McLaren did not introduce a planned upgrade in Jeddah

At this point, the advance of McLaren there is no doubt in the paddock. The British have succeeded in the challenge of starting the current season with the same dynamic as the end of last year, thus breaking their series of years started at the back of the pack before often spectacular comebacks. Much more comfortable than Ferrari in the way of negotiating the series of turns, better than Mercedes ou Red Bull In terms of maintaining and preserving the tires, the Woking team did not, however, achieve all of its objectives.

Like Red Bull, which had a comfortable cushion in the first half of the season last year but failed in the fight to win the Constructors' Championship, McLaren does not intend to stop developing its car on such a good path. Even if 2026 is among the medium-term challenges, the few shortcomings of the MCL39 will visibly be filled. In any case, this seems to be the wish of the team's engineering department, working on the short-term future.

What was this new aerodynamic part?

In Saudi Arabia, McLaren had developed a new part to work on the floor effect. A crucial element this year, with which Ferrari seems to have been struggling since February, the rear of the floor was more precisely targeted. Specifically, it involved a redesign of the diffuser's trailing edge. Among the objectives was more efficient air extraction from under the floor, allowing for a more stable flow and increased downforce without increasing drag. In short, everything the Jeddah circuit required.

On the track, this would notably allow for improved stability in corners that need to be negotiated at high speed. Without even affecting the grip of the tires, a certain number of problems would thus be smoothed out by this part, among other updates. As The Race indicates, this evolution was indeed introduced in Jeddah, only, not until the race. WhileOscar piastri benefited from it during the first free practice session, Lando Norris was able to test its effectiveness during the second session on Friday.

Why did McLaren choose to go back?

According to Andrea Stella at the end of the weekend, this test was actually part of a more global program on the part of the team. "There is nothing in the car that corresponds to a new specification. Some of the things we declared were test items. We tested them in practice, but we did not adopt them." he explained.

Despite another victory last week, the Team Principal of the McLaren team refuses to see himself as the hegemonic favorite given the pace displayed by Max Verstappen ou Charles Leclerc race. "It shows once again that not only from a pace point of view, but we have seen from a tire exploitation point of view, everything is so tight and close that there could be small variations associated with the track characteristics."

“It changes the balance, it changes the hierarchy, he added. So I think for us the message is very clear, the margins are tight and we have to execute the race weekends perfectly if we want to continue this good start to the season."

Although minimal, this ultimately sidelined development suggests that McLaren hasn't finished testing for 2025. Regularly lacking in top speed, for example, the papaya single-seaters could thus undergo some developments before the end of the year. If these work, a complete shift towards 2026 would then be possible with more serenity than today. After only five meetings, victory is still far from guaranteed.

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