Uncovered: McLaren’s intriguing change to their front suspension

F1 tech analysis: McLaren’s big suspension change

Let’s start with last year’s Constructors’ Champions as McLaren looked at their front suspension and decided that what they had last season wasn’t going to be their final form for this generation of cars.

And whilst there’s already been a big emphasis placed on how the rear leg of the upper wishbone has been lowered further down the chassis than last year, there’s actually a more intriguing change been made to their layout.

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Highlighted in yellow on this and last year’s car is the steering arm, which as you’ll note has been moved forward for 2025.

This is interesting as McLaren had positioned the arm at the rear of assembly last season, which saw it lined up in parallel with the rear leg of the lower wishbone, presumably so the two fairings worked the airflow in unison.

And whilst they’ve seemingly only switched the two around at the inboard end, there’s much more going on at the upright, with the steering arm crossing under the lower wishbone to the front of the assembly, rather than being mounted at the rear.

I’ve highlighted this with a series of red dashes on the leading edge of the steering arm in the image above, which although the pictures are taken at slightly different angles it’s clear to see just how different the arrangement is, especially as the steering arm now sits ahead of the lower wishbone on the upright.

There’s clearly going to be an impact on how all of these changes manifest in terms of mechanical performance, especially in terms of ride height but, as is almost always the case in these situations, much of what’s been done here is about improving aerodynamic performance.

Although Mercedes are still using push-rod suspension at the front of the W16, they have followed in McLaren’s footsteps from last season by mounting the steering arm behind the rear leg of the lower wishbone.

Contrary to some reports, this hasn’t resulted in there only being two elements in the airflows path at this height as each of the elements retain their own individual fairing.

The result, however, is that due to their proximity the rear leg of the wishbone and steering arm will work together to direct the airflow downstream.

Ferrari have taken the opportunity, at this late stage in the regulatory phase, to make the switch to a pull-rod front suspension layout.

Its arrival has also prompted the team to make changes to the rest of the layout to complement it from a mechanical perspective, whilst also reaping the aerodynamic rewards that’s offered as a consequence.

Notably the lead arm of the upper wishbone has been moved rearward, as the push-rod that had previously occupied this space is no longer an issue.

This obviously has a knock-on effect to the rear leg of the upper wishbone, although it remains in a similar location in order it still sits above the rear leg of the lower wishbone.

Red Bull’s layout hasn’t changed much at all since last season, with the team clearly happy that despite their issues, their suspension arrangement was offering the level of performance expected from it, both from a mechanical and aerodynamic point of view.