It's not a surprise to me that Mclaren can still sustain their performance but the discussion deserves more nuance than the low quality "haha we're still fast, take that Horner!" contributions of some.
A large part of Mclaren's advantage in Spain was the rear axle tire temperature management, according to Andrea Stella. I posted his comment about it on the previous page. It freed their setup window to run small rear wings. Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull had to run bigger rear wings to try in vain to keep the rear from sliding and generating heat which they could not control as well as Mclaren.
Why is that relevant in the flexi-wing discussion? The flexi-wing crack down made the cars edgier. This was reported up and down the paddock. Mclaren can live with more edginess and more sliding than the rest because they cool the rear tires better than the rest. From what I have read so far, Red Bull actually discovered that their flexi-wing was ****, and when they ran the TD compliant wing for the first time, they had their best friday to date....so basically their own attempt at the flexi-wing was hurting them, but they felt compelled to explore it. Now that it's off the table, it's actually made their car more sensible balance wise.
On the other hand, Mercedes is clearly suffering the consequences of the TD, and this strange race from Ferrari in conditions which should have suited them suggest that the TD may have played a role in their balance issues during the race. Leclerc already told us before the weekend that the TD made the car more oversteery. On a qualy lap, it's insignificant. On a long distance run, every slip lap after lap damages the tires.
I don't think it was unreasonable for Red Bull to think Mclaren could have been impacted. As we are seeing with Mercedes, it could have been a big deal for Mclaren and that was certainly worth a shot to see if anything came of it. What did they have to lose? Nothing. Their flexi-wing never worked.
