The subtle McLaren upgrades that highlight its F1 title focus

McLaren continues to pile the pressure on its Formula 1 rivals, as it unleashed another clutch of upgrades at the Italian Grand Prix.

While some of these changes are track-specific for the high-speed characteristics at Monza, others point to longer-term efforts aimed at eking out ever more performance from the MCL38.

The most obvious changes for Monza always revolve around a reduction in drag, with the front, rear and beam wings some of the smallest seen on the cars all year.

In McLaren's case, this starts up front with a new upper flap design for its front wing, which sees a crescent-shaped section trimmed out of the trailing edge.

McLaren MCL38 technical detail

Photo by: Uncredited

There are also further changes to the MCL38's sidepod and engine cover bodywork at Monza, as the team continues to look to improve the airflow's passage to the rear of the car.

The changes are subtle, with a more bulbous shape present on the upper portion of the cover, around the Dell sponsorship logo. But this tweak allows the shape on the underside of the region to be altered too.

The aim is likely to allow more space for the airflow to pass by the myriad of surfaces en route to the rear of the car, including the channel within the downwash ramp and under the haunches of the engine cover's rear outlet.

Here they are driven towards the coke bottle section and then onwards past the suspension fairings and over the upper surface of the diffuser.

The team doused the MCL38 in flo-viz paint during FP1 in order to provide it with visual confirmation that the changes are performing as anticipated.

McLaren MCL38 rear wing comparison

Photo by: Uncredited

The lowest downforce rear wing available to McLaren is on the skinnier end of the spectrum. There is a flatter-than-expected leading edge used on the mainplane, given the propensity to use a spoon-shaped design for this regulation set.

The leading edge of the mainplane also appears to be set further back than usual. The centrally mounted swan-neck style pillar is not only lent over more than its counterpart from Spa, but there's also material buttressing the underside of the mainplane (blue arrow).

Meanwhile, the tip section has once again been trimmed on the upper edge to better suit the characteristics required of it and the upper rear quarter endplate cutout.

This more sensitive arrangement has led to McLaren adopting the teardrop-shaped flap pivots, rather than the barrel-style ones used in Belgium (red arrow).

As would be expected, McLaren has paired this low downforce offering with a single-element beam wing too, as it looks to improve its top-speed performance.