McLaren is making improvements to its race car, taking inspiration from Red Bull
Aware of its weaknesses in terms of top speed this season, McLaren has decided to take inspiration from Red Bull's rear wing, which has been highly successful this year. The British team was able to put its single-post wing to the test to address this weakness on a circuit where straight lines dominate.
The time is for improvement for McLaren. After a first night of testing, not without issues, where the British cars are ranked 11th and 14th in the best times. The trend could possibly improve as of tomorrow with the modifications made by the mechanics to the vehicles’ wings.
The team openly acknowledged that aerodynamic efficiency was one of its main weaknesses this year, and this often translated into a lack of top speed. However, given that the Las Vegas circuit is predominantly made up of long straight lines, McLaren must improve in this area if they want to compete at the top of the rankings. The team is also aware that this is an area in which Red Bull has been particularly strong, especially when their DRS is used.
“They seem to have pursued this concept for some time,” explained Andrea Stella, when asked if the beam wings approach was the key to Red Bull’s DRS advantage.
For the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren took the plunge by adopting one of the key aspects that gives Red Bull an advantage: having a single beam wing. « I believe they could benefit from their extensive experience in developing this type of configuration. I think this has become evident over time ».
The team principal of McLaren, who had spoken about this at the beginning of the year, acknowledged that the change in relationship between the front wing and the rear wing was something that Red Bull had brilliantly used for a while. « We are trying, I think all the teams now, to see what can be exploited by developing this kind of approach ».
