McLaren MCL34

[Thunder]

Okay once again i had to move generic Laptime Talk to the Team Thread. This Thread is here to discuss the Hardware of the MCL34. Please keep it relevant to that.

Use the Team Thread or the respective Race Thread for Laptime discussions.

[roon]

[_cerber1]

https://i.imgur.com/YurxfTO.png

Interestingly, is it so conceived, or did it happen?

[NiyolHuayra]

https://i.imgur.com/YurxfTO.png

Interestingly, is it so conceived, or did it happen?

this is just melted

[lio007]

What do you think? McLaren changed their FW to a Ferrari-style concept this weekend. Given the recent comments from Binotto, that even the car concept could be wrong, is it possible McLaren were "fooled" by Ferrari's pre-season-tests and took the wrong direction?
It could well be to change a FW-concept within 3 month's (February-May)

[wesley123]

What do you think? McLaren changed their FW to a Ferrari-style concept this weekend. Given the recent comments from Binotto, that even the car concept could be wrong, is it possible McLaren were "fooled" by Ferrari's pre-season-tests and took the wrong direction?
It could well be to change a FW-concept within 3 month's (February-May)

I'm fairly certain they checked the wing in CFD and/or windtunnel and saw more than enough gains

[digitalrurouni]

What do you think? McLaren changed their FW to a Ferrari-style concept this weekend. Given the recent comments from Binotto, that even the car concept could be wrong, is it possible McLaren were "fooled" by Ferrari's pre-season-tests and took the wrong direction?
It could well be to change a FW-concept within 3 month's (February-May)

That was my question as well. Well if they have to revert I think they could just slap the old bodywork then and just go back to the drawing board. But I can't imagine they have a warm and cozy feeling seeing Ferrari's predicament. Wonder if that's why Mercedes has 2 different aero concepts during testing.

[BassVirolla]

When I saw the MCL34 in winter testing i'd never said that they were following the Merc philosophy. The McLaren had a very big and clear "window" at the outboard of the front wing, between the endplate and the flaps.

I'd rather think that they are taking a bigger step in the same direction.

[diffuser]

I don't think it's a Ferrari vs Merc/RBR philosophy. The McLaren wing dips on the outside to avoid having front tire wake issues. until they find another way to protect from that front tire wake, which both RBR and Merc have and obviously Ferrari haven't found, They'll continue to run that kind of wing. The wing, to me, is pretty much the same philosophy as the previous wing. Ok, they did raise the inside height, it's closer to the ground and have more of a swoop to the outside. It's just a higher DF version of the previous wing. Unless someone can tell me different that's what I'm believing.

[PhillipM]

Pretty much, and the curved over tops to the bargeboards further down are to bring the wake back down now that the inner portion of the FW is lofting it higher and get it outboard.

[mclaren111]

Motorsport.com:




Drawing of Old vs New...

[Bisonas]

https://streamable.com/4wbx4

James Key explaining the MCL FW, What they need to do from now on, and which team is doing it better atm.

[chrisgr]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47527705

This is a nice article explaining some of the differences between merc and ferrari design of the FW. I think its safe to say that our engineers know all that and chose to bring this update in order to quickly find front downforce.

[BrunoH]

spoke a lot, and said very little

[roon]

He brought up his reason for short outboard front wing height. Haven't heard this from any horses' mouths yet. He said it was about balancing the aero loads given to the endplate and the wing elements, as it relates to tire wake. Specifically that he didn't want to overload the endplates. Presumably this is not about structural concerns, but about how vortices are forming off of the endplate. He said RB have figured out how to run full wing height in this area, whereas McLaren and others had yet not. Horner had boasted about their front wing development, and its high cost, in the preseason.