McLaren signs off rotating rear wing for races

McLaren has signed off its rotating rear wing for future race weekends after a successful validation run in Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with team principal Andrea Stella saying the concept passed both mechanical and aerodynamic checks on track.

Stella said the data gathered in FP1 matched McLaren’s pre-event simulations closely enough to approve the device for selected upcoming events, even though the team did not race it at the Hungaroring. “It’s been a positive sign-off of this concept, and we look forward now to introducing this concept, at some future events,” Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, said.

The project, though, was never expected to be straightforward. Stella described it as “a complicated project, which was no surprise,” with one of the main technical challenges centered on how airflow reattaches when the wing returns to its default position under FIA-regulated actuation timing.

That track validation matters because McLaren did not want to rely on factory tools alone for such a sensitive aerodynamic device. Stella said “the most important tool, especially when you have these sort of complicated projects, even from an aerodynamic point of view, remains what you observe at the track,” adding that McLaren “would have never relied on a wind tunnel only for such a delicate project.”

McLaren is the third Formula 1 team to take this type of rotating rear-wing concept to the track. Ferrari first introduced the idea in pre-season testing, and Red Bull later developed its own version before being forced to modify it after high-speed incidents.

McLaren’s solution differs from Ferrari’s in the way the upper flap moves. Stella said Ferrari’s flap rotates backward, while McLaren’s rolls forward in an approach similar to Red Bull’s, with the low-drag mode designed to improve straight-line efficiency.

With the concept now approved, McLaren can start choosing circuits where the gain is most likely to matter. High-speed tracks such as Monza and Baku were identified in the source material as likely candidates for the wing’s race debut.