McLaren has decided against using its rotating 'Macarena' rear wing, internally dubbed the H-Wing, at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. The innovative concept will return at the high-speed Baku street circuit later this month.
The Woking-based team had been developing its own interpretation of the rear wing, which rotates 180 degrees between Corner Mode and Straight Mode, after being inspired by Ferrari's pioneering concept during winter testing. Following a delayed rollout, the team debuted the new wing in practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix before testing it again at Zandvoort. It finally ran in competition at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
By all accounts, the system worked as intended, with the mechanism helping to reduce drag on the straights. However, Autosport understands that McLaren will keep the H-wing system on its low-drag wing for now, rather than retroactively adding it to higher downforce packages.
At the high-downforce Madring circuit, which makes its debut this weekend, McLaren is set to run the new rear wing introduced at Zandvoort, featuring striking sculpted endplates. The decision was made as teams must carefully allocate production resources. McLaren wanted to focus on fast-tracking its H-wing concept for Monza, where the drag reduction yields a much bigger lap time benefit than on twistier circuits.
The Monza H-wing is now set to return at the high-speed Baku street circuit at the end of September, which also places an emphasis on top speed and efficiency. Meanwhile, the team plans to produce another iteration of its higher downforce wing later on, built from the ground up to incorporate the rotating rear wing actuator.
McLaren heads into the Madrid weekend as one of the favourites to contend for victory on the challenging 5.4km circuit, off the back of two wins for Lando Norris at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort. The H-wing moniker is a nod to the letter H in the Etihad logo that adorns the rear of the MCL40's rear wing. The letter H runs along the centreline where the H-Wing's straight mode actuator is positioned, following a tradition set by the team's famed F-duct in 2010, which was named after the F in Vodafone along the nose where the duct was installed.
Autosport also understands that the Racing Bulls team, which introduced a rotating rear wing of its own at Monza, will also park it for Madrid as it doesn't suit the characteristics of the Madring track. It is also planning to run the wing again later this season.
Baca Juga
Max Verstappen menjajal sirkuit Madring untuk GP Spanyol dan mengaku banyak menabrak barrier. Simak analisis tantangan sirkuit baru ini.
McLaren tunda H-Wing di F1 Spanyol, fokus sirkuit Madrid. Sayap inovatif akan kembali di Baku. Simak alasan dan strategi tim.
Charles Leclerc cedera usai kecelakaan di Monza, Ferrari siapkan pembalap cadangan untuk Madrid. Simak sejarah pergantian pembalap Ferrari di tengah musim.
Lanjutkan dengan Google
Diskusi & Komentar (0)
Mari Bergabung dalam Diskusi!
Masuk dengan mudah untuk mulai memberikan komentar, membalas, dan berinteraksi dengan pembaca lainnya.
Komentar Terbaru
Belum ada komentar. Jadilah yang pertama!