McLaren experiments with rear wings, Sauber improves with aero updates

As expected, very few genuinely new parts arrived at the Australian Grand Prix as the 10 Formula 1 teams sought to put more mileage on the packages they ran with in Bahrain testing.

That’s not to say anyone didn’t dabble in a bit of early update fun; Sauber introduced a new set of wings for the opening race, McLaren had a circuit-specific set of rear wings to test, and Red Bull spent the weekend with differing nose concepts – as it had on the final day in the Bahrain prelude.

It’s common practice for teams to implement a design ‘freeze’ where they take a snapshot of the car to carry into the build phase, and any subsequent developments trickling through the pipeline are usually packaged up and brought to a race further down the road.

Updates only tend to be seen in the early rounds if a team has chosen to fast-track something, albeit usually if something has gone wrong on the original launch-spec machinery, or if there’s a circuit-specific addition that might yield gains. The latter case is more likely if, like in 2025, the pre-season test venue differs to the location of the opening round.

McLaren’s beam wing experiments

Although its MCL39 has produced envious glances from rival teams, McLaren has not taken anything for granted. Last year, the team shuffled through numerous rear wing geometries in order to balance the car for a range of venues, and it has continued on that trajectory; it had both a high-load single and double beam wing to compare and contrast.

The single-beam wing formed part of a higher-downforce wing that the squad had used throughout the Bahrain test, while the double-beam set-up formed part of the lower-range downforce wing that the team also trialled in FP1.

The former wing was used throughout the duration of the weekend, although it is unlikely that the lower-downforce variant was ever in consideration for Melbourne; it’s possible that this might be explored further in China to see if the car can benefit from the greater straight-line efficiency along Shanghai’s 1.2km back straight.

Running a double-beam wing with the lower-downforce wing geometry effectively redistributes some of the load generation further down, linking up with the diffuser. Naturally, this also produces less drag overall.

Red Bull’s differing specs

The Red Bull drivers ran different nose configurations during Australian practice

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson ran to slightly different specifications over the Australia weekend, with Verstappen running the shorter, wider nose that the team trialled on its RB21 on the final day of Bahrain testing and a different floor. Lawson, in contrast, appeared to use the specification that the team began the test with, retaining the longer nose.

This was part of Red Bull’s continued exploration of how to get the most out of its package, as it missed out on implementing a race-style run in testing due to a series of teething problems in Bahrain.

PLUS: Analysing Red Bull’s new nose job in Bahrain testing

“We did some big set-up changes in Bahrain,” Christian Horner reflected. “We wanted to go to extremes to understand set-up parameters so that you’ve got your toolbox and knowledge when you go racing. I think the characteristics that this car has is much calmer than the RB20, so I think it’s a platform to develop through the season.

“There’s not the nasty snaps that there was on the RB20 so that gives us a good dynamic platform for us to develop the car through the season through all the different races that we’re going to head to.”

Sauber opts for new wings in Australia

Upgraded wings seemed to help Sauber to take a step forward in Melbourne

A new front and rear wing helped Sauber find some progression from testing, which allowed it to break into Q2 courtesy of Gabriel Bortoleto’s last-ditch effort to bump Andrea Kimi Antonelli from the top 15.

The team had briefly trialled the new front wing in testing in Bahrain, but it was given a proper run in Australia as the team switched to a more conventional inboard-loaded wing; here, the part of the wing closest to the junction to the nose is responsible for generating most of the downforce.

This contrasts to the outboard-loaded wing, where the centre-to-outside span of each side generates the bulk of the front-end load. The team also had a higher-downforce rear wing in Melbourne, complete with a straight trailing edge and more camber in the mainplane.

Technical director James Key explained that, although the wings had done their job, the team still needed to explore their full potential.

“I think they did work, which is great,” said Key. “The front wing particularly was clearly working pretty well.

“Whether we had set the car up well enough around these new parts, that’s what we’ve all been questioning because I think we could definitely have done with a bit more front end, both in quali and the race.”