McLaren issue ‘very simple’ explanation after MCL38 hole catches FIA and Red Bull attention

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is surprised over how a brake drum hole “escalated” to become a major Formula 1 paddock talking point, after Red Bull allegedly raised the alarm.

German publication Auto Motor und Sport reported that Red Bull had spotted a brake drum hole on the McLaren MCL38 which needs to be covered after practice to comply with the regulations, but McLaren and another team had not re-covered them at recent races.

McLaren surprised by reaction to brake drum hole

The holes were said to have been re-covered by tape at the Austria and British rounds – Stella confirming to Sky F1 that McLaren turned to that tactic – while also validating talk that the FIA had been in touch to clarify that the holes needed covering, with Red Bull reportedly having alerted the governing body, fearing an extra cooling mechanism was being created, against the regulations.

Stella clarified that it is simply a sensor hole and is surprised that such a big deal was made about it.

“Actually, this matter is very simple,” he said.

“This is a hole to access a sensor and we got the clarification from the FIA that this hole is not allowed and we just taped it.

“It’s a very, very simple matter which for some reason seems to have escalated to become a topic in the paddock. But nothing of that kind.”

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This was not the only drama facing McLaren in Hungary, with a storm ahead of the race weekend inflicting further damage on their motorhome, blowing the roof off. It was back at the Spanish Grand Prix that an electrical fire broke out.

Stella was keen to praise those responsible for building and maintaining the motorhome for their efforts as he discussed the extent of the disruption, revealing that ironically, the kitchen was the one area not impacted this time around.

“Well, firstly it’s disruptive for all the people that built the motorhome, maintains the motorhome,” said Stella.

“I just want to thank all these people that do this hard work, which sometimes passes unnoticed. Instead, there’s a lot of workers that do hard work to be here in condition to enjoy our race weekend.

“In terms of disruption, that’s mainly the fact that we needed to relocate our guests, but hopefully with still a positive experience.

“And for the team in terms of consuming our meals, we’ll have to use our offices and the garage, but nothing that we are not ready for, you know, like it’s all good, it’s just a shame that we have to keep working on the hospitality.

“You know what, this time, the main thing that wasn’t effected was exactly the kitchen! We can get some good food but we’ll have to consume it inside the garage.”

McLaren sit P3 in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the Hungarian GP, 78 points behind leaders Red Bull.

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