McLaren has confirmed the imminent introduction of its new rotating rear wing, named ‘Macarena’, but a specific date for its competition implementation has not yet been ruled out. Team principal Andrea Stella explained that, contrary to the difficulties faced by Red Bull with a similar design, McLaren’s decision is framed within a cautious approach to manage the complexity that this system entails.
The new wing was initially set to be tested in Austria, but the Woking team chose not to do so and waited until the Hungarian Grand Prix to validate its functionality. At this event, driver Lando Norris was the first to bless the innovation during the first practice session.
Stella pointed out that the project has been complex from the very beginning. The team principal recalled how Ferrari made its presentation in preseason, with some incidents that showed the system required precise adjustments to be effective in competition. Despite its complexity, he assures that his technical department has developed a wing that responds reliably.
One of the added complications of this new system is the recovery of aerodynamic load during the transition between driving modes. Unlike previous systems, the new set of regulations allows for a greater margin of maneuverability, but it also involves more risks during the competition.
The rotation system of the McLaren resembles more that of Red Bull than that of Ferrari, as it uses a central actuator. This generates less aerodynamic locking compared to the mechanism integrated at the extremities. With the aim of validating the aerodynamic changes and collecting concrete data, McLaren has conducted several practice sessions with aerospace-specific measurement devices.
The team aims to accelerate the development and validation of its wing in real competition conditions to ensure that all theories about its benefits are correct and applicable in the race.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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