Ahead of possible protests over its rear wing, Max Verstappen hits out at Red Bull's accusers.

With the FIA's revised deflection test not due until the French Grand Prix weekend, Toto Wolff has warned that Mercedes may protest the legality of the RBR16B in Baku this weekend as the bendy wing saga continues.

And while the F1 world holds its breath over a saga that could see Mercedes take the issue to the International Court of Appeal, championship leader, Max Verstappen has hit out at the team's accusers.

"I can understand of course other people looking into things when we are doing a good job with the car this season," said the Dutchman as the Azerbaijan weekend got underway.

"I can understand people complaining," he continued, "but it's all within the rules so far. There's nothing wrong with it. Of course, they try to slow us down."

However, while Mercedes questions the legality of the rear wing on the Red Bull, and that of the Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Alpine, the championship leaders have threatened action against its German rival over its front wing.

"You have to look at the overall picture," said Verstappen, "the most important and dominant part of the car is the front and we are not flexing as much as other teams there."

The wing saga aside, Red Bull is leading the championship for the first time since 2013, and Verstappen for the first time ever.

"We always try to target the season we are having at the moment," said the Dutchman. "It's very nice after Monaco, winning the race and obviously leading the championship. But we want to be leading the championship after the final race, that's the most important.

"It's a good boost for the team and we are very happy but we have to keep pushing," he admitted, "because Mercedes might have had a difficult Monaco but they are still very quick. We'll see this weekend what they're going to do.

"Monaco never really suited them," he added, "they have a very long wheel base that is not amazing round there but overall for the rest of the season it seems like it's quite a strong tool.

"They have been winning a lot of championships so they know what they have to do and I really expect them to bounce back strong."

Away from the track, Lewis Hamilton's claim that Verstappen felt he had a lot to prove, smacked of mind games, something the Dutchman has no intention of playing.

"I can't be bothered by it, to be honest, mind games," he said. "I think Lewis said after the race he doesn't want to play those things. So we just have to focus on what we have to do on the track anyway, which I think we do, and that's also the best.

"Whatever is said in here, sometimes it can be a bit emotional, after a race or before a race. It also sometimes depends on how you get the question asked. So it's alright. I think Lewis and I, we really respect each other, and I think that's really important."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Baku, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by F1F@N, 08/06/2021 1:39

"https://www.reddit.com/r/F1Technical/comments/gy92cn/how_downforce_flexes_the_front_wing_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb

Mercedes wing flex not as prominent as it was before. Might be the reason why they are slower since the wing saga they started. "

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2. Posted by aroutis, 04/06/2021 18:50

"This is the same old story.
There is no cheating here, the rear wing abides by the tests stipulated by the rules - Ergo, it is legal.
The way it flexes is called utilizing a loophole which is as old as F1 itself.
FIA addresses things like that per case, but in the mean time, there is absolutely zero illegality in what RBR did.
"

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3. Posted by equator180, 04/06/2021 5:39

"The Red Bull rear wing "meets," the present rules criteria. Mercedes has no grounds for a protest just because another team (perhaps as many as 3 I believe) have done a better job of building to the specs than they have...spilled milk, whiney ...etc...etc...perhaps even a mental obstacle, he (Toto) is rich enough to qualify for that too.."

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4. Posted by kenji, 04/06/2021 0:36

"@GWS...So are you saying that Mercedes built a rear wing that didn't flex irrespective of the FIA's load test? IMO Mercedes are every bit as opportunistic as any other team...perhaps more so in certain areas. What I would love to see is McLaren and Ferrari enter the mix as there is too much emphasis on these two teams. "

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5. Posted by Great_white_shark, 03/06/2021 21:19

"Max is either dishonest or misinformed. You get so much more performance out of the flexible rear wing which is easily worth over half a second a lap in Baku. You will not get anywhere near that performance from a flexible front wing which I guarantee you Red Bull are also using so I dont know why they make it a Mercedes only issue. It clearly is not. It is amusing to hear Red Bull claim they are trying to slow them down when Mercedes have had countless hurdles thrown at them to reshuffle the pecking order. Red Bull have been leading the charge against Mercedes, questioning every single thing they do for quite some time now. More so than any other team as far as I know. Horner and Marko must be rubbing off on Max unfortunately "

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"They try to slow us down" says Verstappen of accusers

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