McLaren go big with Monaco upgrades as title favourites prepare for the future

Matthew Somerfield 23 May 2025 2:20 PM

Championship leaders, McLaren, have arrived in Monaco with a number of new components, some of which they’ll use at the event and some that they’ll simply add to their availability pool.

This tactic gives the team some breathing room in terms of how versatile they can be here, whilst also giving them the option of using the parts during Free Practice to establish their real-world performance, ahead of running them at future races.

Another batch of new parts added to the pool

The team announced the arrival of a medium-high downforce rear wing, two beam wing options, a revised front suspension geometry and an optional, larger front brake duct inlet.

Furthermore, they introduced a maximum-high downforce rear wing and beam wing arrangement in Imola that was briefly tested on Lando Norris’ MCL39 but wasn’t used during the competitive sessions.

Notably, the new beam wing configurations added to the pool at this event will function with both of the rear wing packages, giving the team a wide variety of options for their drivers, not only here but going forward too.

The beam wing design fitted to the car in these images also has a notable design feature, with a dipped portion found in the central portion of the upper of the two bi-plane arranged elements.

In terms of the front suspension changes being made by the team, this is a characteristic of the Monaco circuit, with teams having to increase clearance on the fairings to account for the additional lock required when navigating the low-speed corners.

Meanwhile, those low speeds generally require a little more cooling too, with the slightly larger front brake duct inlet an option that can be used to achieve this, without the losses that would be accrued at a quicker circuit becoming a performance factor.

The same can be said for cooling at the rear of the car, with the team less concerned about the loss of aerodynamic efficiency, resulting in more bodywork being opened up. There’s no new parts being added to the pool in this respect but, as can be seen in the image above, there’s a cooling louvre panel being employed on the engine cover.

McLaren