McLaren brought significant ground improvements to Baku and Miami to regain some power. But what do these upgrades consist of? Mark Hughes explains, with a technical illustration by Giorgio Piola.
McLaren has run the last two races with an improved floor, which was already planned before the car’s launch, when the team admitted that it was late in understanding a certain impact of adjusting the floor height control, but now that this has been the case, they would have to reconfigure things. The new floor, introduced in Baku and also raced in Miami, represents this change.
From the external changes we can see, it can be concluded that the tunnel shape has been completely redrawn within the floor, with accompanying changes to the floor edge to match the tunnel’s new profile. The bodywork around the tunnel inlet has also been significantly narrowed, which will have an impact on the airflow at the floor edges.
These changes aim to redistribute the airflow in the underbody. The team’s vehicle presentation in Baku states: “The new floor geometry significantly changes the local suction distribution as well as the strength and positioning of the floor structure, resulting in an overall load increase.” ”
McLaren believe they were particularly hard hit by the 2023 change in rear floor edge raise and diffuser regulations as they had designed their tunnel profile around a further rear floor edge recess and vortex generators compared to most other vehicles. Raising the ground in front of the rear wheels reduced the power of the vortex generators to the rear.
Although this year’s MCL60 launched with a more forward cut-out than last year’s and more in line with everyone else, the way it evolved its tunnel profile was based on the previous philosophy.
The new tunnel profile aims to make even better use of the more forward placement of the vortex generators, and the changes that come with it are designed to help power that airflow. This is all to maximize the speed of airflow through the tunnels.
Intake body narrowed
Although the intake tunnel is the same width as before, it can be seen that the bodywork surrounding the intake – below the sidepod – has been significantly streamlined, requiring the inclusion of a bulge to accommodate the lower side impact beam.
Previously, this section of body seemed to sweep airflow away from the car, which was then directed to the rear body in front of the rear wheels, putting more stress on the rear of the car.
Now it looks like the priority has instead been to encourage airflow much further forward at the bottom edge. The airflow is less blocked on its way to the cut-out at the bottom edges.
There is a concomitant improvement in the flip-up winglet just ahead of the row of vortex generators, which is another indication that McLaren is trying to excite airflow early on.
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Changes in the rear floor
In Giorgio Piola’s drawings, it can be seen that the floor section in front of the rear wheels has been significantly modified. The floor body curves inward more tightly and the “tongue” cut-out, which dissipates pressure from tire spatter, has been opened up.
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McLaren reported that the changes gave the car more downforce without changing the aerodynamic balance. However, their poor performance in Miami leads the team to believe that development needs to focus on the cars’ poor performance on low-grip surfaces where drivers cannot hit the brakes or accelerator as aggressively.
Another series of upgrades to this package are planned for the Canadian and UK Grand Prix weekends.
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