McLaren develops new front wing for F1 Canadian GP, plus other tech changes

McLaren has produced a new iteration of its front wing for Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix, as five teams registered changes to their technical package for Montreal.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, all 10 teams needed to run with a revised front wing package to meet the tighter regulations on flex; a maximum deviation of 10mm was permitted from the application of a 1000N load – down from 15mm.

McLaren had initially trialled its lower-flex wing at Imola, noting little performance change before its full debut at Barcelona. Following this, the team has updated its front wing further for Canada to overall improve its operating window.

In the official FIA pre-event technical notes, McLaren says that it has brought “A revised front wing geometry aiming at improved aerodynamic performance across a wide range of attitudes, through a redesign of main elements as well as introduction of ‘mermaid tails’ to the front wing endplate”.

The team has also introduced a revised medium-downforce rear wing to enable “a more efficient coverage of a larger drag range, suitable for multiple circuits”. McLaren has been a prolific tinkerer with its rear wings over the past two seasons, as it seeks to have a wider range of designs to balance the car with.

It also states that its front suspension geometry has been updated, complete with new fairings to suit the positional changes to the suspension members.

Mercedes is the only other member of “the big four” to register any technical changes for Montreal, with a larger front brake inlet and exit to satisfy the requirements of the circuit; with a series of hard stops around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the brakes tend to get something of a workout.

The team has also introduced floor revisions, with a lower-camber edge wing and reworked turning vanes, which it says “increases mass flow under forward floor and vorticity shed from the fence system, increasing floor load”.

Aston Martin has registered a front brake exit as, like Mercedes, it expects a higher level of brake duty, while Alpine has brought a shorter upper front wing flap to the circuit.

This may not be used across the weekend and will depend on how Alpine feels it needs to balance its set-up; if the drivers have enough front-end with the shorter-chord flap, it may prove useful given the plethora of longer straights at the track.

Racing Bulls has done likewise with its own front wing to give itself options over the weekend; in theory, the wings can be run with more angle to improve the front-end response at the cost of less drag, albeit with less outright downforce. It may simply come down to driver preference which wings they run with.

The Italian team has also introduced aerodynamic changes to the winglets appended to the rear wheel hub, with a new endplate that “improves the quality and consistency of the shed vortex, which in turn increases rear downforce”.