2025 McLaren F1 Team

[bauc]

And it's important to note that the car is improved in all cornering speeds, so this isn't just downforce. The car is better all over, although they do seemed to have maintained the slight top speed difference although the disadvantage is overplayed. They've built a very RB car that is brilliant into, through the corners, and the exits.

I am inclined to think that McLaren have found a clever 'additional component/geometry' (the silver bullet) across their load bearing wishbones, roll bar and the front track rod ; in such a way, that the difference in camber across the front wheels ( that will depend on : lateral load (speed carried), longitudinal load (braking/acceleration) & curvature (slip angle) of a corner ) is "optimized" to ensure the best possible contact patch, for all possible camber and air pressure settings that are track specific. The innovation is not aero or front wings, but purely mechanical. Perhaps the 'weird' front suspension geometry with it's peculiar track rod positioning, is ostensibly for aero-wash benefits, but actually for something clever like this, and the aero-benefit is a corollary.

Of course, this is blind conjecture and I am not formally trained as a mechanical engineer.

You might be onto something, as Stella said in one of his pre-season interviews that what they have found is mostly under the skin, and more importantly it is transferable to next years car as well and due to that they decided to invest heavily on it.

[mwillems]

And it's important to note that the car is improved in all cornering speeds, so this isn't just downforce. The car is better all over, although they do seemed to have maintained the slight top speed difference although the disadvantage is overplayed. They've built a very RB car that is brilliant into, through the corners, and the exits.

I am inclined to think that McLaren have found a clever 'additional component/geometry' (the silver bullet) across their load bearing wishbones, roll bar and the front track rod ; in such a way, that the difference in camber across the front wheels ( that will depend on : lateral load (speed carried), longitudinal load (braking/acceleration) & curvature (slip angle) of a corner ) is "optimized" to ensure the best possible contact patch, for all possible camber and air pressure settings that are track specific. The innovation is not aero or front wings, but purely mechanical. Perhaps the 'weird' front suspension geometry with it's peculiar track rod positioning, is ostensibly for aero-wash benefits, but actually for something clever like this, and the aero-benefit is a corollary.

Of course, this is blind conjecture and I am not formally trained as a mechanical engineer.

Yeah that's what I was suggesting earlier with the contact sweet spot. I'm also not hugely technical, but common sense tells you there is a strong chance that there is more to this than tyre temps.

I am deeply sceptical that in the wet a tyre can get up to temp that quickly from a new brake duct design, or that the brake duct design would be so capable keeping the tyres in the right window, not overheating etc

[Emag]

Andrea Stella and the entire team actually has been really adamant about various innovations in this car. From the outside, you can't really tell much and they have no reason to oversell this as a conjecture, so I am inclined to believe him and there really must be a lot of clever things on the MCL39.

The wheel hub thing that has been shared everywhere seems too "bland" of an idea in my opinion. We have had teams messing around with the air intended for cooling the brakes for many years now. It's not like the rest of the grid is clueless to its exploit potential.

I doubt the "silver bullet" about the tires is in there. There has to be another mechanical reason for it.

[CjC]

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/formula- ... nnovation/


Interesting article.

Great article, thanks for sharing.

This is a must read for any Mclaren fan.
Some fascinating takeaways:

On the current rule cycle:
‘One of F1’s common misconceptions is that at the end of a regulations cycle, the gains to be made are few and far between, but this is rarely, if ever, the case – especially with the current ground-effect cars.’

Biggest innovation on the MCL39:
‘The most interesting bit is buried away, so no one will ever see it,” Rob says with a smile. Though tongue in cheek, his response is far from unusual in F1. Not every invention is as visible as 2010’s F-Duct or 1997’s brake steer, many are hidden well beneath the bodywork.’

The 2026 rule cycle:
‘Given the extent to which the 2026 regulations will change, there isn’t much to be carried over, but it would be impractical not to investigate the possibilities that do exist’

[f1rules]

I agree it must be more then one factor, but its still obvious mclaren invested heavily in their brake heat design, can be they found something. But yeah i think its suspension related also, and imagine, if the great theory mentioned in here, that actually the change was all made for mechanical reason, and the better aero is just the bi product. That would be insane in light of waches comments. But its obvious the other teams are as clueless as us when you hear their comments, which is great Its been some time since our team excelled and innovated like this

Andrea Stella and the entire team actually has been really adamant about various innovations in this car. From the outside, you can't really tell much and they have no reason to oversell this as a conjecture, so I am inclined to believe him and there really must be a lot of clever things on the MCL39.

The wheel hub thing that has been shared everywhere seems too "bland" of an idea in my opinion. We have had teams messing around with the air intended for cooling the brakes for many years now. It's not like the rest of the grid is clueless to its exploit potential.

