McLaren to cautiously reintroduce radical F1 wing over Hungaroring weekend

McLaren has confirmed that it is to reintroduce its iteration of the ‘Macarena’ rear wing over this weekend’s Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, but will not race with it.

The Woking-based squad first brought its interpretation of the flip-down wing, first used by Ferrari in pre-season testing in Bahrain, over the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix last month.

It swiftly abandoned the idea, and did not get any track time, but remained with a view towards a reintroduction, which will take place at the Hungaroring, but only in a tentative way.

However, the MCL40 will carry some new parts, which it says include “primarily a new floor and further other aerodynamic parts, which will be tested throughout the Free Practice sessions”.

McLaren confirmed that, despite use of the ‘Macarena’ wing, it is “not scheduled to be introduced fully at this or the following race in the Netherlands.”

“With braking and cornering an area of focus at high-downforce circuits like Hungaroring and Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands, the package of upgrades that will be introduced between this race and the first after the summer shutdown should improve the level of performance in similar circuits with these characteristics,” the team preview of the race continued.

“The team therefore acknowledges that the upcoming races are not the optimum conditions for the MCL40.

“However, while not everything will be solved at once, McLaren remains optimistic in the further upgrades coming for the second part of the season.”

The rear wing and other components will be tested by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as its Development Programme driver, Leonardo Fornaroli, who will take Piastri’s place in FP1.

The wording of McLaren’s plans is potentially significant, as a potentially successful secondary trial of the wing could see it brought into racing conditions at Monza, where sufficient implementation could see him important gains for the car.

A radical design trait this season, the ‘Macarena’ wing has been also been interpreted by Red Bull, the team said to be the first to design it, prior to Ferrari’s five-lap debut in Bahrain.