What’s behind McLaren’s ‘more risky’ latest F1 upgrade

McLaren has been Red Bull’s main challenger in Formula 1 over recent months, despite it electing not to bring any major developments to its car since its Miami upgrade.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, however, it unleashed a pretty big development step aimed at improving aerodynamic efficiency of the MCL38 – an area where its main title rival is so strong.

But despite its impressive form up until now in getting the most of its 2024 challenger, the problems that a number of other teams have faced recently in getting upgrades to deliver what was hoped for on track has left the team slightly cautious about getting too carried away with what to expect.

Chief designer Rob Marshall said that it was far too early to judge how big a leap in pace the changes would produce – as he acknowledged that the Miami tweaks had perhaps added more speed to the car than even the team had anticipated.

“It over-delivered the Miami one, so it was a bit of a surprise to us how successful it was,” he said.

“Hopefully, it's a decent chunk again, but it's less clear.

“There's some things we're not so certain about, some things are slightly more risky than others. But unfortunately, with the weather as it is, it's going to be difficult to assess this weekend as well, I suspect…”

So, what has McLaren changed?

At the front of the car, the team has introduced a revised brake duct scoop, in order to find the right balance between the cooling performance that’s required and the influence it has over the aerodynamic flow field.

It’s clear to see how the scoop has been altered in shape, with more bulk moved to the upper corner, which has allowed for a shorter, squarer lower section.

The front suspension fairings have also been fettled to accommodate the aforementioned alterations to the brake duct scoop, with their aerodynamic performance affected in tandem both locally and downstream.

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The MCL38’s floor and edge wing have also been modified, with some subtle but meaningful changes made to the geometry and contours on the edge wing.

Furthermore, the large, robust metal support brackets have also been repositioned, reoriented and their high-arched appearance shrunken down to better suit the new surfaces.

This may allow the brackets to influence the airflow in a slightly different manner than before, without overtly impacting the edge wing’s propensity to flex.

One aspect we are unable to assess, without being able to see beneath the car, is whether any further modifications have been made to the underfloor or underside of the edge wing.

Other teams having made some alterations here in the past, and McLaren may have adopted or adjusted its solution too.

McLaren MCL38 technical detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

As is the case at the front of the car, McLaren has also made adjustments to the rear suspension fairings at the Dutch Grand Prix.

These modifications will be influenced by changes to the flow field upstream and have an impact on the surfaces downstream too.

In this respect, the team has a new bi-plane style beam wing arrangement in Zandvoort, which is paired with a new, higher downforce rear wing solution that the team expect to become its de facto choice within the family of wings at its disposal when visiting venues at that end of the spectrum.

Marshall added: “If it delivers what we think, it will just become our new high downforce rear wing, and it will obsolete the old one. It's a bit of a DRS improvement and just a general efficiency improvement.”

Tricky conditions during first running on Friday might not have given McLaren all the answers it required to understand the gains, with the team opting to use the old and new specification rear wing options on Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ cars respectively. Both are expected to use the same configuration once Saturday action begins.

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It is clear to see that the two wings are very different in specification too. There is not only a more gentle tapering to the leading edge and geometry of the mainplane’s surface, but it is carried across to the upper flap to enable that change in DRS performance that Marshall referred to.

The tip section is also different, albeit not an entirely new design style for McLaren. The team has a smorgasbord of options at its disposal here, all of which tie-in with the family of solutions it has created for various downforce levels.

Meanwhile, in the centre of the upper flap, there’s no notch present. This is something that has become somewhat of a calling card in the team’s design language this season, with varying shapes and sizes used up until this point.