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McLaren launched the MCL60 on Monday – but is their new car a complete overhaul of last year’s MCL36 or simply a more subtle update? F1 technical expert Mark Hughes looks at the differences.
McLaren’s new MCL60 is a further evolution of last season’s highly developed car under the guise of the MCL36. The team warns that there are more to come in terms of significant changes, but it looks like the current car has made its debut at the McLaren Technology Center today.
From all the 2023 cars launched so far, it’s clear that the teams’ main focus is on increasing the impact under the surface. There’s a lot more lap time from this than the exterior bodywork and wings.
As it happened: Watch McLaren unveil the new MCL60
Any changes to the external geometry of cars are always just attempts to make the floor better. So, we can see that McLaren has created significant space in the lower front of the gunpod (perhaps by adjusting the position of the radiator) to provide more space for the tunnels under the vandal floor to fit.
Last year, along with the bodywork updates at the French and Singapore Grands Prix, McLaren’s evolution was reshaping the side pods at the front to create more room to change the geometry of the floor mats.
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This process continues for the MCL60 and you can see that the intake vanes have actually been completely re-fashioned.
The dimensional regulations allow for a height range where the intake can be positioned and by lifting the lower corner of the side pad, McLaren seems to have been able to change the angle of the intake. The aim is to provide a consistent balance between cornering and a good combination of non-increasing downforce – a test that has been found to be very difficult for many teams under ground impact regulations, not least McLaren.
This development direction is consistent with feedback from Lano Norris (and the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo) about the limitations of previous cars. “I was pushing what I wanted from my side,” Norris said in his introduction.
“I spent a bit of time going over things with the engineers to get them to understand what we’re struggling with and a lot of features that haven’t changed over the last few years. There’s a bit more pressure this year.
“Maybe this year’s car suits me better – but that’s not all; It should also be a fast car. This is something that Daniel and I have complained about a lot. If we can go one step further on this [the drivers] He can get more than the car.”
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The previous car’s front pullrod and rear shock absorbers have been retained. The changes to the top surface of the side pods are likely a response to the revised radiator positions underneath, which in turn make room for improved floor intakes on the lower front of the pods.
McLaren are targeting the top four in the championship, but be careful not to get there right away as the next planned evolution of the upgrade will be in progress until a few races into the season.
More technical analysis of 2023 F1 cars
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