It is unclear to what extent the clarification will affect Red Bull’s relative
competitiveness. McLaren’s managing director Jonathan Neale said it was
difficult to tell.
“The honest answer is I really don’t know,” Neale said. “None
of us really know what it is that antagonised the FIA so much to provoke Jo
Bauer into issuing the note he did on Sunday morning. It was quite an
unusual step – I don’t think the FIA would have referred to the stewards
unless they had very serious concerns.
“It’s really not for us to know or tell exactly what the Renault engine
is doing in the Red Bull, and therefore how much advantage they get from it
because it is an integrated performance package. But I know we are not the
only ones on the grid who are looking at it very carefully.”
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton said he felt as if the team had reached a
“turning point” and was looking forward to capitalising in Budapest, the
last race before the summer break.
“There’s good reason to feel confident; our upgrade package seems to have
delivered the pace we anticipated,” said Hamilton who lies 62 points
behind Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso with half the season
gone. “Things haven’t always gone our way in the first half, but I
certainly feel like we’re experiencing something of a turning point for the
whole team.
“We’ve really stepped up and delivered the pace we needed, our strategy
has been spot on and our pit stops, despite a troubled start at the
beginning of the year, are now consistently the fastest in the pit lane.”