The unveiling of a new car always brings mixed emotions, even for the teams themselves. On the one hand, there is a sense of accomplishment at finishing the first part of a project many months in the making. On the other hand, there are always some doubts – which will only be answered when the car races on track.
The start of Bahrain testing s approaching, but in the meantime McLaren has taken the MCL39 out on track for the first time. McLaren’s first laps at Silverstone allow us to analyse the first shapes of a 2025 F1 car.
There is no need to dwell too much on their camouflage livery, given that the teams are required to show off their actual 2025 liveries at the F1 75 event in London.
Mclaren MCL39, front section: The front anti-dive has been taken to the extreme
Is the MCL39 an evolution or a revolution of the winning 2024 car? Clearly the former, even if Andrea Stella has underlined the risks taken by the technical department.
“We will be brave because we have focused on innovation,” Stella explained.
“This is to be able to make a new leap in quality, with the ambition of trying to win the drivers’ title this time too.”
From the first photographs, many changes are noticeable across entire body of the car. There has been a profound evolution of 2024 concepts, which in some cases can be defined as extremization.
Starting from the front of the car, the front wing is a specification very close to the one used at the end of 2024.
The nose has been modified in length, appearing more slender – with an altered attachment to the mainplane to the anchoring to the chassis. The most important change however, the design of the front suspension.
While on the one hand the pull-rod kinematics have obviously been confirmed, the technicians led by Rob Marshall have intervened to exacerbate the anti-dive effect, moving back and lowering the rear arm’s anchoring of the upper triangle of the front suspension – as can be clearly seen from our comparison photo.
Mclaren MCL39, middle section: Evolved sdepods and the airbox, new inlets take inspiration from Mercedes
Even in the central part of the single-seater, there are many notable changes. These broadly represent extreme versions of the concepts from 2024.
The Woking team has a new chassis for the MCL39, deciding against keeping last year’s specification. In terms of cooling, the airbox becomes even more oval in shape, featuring a canonical triangular inlet and the two ear on the sides that have slightly larger dimensions than the 2024 version.
The design of the engine hood has changed, takes on a less bulky shape in the centre compared to 2024. There is now a sloping part at the end, maintaining the ‘Bazooka’ (less accentuated) solution that was adopted during the course of 2024.
The geometry of the famous ‘fin’ of the engine hood is also different, which has been shortened compared to the MCL38.
In this first outing, McLaren also showcased an aerodynamic device on the sides of the Halo – similar to the ‘Ferrari Cobra’ design.
A similar solution has previously also been employed at Red Bull, with the aim of better directing air flow.
The entrance of the sidepods is one of the components that has changed the most compared to the 2024 single-seater.
McLaren’s choice to keep the upper ‘tray’ has been confirmed, with the Woking factory building on the ‘shark inlet’ of 2024.
What has changed, however, is the entrance shape of the sidepods, which now have a more triangular shape.
This can be linked to the design seen on the Mercedes W15, with a more contained horizontal opening and at a more significant vertical opening on the sides of the chassis.
McLaren MCL38 rear section: ‘Old’ wing, similarities with Aston and Red Bull
To conclude this first overall analysis of the MCL39, the floor is clearly in a new specification, including the floor edge, although there are similarities to the 2024 car.
At the rear, you can immediately notice that the wing is of the same specification used at the end of the last year. This was expected, given McLaren were already working on a 2025 version of the rear wing last season.
The rear suspension has been further evolved, with the push-rod in a new ‘broken’ guise (like Aston Martin on the front of the AMR23) to make the arm that works in compression even more aerodynamic.
Above all, a small opening seems to have been introduced, right near the push-rod, which recalls a solution that has been a rule on Red Bull single-seaters for years and is linked to a possible blowing of cooling air from the sidepods towards the upper part of the diffuser.
After all, it may not be considered a total surprise that McLaren has brought some solutions already seen on previous Red Bulls, considering the many men who have arrived in Woking in the last period belonging to the former working group of Adrian Newey and Pierre Waché.
