McLaren Explains Disappointing Last-Minute Removal of Experimental Rear Wing

McLaren abandoned its experimental upside-down rear wing just before first practice at the Red Bull Ring after late garage checks showed the component was not delivering as intended, with technical director Neil Houldey calling the decision "disappointing" but necessary.

Why it matters:

The Woking team has been working to match the aggressive downforce concepts run by Ferrari and Red Bull throughout the season, so shelving the upgrade at the last minute marks a frustrating pause in that pursuit. With limited practice time and both championships finely balanced, devoting the session to a proven package rather than an unready experiment protects the team's immediate competitive position.

The details:

• Run Plan: McLaren intended to run the new wing only on Lando Norris' car during first practice to collect data, while Oscar Piastri used the older specification for the entire race weekend.
• Late Discovery: During final sign-off tests in the garage, the wing failed to perform as expected, leading the team to withdraw it before the session began.
• Factory Push: Houldey emphasized that staff at Woking had put in significant effort to ready the part for Austria, making the late removal especially frustrating.
• Team Call: Houldey confirmed that focusing on the current package was the "correct decision," prioritizing reliable track time over debugging a developmental component.

What's next:

The wing will head back to the factory for additional work before McLaren attempts to introduce it at a future round. For now, both drivers will stick with the established rear wing specification as the team aims to extract maximum performance from its existing package at the Austrian Grand Prix.