At the beginning of the season, McLaren faced challenges with their car’s performance. It had insufficient overall downforce and lacked aerodynamic efficiency, resulting in excessive drag relative to its downforce.
Andrea Stella, the newly appointed team principal, implemented a plan to revive the team’s MCL60. This plan involved a shift in philosophy and a thorough upgrade package supervised by a restructured technical team at Woking.
McLaren experienced significant progress during the month of July, achieving notable successes such as securing two podium finishes with Lando Norris in Silverstone and Budapest. Additionally, rookie Oscar Piastri achieved a second-place finish in the wet Saturday sprint of the Belgian Grand Prix.
However, the dry grand prix at Spa revealed further proof that despite making advancements, McLaren’s deficiency in straight-line speed remains glaringly obvious. Their cars are trailing behind by as much as 15 km/h on the straight sections, and Norris even found himself being overtaken before reaching the DRS zone.
Following the race, team manager Stella expressed that McLaren would actively pursue a “pressing” resolution before the Italian Grand Prix in September at Monza. It was emphasized that their current specifications would face even greater consequences at that event.
Stella explained that McLaren’s Spa straight-line deficit was due to the extensive car modifications required for its B-spec. This meant that they had not yet been able to allocate resources to tackle the drag problem specifically for circuits like Spa.
It therefore decided to go for a higher wing level than was optimal for the high-speed circuit because at lower wing levels the car’s excessive drag penalty would cost it more overall laptime in the corners than it was worth on the straights.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, leads George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Stella explained that a significant amount of effort has been put into redesigning the car since the beginning of the season. However, they have not yet focused on optimizing the car for low drag. As a result, there was not much to gain by using a smaller rear wing. Therefore, they made the decision to maintain the current level of efficiency for the time being.
“There’s not only a tactical choice based on wanting to be quick in the corners or accepting to be slow on the straights. It’s more like what the car actually has to offer as a function of the rear wing level. And at the moment, this is where the car performs the best.
We definitely intend to tackle this issue in the future as it poses a challenge when racing the car, particularly in dry conditions and when Eau Rouge is flat. It becomes difficult to navigate when other cars pass by.
Stella suggested that McLaren’s primary solution to tackle its weakness during the summer shutdown is to introduce a new rear wing design that minimizes drag. This modification will not only benefit them at Monza but could also prove advantageous at Las Vegas, a street circuit that doesn’t demand high levels of downforce.
“I cannot reword”
“We are currently implementing certain measures for Monza that were not ready for this event, thus anticipating improved performance for Monza. Additionally, if any additional adjustments are required for Vegas, we have a slightly extended timeframe available.”
This is an item that we had planned to do, but we have not reached that point yet.
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