(Motorsports news) The advantage of the MCL-60 through some of Silverstone’s most instantaneous turns last weekend was that Lewis Hamilton labelled it a rocketship as he was left vulnerable to go ahead of the McLaren’s car.
While some competitors have recommended that the McLaren tweaks are just a Red Bull copy, such a simplification of the work put in is unfair as a deep dive into the changes makes it clear just how much of its own effort has been put into finding advancements.
The first package of updates of changes regarding the McLaren’s car appeared at the Austrian Grand Prix followed by a second step in Britain, which included a new front wing. These combined to help Lando Norris secure a front-row grid slot and take second in the race.
1. McLaren had already toyed with a sidepod inlet composition identical to that used by Red Bull since last season. The upper foremost 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
2. Changes have been made to the shape and position of the floor borders in order to tailor them to the alterations that have been made downstream.
3. The upper surface of the floor already had a heavily contoured blister to acclimate the lower SIS, whilst also creating the essential pocket of space for the underfloor too. The blister has been re-profiled as part of the update and accompanied by a smaller blister inboard of it too.
4. The changes made to the forward part of the McLaren’s sidepod and the inlet have necessitated that the mirror housing and their associated paraphernalia be redesigned, with the upper slat retired and a revised outer stay employed to better suit the aerodynamic profile required downstream.
5. The across-the-board change in the shape of the sidepods has resulted in the omission of the swage line down the side of the bodywork.
6. The aerodynamic fairing that encircles 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 design too.
7. McLaren is the latest team to embrace a more in-depth water slide-style gulley on the sidepod’s upper surface, following in the footsteps of Aston Martin which took a more aggressive approach to the design architecture first wielded by Alpine. The height of the sidepod’s flank has also been increased in order to maximise the interior gulley layout.
8. 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.
9. The shape of the engine cover ‘shelf’ has been optimised to take into a narrative the relocation of the cooling panel, whilst also being cognizant of the changes made downstream.
10. One of the big observable 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.
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