(Motorsport-Total.com) – Often details make the difference. McLaren’s victory in the Netherlands – the second in a row after Budapest – confirms an important insight: The updates introduced before and after the summer break not only worked and returned the missing downforce to the MCL40, but also helped the team make a significant leap forward.
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The strengths of the McLaren were already evident in Spain, as well as in Spa, where the best version of the MCL40 so far was seen. The faster and more sweeping a corner is, the more competitive the car becomes. It is precisely here that the updates delivered the necessary extra downforce, which made the car the benchmark in these sections.
The effect of the developments even surprised McLaren, as the strength shown in the fast sections exceeded internal expectations. But behind the success in the Netherlands lies another element that had so far flown rather under the radar: the debut of the new front wheel rims, which Neil Houdley, one of the technical directors, had announced in advance.
“We made a small change in the rear area of the underbody to generate a bit more downforce, along with some minor adjustments to the rear brake cooling,” he said.
“In addition, we have new front wheel rims that will help us get more temperature into the tires. These updates do not bring huge jumps in terms of pure lap time, but they help make us a bit more competitive.”
Downforce not the only argument
Why is this topic so interesting? After the race, team principal Andrea Stella rightly emphasized that both Budapest and Zandvoort are two tracks with a high downforce level that suit the MCL40 well. However, looking back at Monaco, where Stella had hoped beforehand to fight for the win and repeat last year’s success, the car was pale.
The reason for this was less about cornering speeds – in Monte Carlo you have more freedom in setup and have to make fewer compromises – but rather the lack of downforce and the difficulty in getting the front tires up to temperature, which noticeably reduced grip.
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This weakness had already been evident previously in Australia and China, where the MCL40 struggled with graining.
One of the concerns before the weekend in Zandvoort was the occurrence of graining on the front axle, which ultimately remained limited. The crux was mainly to get the tires up to temperature even on a single fast lap.
This was clearly shown in the last Q3 attempt on Saturday: McLaren immediately set pole time, while other teams like Ferrari struggled to warm up the tires and had to do an additional preparation lap.
Rim development allowed again
This is where the innovations introduced in the Netherlands come into play: Since this year, rim development has been allowed again. This represents an important lever to control operating temperatures and tire pressure. Depending on the design of the rim, specially shaped pockets allow engineers passive control over how air affects the tires.
In Zandvoort, McLaren turned exactly this screw to generate higher temperatures in the rim and consequently in the tire. Not without reason was only the front rim of the long-standing Japanese partner Enkei revised and equipped with a more closed wheel cover that reduces the inflow of cool outside air.
The rear wheel rim, on the other hand, remained unchanged. Over the course of the weekend, teams struggled anyway with wear on the rear axle – exacerbated by the strong wind that caused the car to slide in the fast Mut corners and when accelerating out of slow corners.
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