On Friday at the Hungaroring, McLaren deployed an upgrade package and a novel, rotating rear wing: Here’s how it went
For the McLaren team, Friday’s practice session at the Hungaroring was all about further development and aerodynamic comparisons. While Lando Norris spent the entire day testing a new underbody, junior driver Leonardo Fornaroli used an experimental rotating rear wing during the first free practice session.
For Oscar Piastri, who had to sit out FP1 in favor of the rookie, the role of observer was all he could play at first. The new rear wing concept passed its first practical test without any issues. Fornaroli, who replaced Piastri for the mandatory rookie session, completed 29 laps with the rotating wing and collected data while maintaining a constant speed on the straights.
“The wing worked exactly as intended, which is very encouraging for the team,” the F1 reserve driver reported with satisfaction. The Papaya team also drew a positive conclusion regarding the regular updates. Norris tested the new underbody package in a direct comparison with the old specification, which was driven first by Fornaroli and then by Piastri in the afternoon.
Norris Battles His Way to P3 – Wind Creates Difficult Conditions
Although gusty winds and changing track conditions made it difficult to find a rhythm, Norris finished third in the second practice session—just one aborted run on soft tires away from an even better time.
“We brought a few new parts today and still need to understand them better,” Norris summarized. “We know we won’t close the gap to the front in one fell swoop, but we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
His teammate Oscar Piastri first had to adapt to the conditions and finished in P8 on the old specification. Nevertheless, he’s very much looking forward to Saturday: “I didn’t have the new parts on my car today. But on Lando’s car, they seem to be working exactly as expected. I’m looking forward to having them on my car tomorrow.”
McLaren Urges Patience Ahead of Qualifying
The McLaren camp is cautiously optimistic but emphasizes that the path back to the very top is a gradual one. Race Director Randy Singh praised Friday as an intense but extremely instructive day for the engineers.
“The most positive thing about our runs is that every new component performed exactly as we expected,” said Singh. “We remain realistic about our position. The gap to the front has been large in recent races, and we knew we wouldn’t close it all at once. But the signs are encouraging.”