“People will look at what we have got on our car and I would imagine that most teams are now looking for how they would implement such a system,” said Whitmarsh, according to Autosport.
Earlier this week, it has emerged that the FIA delegate Charlie Whiting was to inspect McLaren's rear wing design, as well as a controversial air inlet on the upper side of the bodywork, believed to add some 6 mph in straight line for the car. During the scrutinizing session in Bahrain, the FIA official gave the British team the all clear on their devices.
If the rear wing design topic was covered by Red Bull and Ferrari in recent weeks – they were the first ones to admit their worries publicly on this particular part of the MP4-25 – the air inlet is believed to further reduce the car's drag and improve its straight-line performance. The guy at Autosport explained the system quite eloquently during a report on Thursday.
“It is suggested that air flows into the cockpit via a chimney, believed to be known inside the team as the 'F-duct', on the nose. The air is then channeled through the car and out of the rear end. The air tunnel is believed, however, to have a hole in it that the drivers are able to block on the straights - using either their knees or elbows. When this hole is covered, the air pressure inside the vent is changed - and this helps stall the rear wing,” said the report from Autosport.
When asked about the potential irregularities he found on the MP4-25, FIA's Charlie Whiting insisted that both these two devices (the F-duct on the nose and the rear wing) are compliant with the Formula One technical rulebook. According to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, he regarded the McLaren's device as being a “simple but brilliant trick.”
Both Red Bull and Ferrari are unlikely to take their protest any further, as confirmed by the two teams in recent weeks.
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