The 2024 Formula 1 season has seen McLaren become a serious contender in the Constructor’s Championship, a remarkable comeback considering their difficult start to last season.
Only a year and a half ago, being in title contention seemed impossible for the team sitting near the bottom of the standings, but now, with only four rounds left in the ongoing championship, McLaren leads the battle, 54 points clear of the previously dominant Red Bull.
McLaren have not led the Constructors' championship since 2014, with their last Constructors’ win being in 1998.
Team principal, Andrea Stella summed up this achievement. “We don’t have to forget that at the start of 2023 we were last when we started the season and now, we lead the classification", he said.
"It is a huge milestone, possible thanks to the great work and hard work and quality of work of the entire team."
Much of McLaren’s renewal can be attributed to the people and resources at the McLaren technology centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey, especially the completion of their new wind tunnel.
This piece of infrastructure, which became operational towards the end of the 2023 season, has been crucial in instrumenting the team’s recent success and has transformed the team’s aerodynamic capabilities.
The old wind tunnel has not been used for formula 1 development since 2010, when it was deemed unfit for use as it was outdated and too small.
Instead, for the 12 years following, McLaren relied on Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, which came with inconvenient turnaround times that damaged their earlier cars’ performance.
For a Formula 1 team, a wind tunnel is essentially a simulation that helps them to refine and develop parts of their car.
By studying how air flows around a car, they can improve aspects like cooling, balance, and overall aerodynamic efficiency.
Therefore, since the old wind tunnel was impractical, this was clearly a crucial next step McLaren needed to take to enhance their design for 2024.
What is the impact?
- Simplified coordination.
- Seamless integration between departments.
- Faster collaboration between designers, aerodynamicists, and race engineers, all on-site locally.
Additionally, McLaren can test parts, analyse data, and implement modifications more quickly than ever before.
Following the addition of this new wind tunnel, McLaren now have a clear technical advantage they did not have before.
The impact is clear in the ML60, a car that not only matches but often outperforms the competition, especially in high – speed corners where aerodynamics plays a key role.
