The new McLaren wind tunnel is being used

We recently quoted a Toyota Racing Europe press release marking the end of a 12-year partnership with McLaren, as the British team made extensive use of Toyota’s technical center in the Cologne wind tunnel: all cars from the MP4-26 to the MCL60 were developed based on this research.

At the same time, in recent years, the team’s own modern wind tunnel was built on the territory of the team’s base, which meets the highest standards, and was finally put into operation in August. According to the team’s plans, only models of new cars will be blown into it, and work on the 2024 chassis has already begun.

“Many of the developments we’ve made this year during the modernization of the car will be applied in 2024,” said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. “We will finish the MCL60 once we stop using the Toyota wind tunnel.

We will not be modernizing this year’s car in our new wind tunnel. The plan is to start working on the new machine as early as August. The new wind tunnel is built according to modern criteria, this will improve the correlation with the data obtained on the real track. And what I’ve seen so far is reassuring.”

In addition, there is another factor that will benefit McLaren: as the team finished 5th in the Constructors’ Championship last season, this year, in line with sporting regulations, the team can spend more time working in the wind tunnel than rivals who held more senior positions.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to spend more hours on aerodynamic research than our competitors,” Stella confirmed. – First of all, because we have some good ideas that we want to test in a wind tunnel. The joining of forces is directly dependent on the quality of these ideas and new developments.”

But even before the new wind tunnel at Woking was opened, McLaren managed to improve dramatically midway through the season, taking 74 points in the last three races. This is more than any other team except Red Bull Racing.