McLaren MCL39

[Emag]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl6v0NiagAA ... name=large

Pretty much the same vane arrangement in the tunnel entrance as the MCL38. It does seem like McLaren doesn't want to deviate away from their floor solution at all. I suppose they found something that works and are happy to stick with it to chase gains elsewhere.

[mwillems]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl6v0NiagAA ... name=large

Pretty much the same vane arrangement in the tunnel entrance as the MCL38. It does seem like McLaren doesn't want to deviate away from their floor solution at all. I suppose they found something that works and are happy to stick with it to chase gains elsewhere.

If I recall, some of the complexity starts shortly after those vanes, where the channels expand or contract precisely to create the right flows and pressures. How changeable is the tunnel entrance, or rather how changeable does it need to be? A fair part of the point of the tunnel entrance would be about the volume of air for each channel, I'd guess as well as starting the conditioning of the airflow.

if I recall, before the Mclaren rose from the ashes, I think it was in 22, Perez beached his car and it was revealed the complexity of those channels compared to what was a very basic setup on the Mclaren at the time.

[Vanja #66]

Pretty much the same vane arrangement in the tunnel entrance as the MCL38. It does seem like McLaren doesn't want to deviate away from their floor solution at all. I suppose they found something that works and are happy to stick with it to chase gains elsewhere.

For me, the biggest info scoop was on front suspension geometry



In order for McLaren to retract the rear bottom suspension arm and steering rod so far back, they had to switch positions between them to avoid placing the internal steering rack where there's no room for it in chassis

We also see just how high the front bottom arm is compared to rear one, which drastically REDUCES anti-dive compared to an arrangement where the front arm was placed at the same low point as the rear one. Front suspension arrangement on MCL39 is extremely designed in service of aero more than anything else.

[trinidefender]

Pretty much the same vane arrangement in the tunnel entrance as the MCL38. It does seem like McLaren doesn't want to deviate away from their floor solution at all. I suppose they found something that works and are happy to stick with it to chase gains elsewhere.

For me, the biggest info scoop was on front suspension geometry

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl7GojnXwAI ... name=large

In order for McLaren to retract the rear bottom suspension arm and steering rod so far back, they had to switch positions between them to avoid placing the internal steering rack where there's no room for it in chassis

We also see just how high the front bottom arm is compared to rear one, which drastically REDUCES anti-dive compared to an arrangement where the front arm was placed at the same low point as the rear one. Front suspension arrangement on MCL39 is extremely designed in service of aero more than anything else.

In addition to your point of the placement of the rear lower wishbone and steering rod, the staggered and stacked arrangement will definitely create some downwash. Last years solution with the steering arm below and behind the wishbone achieves the same thing but is less extreme.

I’m still very curious to see how they managed to set up the steering rack to have a linear steering response with the angled steering rod.

[Luscion]

[Luscion]

https://x.com/AlbertFabrega/status/1900346848042475791

[MrGapes]

Rear Wings

[f1rules]

also from
@AlbertFabrega


AMUS

Yeah, they are regretting this one

[CjC]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl9MkQCWgAA ... =4096x4096
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl9MkHXWMAA ... =4096x4096

A rather modest list of changes to the car from last seasons package

[Brahmal]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl9tAaiWIAA ... ame=medium

This is a great picture, those front suspension fairings really are a work of art.

[SilviuAgo]

Some images I was looking for some time.

[Brahmal]

Cool drawings. If accurate, that line going down the sidepod shows how powerful the vortex generated by the lip wing is. That will help to separate the air going over the sidepods from the air going through the undercut, and pressurize that undercut air which will push the wheel wake further outward.

[f1rules]

Aero porn from Xavier once again @xavigazquez


The car looks absolute amazing. Gaining 15 secs and 25 on russell and leclerc on inters after the track started to dry, absolute amazing how this car manage tire wear. There is no doubt the car is incredible well balanced with a very stable aero platform, but i cannot help think other areas come into play. Amus mentioned friday, that during testing mcl always tried to hide when wheels came of in the pits, especially when the wheel was removed, and they had to work on underneath the shield/cover. Now they managed to get a picture of it friday in Australia. And it obvious McL put ALOT of attention into this. Combined with russelss comment about mclaren doing something special with its tires, and how mclaren today kept the inters alive. Could suggest something is going on, other then a very good well balanced car.
This answer to Dr-obbs on twitter i find very interesting and plausible. And if it is the case, we will know soon, cause the other teams will be very vocal about it

@the_zb_
"This is my working theory @dr_obbs We saw the very intricate routing on the front brake ducts of the McLaren. As far as I can tell, that’s more specialized than any other team right now. I think they’ve figured out a clever way to use this for more precise and beneficial thermal management of the tires than everyone else so far. George’s comments after quali concerning McLaren “doing something with their tires” seem on point. This makes sense in light of the fact that under Parc fermè rules, they will also be allowed to make an adjustment to this configuration once there’s a “change of conditions” declared. This area falls into the changeable cooling and thermal management relaxation of Parc Fermé rules when conditions change. My hunch is they’ve figured out a way to better tune their tire thermal characteristics with this mechanism, and in conjunction with that ability they’ve also managed to really refine their suspension’s use of the mechanical grip available without tire temp issues. That’s my current theory as to what they’ve done differently."

[Fred]

Aero porn from Xavier once again @xavigazquez
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GmJevARagAAxzUm.jpg

The car looks absolute amazing. Gaining 15 secs and 25 on russell and leclerc on inters after the track started to dry, absolute amazing how this car manage tire wear. There is no doubt the car is incredible well balanced with a very stable aero platform, but i cannot help think other areas come into play. Amus mentioned friday, that during testing mcl always tried to hide when wheels came of in the pits, especially when the wheel was removed, and they had to work on underneath the shield/cover. Now they managed to get a picture of it friday in Australia. And it obvious McL put ALOT of attention into this. Combined with russelss comment about mclaren doing something special with its tires, and how mclaren today kept the inters alive. Could suggest something is going on, other then a very good well balanced car.
This answer to Dr-obbs on twitter i find very interesting and plausible. And if it is the case, we will know soon, cause the other teams will be very vocal about it

@the_zb_
"This is my working theory @dr_obbs We saw the very intricate routing on the front brake ducts of the McLaren. As far as I can tell, that’s more specialized than any other team right now. I think they’ve figured out a clever way to use this for more precise and beneficial thermal management of the tires than everyone else so far. George’s comments after quali concerning McLaren “doing something with their tires” seem on point. This makes sense in light of the fact that under Parc fermè rules, they will also be allowed to make an adjustment to this configuration once there’s a “change of conditions” declared. This area falls into the changeable cooling and thermal management relaxation of Parc Fermé rules when conditions change. My hunch is they’ve figured out a way to better tune their tire thermal characteristics with this mechanism, and in conjunction with that ability they’ve also managed to really refine their suspension’s use of the mechanical grip available without tire temp issues. That’s my current theory as to what they’ve done differently."

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gl56rc2WIAAabnL.png

Is there a vent in the floor here near the bib? I know during testing they spoke about there being a hidden vent in the floor for Mercedes, which seemed to be the case given they had a fan down there. However, I hadn’t actually seen any floor vents until now. Is this a new thing this year? It’ll be interesting to see this angle for all the cars now to determine if it’s a McLaren thing, Mercedes-engine thing, or if everyone is doing this.

Completely agree with the brake drums. I have no clue what’s going on with them or how to interpret them, but they do seem to be able to heat up their tyres quickly while also keeping a lot more life in the tyres than anyone else. To me, that’d mean the car must have a very wide operating window. Typically you’d expect a car that heats up tyres quickly to also burn through them quickly, but having a large operating window would help keep them alive longer while making it easier to get them into the optimal operating range. It makes sense that these brake drums would help broaden the operating window, although whether or not that’s actually the case we don’t know. We don’t know how advanced others are in this area, and frankly even if we saw this for the other cars I’d have no clue how to interpret the level of development. It does go to show how a lot of the development on an F1 car is unseen though.

[venkyhere]

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.