FIA tells McLaren to scrap Bahrain-spec diffuser

Amid the din of the new ‘knee-gate’ saga, another technical controversy involving McLaren’s 2010 car has escaped the attention of the media.

The British team has been told by the FIA that the diffuser it is using this weekend in Bahrain may not be fitted to the MP4-25 in Melbourne in two weeks.

While the knee-activated air inlet system has been slammed by angry rivals and attracted widespread press coverage after clearance by the FIA, the car’s Sakhir-spec double diffuser was less favourably looked upon by scrutineers.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said McLaren aerodynamically exploited the hole for the external engine starter, making it much bigger than necessary and thereby gaining another diffuser level.

After the enormous diffuser controversy of 2009, the saga has been kept quiet by McLaren simply agreeing to scrap the design after the chequered flag waves in Bahrain on Sunday.

© RIF|GMM