McLaren will continue to bring updates to its 2021 car after introducing a new front wing and floor at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The team’s technical director, James Key, said this was the first major update after a series of minor changes to his MCL35M.
“Since the beginning of the season, we’ve brought little bits and pieces with our one-spec racing car that we tested in Bahrain before we reached Bahrain for the race at the beginning of the year.
“Since then, we’ve made minor updates over time. This race was the first to introduce heavier steps that we wanted to take. “
Changes to F1 regulations for 2021 opened up some significant development opportunities, Key said. “We have improved the architecture of the front wing, it’s a new front wing and also the floor, where the regulations really went into effect on the side of the floor.
“This is still an area that is ripe for development and that is still pretty raw. I think you see a topic there that is starting to develop. However, there is still plenty of power in some of these fresher areas. “
McLaren ran their new parts during the race. The team performed two consecutive tests of their new parts during training. “We were very busy to make sure that we were happy with the way the parts worked, to set the cars up to allow the drivers to drive back to back, and we kept the specifications we brought with us,” he said Key explained.
“That’s why we updated the car with the new parts. This is great news and an excellent effort from all of the staff at the Aero and all of the factories to design it and push it through the production process to get it here on time and give us the sets we needed. “
The new components were used in the race, and Key added that “some more parts will come” in the future. “We haven’t finished the 35M yet, there are still some updates pending. There are still some in a conceptual place right now, and we’ll bring these with us as we move on.
“Right now, none of them have set target events – we’ll put them on the car when they seem ready and available to test, in some cases the right type of track. Monaco is not always the best place to bring certain things, so they can be delayed for the following routes, etc., and keep adding new parts to the car. “
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2021 Spanish Grand Prix
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