships with our drivers first and second, and they are fighting.
"We can look silly and maybe there will be occasions where we lose a title or a race because we are pushing and racing."
