McLaren has changed almost everything – is Ferrari in danger?

#McLaren #changed #Ferrari #danger

Formula+

Saturday, May 4, 2024, 2:15 p.m

From the front wing and chassis to the floor plate and engine cover to the rear belt wing, everything has been modified for Miami at the Woking company – but do the innovations actually work?

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella already indicated in China that this year’s first serious development package will arrive at the Miami Grand Prix, in which he stated that although it will be significant, it will be nowhere near as much as the sum of the Spielberg-Silverstone innovations that turned the course of their season last year.

By comparison in the FIA’s usual early weekend document (before every grand prix, the teams must submit a list of their improvements, this is published in a package by the International Automobile Association) they detailed what had changed on the car compared to the previous round.

A total of ten elements were highlighted, on the basis of which practically the entire aerodynamics of the MCL38 was adapted, as was the floor plate, which is considered the most important for ground-effect racing machines. One of the main goals, according to the Stellas, is to improve the car’s performance in slow corners, which have been considered their weakness so far.

Let’s start with the front of the car, where the design of the center of the front fender has become more rounded compared to the previous version, reports Motorsport.com in its analysis. In connection with this, the geometry of the front suspension was also modified: among other things, the angle of incidence of the chassis was changed.

Unsurprisingly, the floorboards, the most significant key areas in terms of the current rules system (of which, of course, a large part remains hidden from prying eyes), the side boxes and the engine cover have been redesigned.

The most visible is the change in the design of the cooling openings in accordance with the trends, and in connection with this, the undercut of the side box has also become larger. The cooling system of the McLaren also had to be reworked due to the modifications affecting the cooling openings and the cooling grilles on the engine cover.

McLaren’s developments in the FIA ​​document: virtually the entire car is circled

The rear of the MCL38 was not left untouched either: the Woking team worked on the belt wing for the rear wing – although, according to the team, the new configuration was designed specifically for Miami, as it is a track where drag must be reduced for greater efficiency.

McLaren really transformed its car from front to back for the sixth stage of the season, but only Lando Norris received the complete package at the Miami Grand Prix. According to Stella, teammate Oscar Piastri uses roughly 50 percent of the improvements, mainly the elements affecting the front wing and chassis, during the weekend.

The reason for this is emphatically not that they would not have been able to produce enough parts for two cars from the innovations, it was originally designed that way. On the one hand, because due to the sprint weekend, there is only one free practice session available to test the improvements, and on the other hand, they can partially but directly compare the new configuration with the previous configuration. In two weeks in Imola, Piastri will be able to compete with the complete new package.

This is something that is still difficult to answer based on the only free practice and the somewhat tricky sprint time trial. At the same time, there are encouraging signs: at the end of Piastri, the team took second place in Friday’s practice session without stakes, and in SQ1 and SQ2, the team even seemed to have a chance for pole thanks to Norris.

What darkens the picture is the last act of the sprint qualification, where the McLarens suddenly disappeared, and in the end they only had a sixth and a ninth starting place. However, this could have been due to several factors. On the one hand, Norris himself admitted that pushed too hard in SQ3, so ‘made silly mistakes’on the other hand, maybe the MCL38 didn’t like the soft rubber as much – as almost the entire field was made fun of by the fact that the soft compound did not result in any improvement compared to the medium tires that were mandatory in the first two stages.

In any case, according to the analysis of RacingNews365.com, the improvements can improve the dynamic behavior of the car as a whole, as well as the tire handling. We will be able to get a more thorough picture of the impact and extent of both during the sprint starting at 18:00 Hungarian time, where it will be interesting to see if Piastri and Norris can push forward, and if so, how much from the third and fifth rows – and whether they can really pose a threat overall. e to Ferrari’s status as Red Bull’s number one pursuer.

If you would like to recommend the article to your friends, you can do so using the buttons below: