McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[MikeFromCanada]

Early Silverstone pics:

[JMN]

Have they reverted to the Pre-Valencia endplate (1 vertical slot) or is it just the old front wing on display outside the pit?

[wesley123]

nah that is an one even older then that, like 4 races back or so. The waved cascade shape is gone too so it cant be the Canadian one

[Owen.C93]

Pre monaco wing.

[ell66]

Pre monaco wing.

pre spain actually.

it'l be intresting to see what they've brought this weekend in new parts, iv read quite a bit.

[horse]

Kind of ties up with Jenson's interview on the BBC today. He was hinting that they have had to reduce the amount of front downforce to compensate for the loss of the blown diffuser. He also mentioned they'd be progressing on the setup using the simulator. Do you think they've been running the characteristics of past wings to see what balances out with the new expected DF at the rear?

[Hangaku]

Well, I guess they are going to be bolting all raft of different bits to the car tomorrow, due to the fact they are now trying to re-balance much of the car in the corners. I wouldn't be surprised if they have four different front wings with them tomorrow, a couple of rear wings, and some other interesting stuff going on around the rear wheels

[TheWiseOwl]

Well, I guess they are going to be bolting all raft of different bits to the car tomorrow, due to the fact they are now trying to re-balance much of the car in the corners. I wouldn't be surprised if they have four different front wings with them tomorrow, a couple of rear wings, and some other interesting stuff going on around the rear wheels

Well, you're right about the rear wings.

[SiLo]

Hamilton is testing a new rear wing which dumps more downforce when the DRS is open, but has less in general apparently.

[myurr]

New McLaren rear wing has a much smaler top flap and no central pillar. Actuator looks like the Redbull / new Ferrari one.

[TheWiseOwl]

Also the main plane of the front wing has been split.

[kalinka]

Wonder if that RW development has anything to do with the EBD ban, or it's just a coincidence?

[myurr]

Wonder if that RW development has anything to do with the EBD ban, or it's just a coincidence?

Could be they're going to go the low drag higher top speed but less downforce route, whereas before they were more about having as much downforce from the rear as possible. Would make sense now their downforce levels and balance are going to be affected by the EBD changes.

[Mole]

A thought came to me earlier, how about if McLaren put a thin lid on top of the sidepods and used that as a downforce generating surface? It could narrow down at the back to accelerate air flow through the tunnel too.

Would this even work, or would the drag penalties outweigh any gains? I assume the latter as McLaren would've probably obviously considered this already

[ianwit]

A thought came to me earlier, how about if McLaren put a thin lid on top of the sidepods and used that as a downforce generating surface? It could narrow down at the back to accelerate air flow through the tunnel too.

Would this even work, or would the drag penalties outweigh any gains? I assume the latter as McLaren would've probably obviously considered this already

As a pure guess it might compromise the flow under and over the floor.