The Woking-based team has openly acknowledged that aero efficiency has been one of its core weaknesses this year – and this has often manifested itself in a lack of top speed.
The squad has also been mindful that this is an area where Red Bull has been particularly strong, especially when its DRS is in use.
But having understood where Red Bull’s DRS advantage comes from – which relates to the better balancing of drag levels between its beam and rear wing at the back of the car – McLaren has been pushing to find gains in this area too.
For the Las Vegas event, McLaren has made the leap in adopting one of the key aspects that is understood to be behind Red Bull’s edge – which is in having a single beam wing.
The use of a single beam wing, which works in conjunction with a more powerful main plane rear wing element, means that Red Bull’s DRS gains are much greater when the flap is open compared to other teams that run with double beam wings.
But most teams have found themselves unable to trim back on their beam wing arrangements because, while that would improve drag levels, it also means a loss of downforce that they still need to help improve stability at the rear of the car.
McLaren’s move suggests that it has confidence it can now get rid of its secondary beam wing without it impacting its car performance or driver confidence.
Source: Autosport