Formula One car development blog

Already used in Belgium, McLaren have continued the use of their new extended sidepod panel at Monza. Before the event at Spa-Francorchamps, McLaren were basically the only team who did have a sidepod panel that was not attached to the car's floor.

Brawn also recently switched to this design type as it offers better rear end stability of the car. Since they have used it also at higher downforce circuits, it is expected that McLaren's design is not only for low downforce configuratio... Read more

Ever since McLaren have introduced their new diffuser, the car can again match itself with the best of the field, allowing Hamilton to take 18 points in the latest two races.

Their completely new design built upon the foundations of the double deck diffuser idea. At the same time, the team abandoned its cutout floor after it found out that its effect was far from what was expected after wind tunnel simulations.

At Valencia, the car had additional updates in this area. Notably the ex... Read more

In a vigorous attempt to get the team back to the front of the field, McLaren is again introducing some updates on its car. First of all there is a shorter wheelbase version of the chassis - only at the disposal of Lewis Hamilton - which should help handling in the corners and enable a better weight distribution.

Additionally, the front wing endplates were again revised. The previous version, used since the German GP already looks too simple again, with the new item featuring a comp... Read more

McLaren is pushing ahead with its car development, and this time has come up with a revised aerodynamics package around the exhausts. The change resembles much that of Renault or Ferrari early on in the season as they decided that it is better to let hot air out of the sidepod sooner rather than later. Hence McLaren did the same, as the exhausts are now part of a large air outlet opening, following which the car's shell is much more tight. Still, the system is assymetrical with the ... Read more

McLaren have decided to continue to develop its MP4-24 in a little more conservative way as previous highly anticipated updates did not pay off. At the Nürburgring one of the new aerodynamic things was a revised front wing endplate which now includes small vents that catch air flowing along the outside of the wing towards the inside. The idea was pioneered by Toyota but has since March found many more followers.

Additionally, the team also reverted to its more traditional front whee... Read more

For the high downforce requirements of the circuit in Monte Carlo, McLaren have designed a new rear wing. The new item now features a completely horizontal leading edge, ditching the curvature in the middle. The resulting lower leading edge will allow the wing to catch a little more air and hence create a stronger downward force.

Additionally, the team also looked at Toyota's central third element, only allowed in the middle section of the wing. While not applicable for the complete... Read more

In an attempt to crawl back up the grid, McLaren are doing everything in their power to find extra downforce. One of these measures is an additional deck on the front wing (upper part of image), similar to Red Bull's, and to a lesser extent Toyota's front wing. The element is proven design since Renault introduced it in 2005 on its championship winning Renault R25 and has found wide adoption this year after the more efficient bridge wing solutions were banned for 2009.

McLaren have taken a fairly predictable approach as far as the front of the sidepod goes. During the course of 2008, the team often partially closed the radiator air inlet of the sidepod as reduce the car's overall drag on circuits that require less cooling. Since the new engines will require even less cool air than last year due to the drop in maximum rpm, the smaller inlet could be made a standard feature of the new car. As a result, the undercut could be smoothed to improve its i... Read more

McLaren have introduced its new MP4-24, and it features the most advanced front wing of any of the 2009 cars that have already been launched. While Ferrari attempted a modest double decker wing and Toyota displayed a basic version, the new McLaren wing looks ready to be raced. The main panel features sweeping curves starting from a minimum-height horizontal leading edge. The red coloured moveable flaps are similarly curved in an attempt to improve the airflow in the inside of the fr... Read more