McLaren reveals second part of major upgrade at F1's Canadian GP
McLaren has revealed the second part of its MCL40 revamp ahead of Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix with a raft of upgrades that it hopes can help it take the fight to Mercedes.
The reigning world champion squad delivered the first half of its development step at the Miami GP, with the second part of its overhaul being held back for the Montreal weekend.
The changes are extensive and are targeted at improving airflow conditioning around the car as well as increasing downforce.
Some of the changes are very visible, including a completely new front wing design and a new halo winglet, as well as updates to the coke/engine cover, floor edges and rear suspension.
The new front wing design features a new approach in many areas, including a revised profile of the flap elements as well as changes to the footplate area, which has been narrowed.
McLaren has added a new winglet at the top of the halo, which is designed to improve the airflow around both the cockpit and the central engine cover.
The new engine cover package includes additional cooling exits and louvre options, while the floor edges have been tweaked too, as teams push hard in this area of the car in the chase for downforce gains.
At the back of the car, the rear wing endplate has been sculpted differently to help increase downforce load, while there have been revisions to the rear suspension fairings, too.
While McLaren hopes that the changes to the car will help it in its challenge against Mercedes, the team is aware that Montreal may not offer a proper picture of its potential.
The team has historically not been so fast at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with world champion Norris in particular mindful about how things may favour Mercedes despite his squad having been so strong in the last event in Miami.
“Mercedes have always been incredibly strong here,” he said. “We need to see how the upgrades that we did have in Miami translate to a much lower grip.
“Miami is very high grip in general, as a tarmac, the tarmac here is much lower grip. So we need to just understand how well the car can translate between these two worlds.
“But we have to make sure that the upgrades we are bringing this weekend also help the car move in the right direction. But we are confident it will. We just don't want to get ahead of ourselves.”
