McLaren's BIG upgrades could now lead Red Bull challenge F1 aero expert reveals

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McLaren's BIG upgrades could now lead Red Bull challenge F1 aero expert reveals

An array of changes may help Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri push their rivals

Shubham Sangodkar

Friday 21 July 2023 16:31 Updated: 17:30

McLaren’s Triple Aero upgrade over Austria, Silverstone and Hungary has almost changed every aerodynamic part of the car, front to rear.

These upgrades have already reflected themselves with a visible performance from the car, with Lando Norris finishing P4 in Austria and McLaren securing a P2 and a P4 in Silverstone.

Here, we shall cover all the aero upgrades with comparison pictures to understand what they might be targeted towards and speculate if McLaren can keep up their form around the Hungaroring.

Front wing

The McLaren now features an inboard-loaded wing which primarily focuses on delivering a clean flow field to the rear of the car. This is a trend that we are seeing across the grid.

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McLaren have also introduced a Mercedes-inspired wingtip with open shedding edges which are used to generate strong wingtip vortices for front tyre squish management in yaw.

It’s also clear that the tips are turned outward, as the aerodynamicists look to use the surfaces to control the outwash generated by the wing. This works with the other control surfaces, such as the now modified endplate, the dive plane and the slot gap separator brackets.

McLaren have worked on their front wing to good effect

An upgrade to the wingtip was inspired by Mercedes

Sidepods, waterslides and engine cover

McLaren are now following the wide sidepod with the waterslide philosophy that Aston Martin started with at the beginning of the year. The waterslide directs air over and in between the diffuser and the rear tyre contact patch, resulting in improved rear downforce.

While the waterslides look similar to Aston Martin, the undercut is not as prominent as both Aston Martin and Red Bull, as shown in the picture below. The undercut area helps in front-wheel wake management via its pressurization but obviously, this pressurization comes with a drag penalty. Maybe the MCL 60 has found its own optimum for this type of configuration

McLaren had already flirted with a sidepod inlet design similar to that used by Red Bull since last season, but its latest update has resulted in a design that’s even more like its rival. The upper leading edge of the inlet has been set further back, whilst the lower lip is now positioned higher on the chassis, increasing the size of the undercut beneath.

McLaren also has a new engine cover. This area is very important as it governs the flow delivery to the rear end of the car. The engine cover and cooling vent positions determine the flow quality to the rear wing which in turn controls drag, while the waterslides govern the flow delivered over the diffuser and the rear tyre contact patch.

The upper cooling gill panel has been moved from the traversal position to one more commonly utilised by its rivals, as it wraps around the shoulder of the outstretched engine cover. Different cooling panel configurations will be used by the team depending on the requirements of the given circuit.

The McLaren waterslides look similar to Aston Martin's

The waterslide feature is now commonplace among many cars on the grid

Floor

The McLaren floor has also been completely revised. The front floor has a unique V-style cutout not seen on the grid yet. Also, changes have been made to the shape and position of the floor fences in order to tailor them to the alterations that have been made upstream, i.e. the flow coming from the front wing and the front suspensions.

We can see some bulges from the top of the floor suggesting that there is some vertical expansion happening inside the floor itself, similar to what the Red Bull underfloor is currently doing.

One of the big visual changes to the MCL60’s floor is on the floor edge, where the cutout and flap configuration previously employed by the team has been removed. The rear floor edge looks simplified, but we think McLaren are maximizing the floor area here. The floor edge also curls upwards which should help to reduce the stagnation pressure on the tyres and thus the drag of the rear wheel.

The aerodynamic fairing that surrounds the halo now features a vertical blade as the rear leg transitions into the rear bodywork, whilst a winglet is now mounted on the side of the structure too.

The floor of the McLaren has been completely revised

Diffuser and cooling exits

The cooling exits are now down-washing and optimise the flow delivery to the rear wing and the beam wing. The footprint of the engine cover and rear cooling outlet has been reduced, which also allows the size of the shark fin to be increased, as the bodywork around it tapers down quickly to the rear.

The diffuser features a more rounded outer edge which should help to reduce losses originating from this area. This comes at the compromise of some loss of diffuser area, but McLaren has clearly found its optimum with this design.

The diffuser now features a more rounded outer edge

What can McLaren expect in Hungary?

McLaren has clearly demonstrated its strength in the high-speed sections at the Austrian and British GP. However, trackside data indicated that they don’t have the fastest car around the slow-speed and medium-speed sections.

The 2nd best in those sections seems to be Mercedes.

However, with a new rear wing and beam wing at the Hungary GP, can McLaren provide that additional downforce required for both the McLaren drivers to continue their challenge at the front?

Shubham Sangodkar is a former F1 Aerodynamicist with a Master's in Racing Car Design specialising in F1 Aerodynamics and F1 Data Analysis. He also posts aerodynamics content on his YouTube channel, which can be found here.