McLaren has a great merit: designing, developing, and introducing effective upgrades that work straight out of the box. This is pretty much the story we have seen over the last two and a half years, during which the technical department led by Rob Marshall has rarely missed the mark. The first upgrade package arrives in Miami, and from being the third force, the MCL40 is now challenging Mercedes for the lead
The first upgrade concerns the floor inlet. The vertical fences permitted by the regulations change shape, adopting a solution clearly inspired by Ferrari: the base of these appendages is now flat and split horizontally in half, creating proper channels designed to accelerate the airflow towards the underfloor.
We are looking at a radical change in philosophy, which involves a complete reprofiling. These floor elements play a crucial role, as they generate the vortical structures required to increase the aerodynamic suction under the car
Let’s take a look at the bargeboards, an area of the car that sees very different interpretations among the various teams. In the new specification, the second vertical element ditches its triangular shape for a more curved one, with the addition of a small flap at its tip.
The first element of the cascade also features a change in the terminal area, sporting a sharper tip. These modifications are designed to manage the airflow towards the car body. The narrower chord elements increase lateral extraction from the floor and take on the task of expanding the flow laterally.
On the base version of the MCL40, the so-called mouse-hole was missing. This is the opening located at the base of the diffuser ramp: a small slot that allows a certain amount of clean air to enter the diffuser and energizes the airflow travelling through the extractor, delaying flow separation.
Furthermore, in the image, we can observe the work done in the area ahead of the rear tyre: only minor tweaks were introduced to integrate the new mouse-hole. The various slots allow the connection between the upper and lower surfaces of the floor, aiming to reduce the effect of the turbulence generated by tyre squirt.
McLaren engineers have revised the rear wing endplate, introducing small creases. This is an evolution of the element, considering that a similar solution was already present in the lower section of the previous version.
Although it might seem like a minor modification, the intended effect concerns the interaction between the tyre and the diffuser, with the goal of maximizing downforce. The latter depends directly on the extraction capacity that can be generated.
Like many other teams, McLaren also takes inspiration from the SF-26. As we can see in the image, which also compares the Red Bull and Ferrari solutions, it is clear that the MCL40 features the winglet with the smallest surface area among the three cars. Just like on the RB22, the flap is placed directly at the exhaust exit.
This solution naturally generates a lower level of downforce compared to the one adopted by Ferrari. But at Woking, they went a step further, creating a second small winglet right beneath the tailpipe to increase the upwash of the exhaust gases. Finally, small aerodynamic profiles appear on the sides of the rear impact structure, which help generate downforce and actively support the diffuser’s expansion process.
In addition, Andrea Stella has confirmed that a further upgrade package will be introduced on the McLaren MCL40 ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
