McLAREN STILL PLAYING CATCH UP
Unfortunately for McLaren, it looks like Woking’s development pace is actually faster than its MP4-30s on track. Still, the British squad had several new evolutions on display at Singapore.
For starters, the front wing mounting pillars now have an elongated form, which reminds of a similar design seen on the Red Bull RB11. Sporting a more twisted profile, these elements somehow function like turning vanes (compare yellow arrows), while the endplates have gained extra outboard canards.
What’s more, the camera pods are now attached to the nosecone with revised mounts (see blue arrows). Instead of one water drop-profiled support, there are now two similarly shaped mounts, with a gap that allows the air to flow in between.
At the rear, no less than three different monkey seat specs were sampled by McLaren at Marina Bay Circuit, along with different heights for the exhaust exit.
