McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the front wing update introduced on the MCL38 in Austria aims to improve low-speed performance. The revised wing, with major changes around the endplates, works in conjunction with revised front suspension guards.
Stella says the new parts follow the team’s last major upgrade, which came at the Miami GP.
The aim is to maintain the direction of development that we introduced with the front wing that we brought to Miami,” said Stella.
“We’ve seen that the concept works well. So we wanted to continue in that direction as well, and this is another attempt to improve, I would say, in particular, the low-speed behaviour of the car.”
The modification to the front wing included a modification to the chord of the last flap to reduce drag on a semi-fast track like that of Red Bull.
It is less specific to the circuit layout but more of a real aerodynamic update concerning the external part of the flaps, which converge towards the terminal bulkhead. This is where Woking aerodynamicists have modified the shape of the connection of the elements to seek a greater outward effect.
Stella admitted that teams always have to compromise between slow and high-speed performance. “Especially with this generation of car and this generation of front wing regulations, the geometries are very limited,” she said.
“And so it’s difficult to get what you want at low speed, or at high steering angles, for example, and what you want in a straight line, or what you want in fast corners. It’s a challenge that I’m sure all teams are facing, and that’s also why it’s quite difficult to bring development to a front wing.
“We hope that the compromise we are working on will be able to offer some benefit at low speed, but without affecting high speed or straight line too negatively.” McLaren’s Italian engineer confirmed that there is no change to the current suspension geometry.
“The suspension is modified only in the fairing,” Stella said.
“Because when you change the front wing, the flow that goes to the rear of the car changes slightly. Then, you need to optimize the downstream components for a slight variation in the flow topology.
“Let’s say it’s very normal. I think I’m seeing more and more that when teams make upgrades on the front wing, they always upgrade the brake ducts and suspension guards. This is purely aerodynamic.”
Elaborating on the theme, the McLaren Team Principal said:
“When upgrading the front wing, you always need to look at the components that work in conjunction with the front wing. In this sense, we prefer to talk about a front system, which includes the brake ducts and suspension.
“So, of course, you have to fine-tune some of these components to optimize not only the work on the floor but also use the flow that goes to the rear of the car ”.
Stella said updating the floor to work with a new front wing is not always necessary.
“We say the floor and the fences respond to the incoming flow, but they also have their justification for big changes,” said the McLaren team principal.
“While the suspension is more of a passive component that responds primarily to the front wing, whereas if you develop a component like the floor, there is a lot more that goes on under the floor, which takes its own development direction.”
Regarding the future upgrade plan at McLaren, he said:
“You will see us bring more occasional updates, like the front wing and suspension, and not huge packages.
“There will be further developments in the next few races, but they will be more isolated components rather than one big update like we have had the last four times .”
The Italian engineer also highlighted that McLaren should have enough spares of the new parts to service both drivers.
“Obviously, we need to make sure the wing wear is not too high. We know that Austria can be a high-risk circuit for carbon parts like the front wing. Normally, in the past, there was more wear on the front wing.
“With the previous generation of cars, the front wing was very low, and at the same time, there were some difficult kerbs.
“Now it seems like the track has become harder on the floor. Like Barcelona, it was definitely very demanding on the floor structure, and we had to rotate more floors during the weekend.”
