McLaren is to reintroduce its iteration of the ‘Macarena’ wing after a one-race hiatus for this weekend’s Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Woking-based squad teased the wing across the season, but has consistently opted to abandon it over race weekends, as other teams bringing theirs to race-ready trim.
Dubbed by the team as the ‘H-Wing’, the component finally got its debut outing at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month, before being left at home for the Spanish GP at the Madring two weeks ago.
‘No margin for error’ at Baku for McLaren
The team has previous with experimental wings at the Baku circuit, with its infamous ‘flexi-wing’ helping Oscar Piastri to victory there two seasons ago, but is acutely aware of how all areas of performance will be crucial to being successful around the unique street layout.
“Baku is a circuit of extremes, combining the longest straight in Formula 1 with some of the slowest corners, so there are significant compromises to manage,” said Chief Technical Officer and Chief Designer, Rob Marshall.
“Straight Mode gives every team greater scope to run a low-drag car on the straights while retaining downforce through the corners, but the challenge remains the same: bring the best design and set-up choices, then execute them cleanly on track.
“We are still learning about these cars at every event, and we have both overperformed and underperformed against our expectations at different races this season. Baku will provide another valuable test of the MCL40 across a very different range of characteristics. Energy management and deployment will be particularly important, as will tyre and brake management with the cars arriving at Turn 1 after the long straight with these areas relatively cold.
“Operationally, there is very little margin for error on a tight street circuit. A small mistake can lead to significant repairs, lost track time and resources being diverted away from performance, so confidence, precision and disciplined execution will be essential throughout the weekend.
“With regulatory continuity into next season and the competition at the front so close, our motivation to keep developing the car remains high. We must balance that with work on next year’s car, but our immediate focus is on delivering more performance and fighting for more victories in 2026, while carrying forward everything we learn. We expect any of the top four teams to be capable of winning in Baku, with the chasing pack also getting closer, and we hope to be firmly in the fight at the front.”
McLaren will be hoping that its 2024 showing will be repeated as opposed to 2025, when Piastri crashed out on Lap 1, with Lando Norris a lowly seventh place.
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