F1 | Killer Floor: McLaren learns from Ferrari and postpones updates. McLaren is delaying the introduction of a new floor.

McLaren is delaying the introduction of a new floor in F1, learning from the mistakes made by Ferrari (and others) in their updates. In Formula 1, teams learn from each other’s errors, and McLaren is not following Ferrari’s approach by holding off on floor upgrades. The Woking team has not introduced a major evolutionary step since the Miami Grand Prix, opting not to touch the car’s floor in the Zandvoort package. Andrea Stella explained this decision, which contrasts with the approaches taken by Maranello, Milton Keynes, and Brackley.

The reality of wing cars is as fascinating as it is brutal. These extreme cars, born from an elegant aerodynamic concept, are also extremely complex to push to the limit. As a result, this generation of cars is dramatically “fragile”: even a small change—particularly to the floor—can destroy their balance.

Scuderia Ferrari discovered this with the dual aerodynamic package at the Imola circuit and in Barcelona, which brought back the bouncing problem that seemed to have been eliminated. Mercedes also appeared to encounter the same issue, though to a lesser extent, after their Spa-Francorchamps update. And the reigning champions? Red Bull is now reconsidering the effectiveness of the new floor they introduced in Emilia-Romagna.

McLaren now seems cautious: the MCL38 is a dominant car, or at least the top of its class. In Formula 1, standing still is not an option, but one update too many could break something that’s working very well. Andrea Stella, team principal of Woking, knows this all too well: “There’s a very specific reason why we haven’t introduced certain types of updates.”

“We understood that if we pressed that button, we might have had doubts once certain parts were installed on the car,” explained the Italian, as reported by Autosport. “We’re taking our time to be sure the updates are fully developed. We haven’t introduced significant updates since Miami, and the Zandvoort package didn’t change the car’s floor.” – the former Ferrari track engineer concluded.

Source: f1ingenerale