I doubt the "silver bullet" about the tires is in there. There has to be another mechanical reason for it.

[f1rules]

indeed it will, cant wait. Also because it was a corner that really provided mclaren with trouble in the past, because the car hated long corners. If i remember correctly, heavily influenced by the fact that the old toyota windtunnel was horible at simulating cars in yaw.

Lets see if the other teams are not, even more vocal about this, keeping the tires alive, after the next race. Cause next up is the neverending first corner that put huge stress on the tires, and with mclarens strong frontend, i cant wait to see what the car can do

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKzhLkPWcAACJhX.jpg

The Shanghai International Circuit is known for its elongated, long-radius medium speed corners that usually put high energy through the tyres. These characteristics often lead to high degradation on the front tyres, and it is not rare that drivers have to manage graining on the fronts. The front-limited nature of the track means that a car that can look after the front tyre can gain a significant advantage.

This will be fascinating because the first long corner is trail braking for most of the time you are in there and the second very long corner is controller acceleration for the first half before flooring it shortly after you reach the outer kerb and start to point towards the exit line.

Both have very specific technical requirements, it'll be interesting to see where the strengths are in these types of corner.

[mwillems]

indeed it will, cant wait. Also because it was a corner that really provided mclaren with trouble in the past, because the car hated long corners. If i remember correctly, heavily influenced by the fact that the old toyota windtunnel was horible at simulating cars in yaw.

Lets see if the other teams are not, even more vocal about this, keeping the tires alive, after the next race. Cause next up is the neverending first corner that put huge stress on the tires, and with mclarens strong frontend, i cant wait to see what the car can do

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKzhLkPWcAACJhX.jpg

This will be fascinating because the first long corner is trail braking for most of the time you are in there and the second very long corner is controller acceleration for the first half before flooring it shortly after you reach the outer kerb and start to point towards the exit line.

Both have very specific technical requirements, it'll be interesting to see where the strengths are in these types of corner.

Yeah, I think the long corners aspect was partially fixed last year but we still had issues with graining on the fronts in various conditions, which caused a negative impact to the tyre deltas. I think this would still extend to long corners so I'd agree that you are spot on about that corner. I think that the way the car behaves in both corners will give some good context as to what are the strengths and weaknesses. Though I have a feeling the car will be magnificent in both.

A particular problem issue last year was around multiple steering inputs, which was by and large, chicanes, so from 1 and 2 and then into 3 will be worth noting too as it shares some of the same properties from 2 to 3 as a chicane.

[De Wet]

Planet F1:



And

[mwillems]

I feel for Oscar, his pace was fantatstic and Lando himself said he was pushing all the way at that time, so those laptimes in dirty air are worth a shout. But it's part of the journey, he will probably handle the situation better next time.

[Macklaren]

That would be insane in light of waches comments. But its obvious the other teams are as clueless as us when you hear their comments, which is great Its been some time since our team excelled and innovated like this

I agree and am just as excited for the new rules BUT if anyone can figure this out, its Newey, so let's see what the AMR looks like next year (and hope the Honda engine is an anchor)

[CrazyCarperF1]

I was thinking a few years ago whether the regs allow you to open and close the cooling through the brake ducts, to allow for quicker tyre heat up, perhaps something like this is happening.

[_cerber1]

The DRS zone and relatively new tyres allowed Verstappen to keep up with Lando's pace.

[CjC]

https://d3cm515ijfiu6w.cloudfront.net/w ... age1-1.jpg

The DRS zone and relatively new tyres allowed Verstappen to keep up with Lando's pace.

Lando had a damaged floor too

[Macklaren]

https://d3cm515ijfiu6w.cloudfront.net/w ... age1-1.jpg

The DRS zone and relatively new tyres allowed Verstappen to keep up with Lando's pace.

Lando had a damaged floor too

And almost had an off T6 (perhaps because of the damaged floor?)

[Mostlyeels]

> Wache saying McL's front suspension had some risks, regarding the mech aspect. Yet the McL newer seemed to have better frontend and slow speed corner handling then now, and almost perfect at keeping the tires in optimum working range.

Yeah, that was a nice bit of shade and FUD from Wache about the durability of the front suspension. I'd say they considered it for themselves, but their stress analysis said it wasn't worth the tradeoff, but the doubt works both ways: they may be wondering if McLaren have found some way to make it durable.

Nice article someone posted earlier about Rob Marshall's arrival at McLaren. Seems he was really worth the wait, and impressed Andrea (something that doesn't seem to happen too often). Having someone successful coming from a successful team in that position has really lifted their mindset another notch. He's also been a part of managing the division of labour between keeping a current WDC car winning, and offset against next year's car, which is invaluable.

Great to see him up on the podium too. What a welcome for his first race!