McLaren's new front wing previews its 2027 design

McLaren brought a redesigned front wing to Brazil, the only team to introduce updates at the weekend, and said the concept will carry over into the launch specification of next year's car. Chief technical officer, Aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou said the learning from the upgrades will feed into 2027 development.

The new layout changes the mainplane so that it flows continuously into the lower endplate, reducing the mainplane's curvature. The front wing now mounts to the second flap element rather than the mainplane, leaving a single active flap, the uppermost one, which drops to shed drag on straights. The team has accepted a possible small straight-line drag penalty in return for better airflow management, and the mounting pillars have been moved rearwards and enlarged.