McLaren's front wing modifications affect the entire car – that's why they introduced the upgrade package. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
From the very first part of the car to the last part of the car, winning the race requires putting it all together. It's not any single component that has to be perfect. If everything works as a cohesive unit, you'll end up with a reasonable package.
The gamble that paid off for McLaren in Miami shows the confidence within this team. The upgrade package, according to the team, included a new front wing, new front suspension geometry, revised front brake duct and wing, a completely redesigned floor, and new body and engine covers.
In fact, the Miami race might seem like an odd place to introduce such a major update: you're away from home and have limited practice due to sprint weekends, so optimizing any development can be really challenging. It was a gamble, but it paid off in the end.
When you arrive at the race track with a whole bunch of new components, it's very difficult to evaluate them and make sure that something doesn't throw you off. It is very, very easy to miss some characteristic that cannot be mastered with a limited amount of practice. But McLaren seem confident in their understanding of the car in the simulation and in their approach to getting the most out of their car.
They are confident in their direction. I haven't seen any detail changes, but it's absolutely true that they started at the front and gradually worked their way to the rear, which is how these cars work: the front wing creates an airflow pattern that the rest of the car has to work with.
If you do one bit in isolation, you might have a better front wing, for example. But that airflow pattern coming from the trailing edge of that wing can affect the rest of the car, and overall you'll end up with a negative result.
McLaren's approach was to introduce a full package of improvements in many areas – they proved that there was nothing wrong with going over the car and doing a major upgrade, rather than just doing something random.
What was the problem? McLaren?
Their biggest problem this year was that the car had a weird front end. Braking and cornering at low speeds also did not bring good results. I'm not saying they fixed it, but they apparently addressed the issue with new front suspension geometry, just trying to be a little more sensitive to the weight distribution across the front axle whenever you engage the steering lock on the car.
This significantly changes the grip of the front tires. At the beginning of the weekend we heard Norris complaining that the car was very heavy and it was easier to turn left than right. Oscar Piastri also complained that the steering is very heavy, so this characteristic occurs due to changes in suspension geometry, but not always, but heavier steering usually means more front end grip.
Both Norris and Piastri reported that the steering felt heavy. Photo: ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
We talk about these things as if they are huge, but they are not. These are small changes that are necessary to optimize tire use. Small changes may bring little benefit, but they also show that you are moving in the right direction.
You can change the load on your front tires because one of the tools you have is a steering wheel lock. You need to make sure you're loading the front tires correctly when engaging the steering lock because you only have four pieces of black rubber connecting you to the track, and by definition low speed turns require more steering lock than high speed turns. . . This is one of the tools in your toolbox to change the loading characteristics of your front tires. They seem to have improved over the weekend, but we'll have to wait to see a couple more tracks to be sure. In Miami everyone was complaining about the tires and grip levels. Chances are it won't last all season, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
Why McLaren was smart to start making changes at the very front of the car
From an aerodynamic point of view, they succeeded. got a new front wing with various changes and it's about making sure they all work harmoniously. It's putting all the pieces of the puzzle together and making it all work together. McLaren seems to be doing a good job with this.
Aerodynamic improvements start at the front of the car. The airflow that the front wing creates is what the rest of the car works with. Even the front brake duct is part of this. We talk freely about the front brake ducts. It's actually a brake cooling duct as well as an aerodynamic device that does a lot of the work of controlling the airflow around the front wheel. Inside these wheels there are many different areas where the flow is used for cooling. Obviously you need to cool the brakes, but it's also about managing that flow and making sure it doesn't heat up the rim too much and overheat the tire, or that it's enough to heat up the tire quickly. So it all depends on how you manage that flow and how it relates to the rest of the car.
McLaren&# Pete -Crew No. 39 celebrates Norris' victory, the team's first victory since Monza three years ago. Photo: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
When you introduce air into the brake duct to cool the brakes, you have to exhaust it somewhere. It's managing that flow because it's quite early in the car's flow pattern, so you need to make sure you control it as best you can otherwise it can damage the main downforce generating device, which is the underbody.
One of the problems was the car's level of drag. They don't really have the straight line speed of some other cars. They usually have a little more downforce. In Miami it may have helped a little because the track was quite slippery, but all I would say is that there will be as many upgrades as there were on the Norris car, and half of them on the Piastri car, we saw that both cars are competitive and this is a real reason for optimism.
So, do we have a new Red Bull competitor?
As I said earlier, it's a big gamble on sprint weekend, hoping you can make the most of it. so many changes. But what more could you want than to win the race?
Red Bull, and by extension Max Verstappen, really know how to use these rules. Almost every other team was catching up, but McLaren is the only team that really stands out. Their renewal in the middle of last year before the Austrian Grand Prix was a major turning point for them. They put everything together and created a track that worked. They have done a good job and the trend continues.
Going into 2024, they had high hopes. Initially it probably wasn't just the way they wanted it, but they seemed to have the confidence to say, “Well, we got what we got, let's make the best of it – acknowledge the problems and we'll deal with them as the season goes on.” ” That's exactly what they did.
Winning the race was the icing on the cake, but come the weekend they will be just as glad they were competitive throughout. At the beginning, Piastri was second and Verstappen was not far behind him. All other things being equal, he held up well there. Norris took advantage by losing less time during the safety car pit stop, but even late in the race he was fast. He and his team deserved to win.
Red Bull will be keeping an eye in the rearview mirror to see where McLaren is this season. They are now on par with Ferrari and can spoil the party from time to time. This is what Formula 1 should be. We've had six races this year and we've had three different winners on three different chassis – that's better than what we saw before the start of 2024.
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