I am not sure how it can make a difference ether way.
But... i think that I found a reason for the flex section! We have a very LONG y-section, after you apply manufacturing tolerances to it, you might be off by quite a bit! So, adding a flex section allows you to relax some of those tolerances.
It is one thing to fab up a y-section on the car (I do not believe that it would require a flex section). However making this y-section on a jig, might be much easier when you have such flex section.