Why McLaren’s controversial Mini-DRS rear wing became a “source of pride”

mclaren He believes the controversy generated by its rear wing in Formula 1’s 2024 season is a “point of pride” that shows how far the team has come.

The design of McLaren’s low downforce rear wings raised eyebrows in Azerbaijan, where at high speeds the upper element appeared to rotate more to the rear than rival teams, opening a slot gap between the two elements dubbed Mini DRS. .

After competitors questioned the legality of the design, the FIA ​​deemed McLaren’s rear wings to be within the rules.

However, the governing body still requested the team to make changes to avoid forcing other teams to come up with similar designs and starting a new arms race to further exploit the laws of aeroelasticity.

Subsequently, McLaren made modifications to a full range of its rear wings, and some rival teams also had to make integrity changes to their upper flaps.

Taking a look at one of the main technical intrigues of F1 2024, McLaren’s engineering technical director Neil Halladay says the controversy surrounding its Mini DRS is seen by the team as a compliment, showing it is a midfielder. In comparison, he has become an innovator who is lagging behind the likes. Red Bull’s, ferrari And mercedes,

“If you go back 12 months, nobody was interested in what we were doing,” Halladay told Autosport in an exclusive interview. “So, there’s really a sense of pride there as a team, that other teams out there are concerned about their position in the championship, are concerned about what we’re doing.

“We can go back and say: ‘Really, good job, guys. You have people up and down who are looking at what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and trying to emulate us. Trying to. It’s a good situation and shows how much has happened over the last 18 months, and shows how we’ve done on the car.

“We did it knowing that the solution was legal. There was feedback from other teams who were not happy with it. And in fact the FIA, after discussing it with us, did not want to extend it and force other teams to We have to find solutions to what we wanted to do.

“So, they asked us to drop the impact to a level that was similar to some other teams; actually a little less, because other teams, there are some other teams that had to make similar changes.

“We were happy to do that. We will try and take those opportunities where we can, as everyone does. But we are always trying to work with the FIA ​​for the best for the sport.”

McLaren’s competitive low downforce wing was one of several new rear wing designs the Woking-based team brought to the track in 2024, with its long-standing lack of aerodynamic efficiency one of the key areas the team addressed this year. A huge deficit for Red Bull’s flagship designs in 2023, keeping in mind what it had tried to address.

The huge leap forward that McLaren made with the extensive Miami upgrade package that turned the MCL38 into a race winner, the aggressive rear wing development at different downforce levels was cited as a key contributor to McLaren defeating Ferrari and Red Bull for their first Constructors’ Championship Is seen. Title since 1998.

“It was quite clear that our rear wings last season were not optimal both from an efficiency perspective and from a DRS impact perspective, and so this was an area of ​​focus for us in 2023 and this year, to ensure that we To be the class leader,” explained Holdy.

“And to be class-leading, it was inevitable that we were going to develop a lot of wings that further improved our performance. I think that demonstrated itself, the effort to make sure that where we saw weakness That was actually a real strength of the car, and part of the reason was that it was so fast.

“It’s getting there and I would say we are now very close (to Red Bull’s strong DRS effect). It is not an area in which we will stop developing, so there is a lot in this car that we can still do.” We can, and we know we can still put a lot of performance into the car.”