The secret behind the new McLaren's front-wing design

McLaren’s new front wing at Interlagos moved the nose attachment up to the middle of the wing’s three elements. The change gave the team room to redistribute the load across the wing as it sought a more predictable balance into slow and medium-speed corners. Mercedes had moved its attachment down to the lowest element for the W17’s race debut with the revised wing in Austin, where it was looking for a sharper front-end response.

How McLaren changed the wing’s balance

The attachment point helps determine how much of the wing’s work each element does. As Mark Hughes and Giorgio Piola reported for Formula 1, McLaren made the lower element shallower from front to back and gave the middle one more depth. It also deepened the top flap slightly and revised the endplates. The top flap is the only element that flattens in Straight Mode on the new wing.

McLaren told the FIA that the redesign was intended to improve the airflow reaching the floor and bodywork. The change could also affect how the car feels on corner entry. As the car pitches forward under braking, the aerodynamic balance can move towards the front, then move rearwards again as the driver releases the pedal. With more of the front-wing load carried by the middle element, Hughes and Piola’s analysis suggests that transition could be more gradual. A possible trade-off is lower peak front-wing downforce.![Image]

Why Mercedes wanted a sharper front end

Mercedes trialled its revised wing in Singapore practice and raced it for the first time in Austin. The W17 had previously used the middle element as its attachment point. Moving the join to the lowest element went hand in hand with a different distribution of load across the wing, aimed at improving front-end response. Kimi Antonelli ran the revised design on his way to victory at the United States Grand Prix.

For McLaren, the priority was how progressively the car responded as the driver came off the brakes and turned in. A sharper response and a smoother shift in balance address different handling problems. The floor, bodywork and the rest of the front wing all influence how either design behaves on its car.

What McLaren learned at Interlagos

Lando Norris and reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli started Friday practice with aerodynamic rakes fitted to measure airflow. Both compared the old and new front wings at different flap settings. McLaren also brought a revised rear wing, beam wing and smaller floor changes, so the wing was one part of a broader upgrade.

After winning from pole in São Paulo, Norris said the package had performed as expected. He still put McLaren a tenth or two off the outright pace in practice. The team’s account supports a gain from the package as a whole. The front wing’s individual lap-time contribution remains unquantified.