McLaren arrives in Canada with a triple upgrade. The changes concern the front suspension—refined both mechanically and aerodynamically—and both wings. The former world champions are seeking aerodynamic efficiency, though there is a suspicion that Woking is also trying to address the MCL39’s drivability issues in qualifying. Numerous tests were conducted in the first practice session, with Piastri and Norris running two different configurations.
How the front end changes
During the first third of the season, McLaren focused development on the rear end, but in Canada the updates are mainly concentrated on the front. Two weeks after the technical directive from Barcelona against flexible wings, the British team introduces a new front wing. The timing suggests that to comply with the new flexibility tests, the team did not have to drastically redesign the early-season wing, instead investing resources in an evolved version arriving 15 days later. The basic layout remains unchanged, with a similar profile design, optimized rather in the cross-section to improve aerodynamic performance across the car’s various dynamic positions. Also notable is an intervention in the junction area between the flaps and the endplate’s vertical strakes, a zone that is always critical for managing front-wheel turbulence.
The new wing works in synergy with the updated front suspension. The fairings of the wishbones have changed, an intervention presented as a consequence of presumed mechanical changes to the mounting points on the wheel hub. A similar change was already made by the team at Imola, which Andrea Stella had described as a functional adaptation for the subsequent Monaco Grand Prix, where increased steering angles are required in the tight hairpins. In the case of the Canadian updates, it raises the question of whether McLaren is trying to improve the transmission of feedback from the front end to the steering wheel. In the past, the Team Principal explained that the MCL39 was difficult to push to the limit in qualifying because it didn’t provide the drivers with enough information, promising targeted upgrades to mitigate the issue.
New rear wing
In the first free practice session, McLaren showed strong interest in collecting data on the updates brought to Canada. Oscar Piastri went out on track with aerodynamic rakes mounted behind the front suspension, while both drivers used their in-laps to carry out constant-speed tests, as highlighted by Federico Albano. The team also applied flow-vis paint on Norris’s car, starting from the front suspension and continuing along the chassis and the entire floor, demonstrating how the front-end interventions affect rear aerodynamics as well.
The rear wing configurations differed between the two drivers. Oscar Piastri used the new medium-downforce wing, which differs from the early-season version—fitted on his teammate’s car—by the shape of the central V cut and the ends of the upper flap. In developing the new wing, McLaren aimed to improve its efficiency and make it versatile across a broader range of circuits.
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