McLaren to run new rear wing at Belgian GP

McLaren says it will run a new rear wing assembly at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after having abandoned a planned test of a different design in Austria.

The previous experimental wing – understood to be similar to the Red Bull and Ferrari approaches to Straight Mode – was slated to run at the Red Bull Ring on Lando Norris’ car, but a suspected hydraulic issue kept Norris in the garage for a significant chunk of FP1 and eventually led to McLaren opting against running the update.

The team then focused on known components during the Sprint weekend at Silverstone, but McLaren now says a different rear wing is due to appear at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Our preparation has been thorough, using extensive simulation work to get ahead of what we know will be a very demanding weekend for energy management,” McLaren Applied Engineering technical director Neil Houldey said.

“We're arriving at Spa with a new rear wing assembly, an upgrade we've had in the pipeline as part of the car’s development pathway.

“We're confident that this update will add a bit of performance to our car, but we are fully aware that after a difficult British Grand Prix, mainly in terms of pure performance, even this round won’t be that easy, so we won’t be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.”

While Formula One Management believes a reduction in recharge limits will ensure the amount of super-clipping is restricted to one to two seconds per lap, Houldey is expecting a bigger impact.

“The Belgian Grand Prix is going to be incredibly challenging from an energy management perspective; it's one of the most energy-starved tracks on the calendar," he said. "We anticipate seeing a significant amount of super clip, which will test both the car and the drivers.

“Furthermore, the forecast looks unpredictable. While wet weather presents its own difficulties, we see it as a valuable opportunity to finally potentially run this car in the wet and understand its behavior in low-grip conditions, which could provide crucial data for the rest of the season.”

At the time of writing, the forecast is for potential showers on Friday afternoon that could impact practice, while there is an outside chance of storms around qualifying time on Saturday.