McLaren explain why innovative rear wing was pulled before Austrian GP debut

Technical Director Neil Houldey detailed the reasoning behind the papaya outfit's decision not to run the much-discussed upside-down rear wing on the MCL39. McLaren had arrived in Austria hoping to join rivals Ferrari and Red Bull in running the innovative design, which has been loosely dubbed the 'Macarena' wing.

However, ahead of the first practice session, the team decided against introducing the new component. Explaining the decision in the team's official press release, Houldey revealed that although McLaren had worked tirelessly to bring the rear wing to the track, it failed to deliver the expected results during final checks before FP1.

"Unfortunately, we were unable to run the experimental wing we brought to the track. The team at the factory worked tirelessly to get it here, but during final sign-off tests in the garage, it didn't perform as expected, and we weren't comfortable running it," he said.

Houldey added that prioritising the current package was the correct call and confirmed that further testing would be carried out before the wing is introduced at a future event.

Earlier, Lando Norris admitted that McLaren always expected it would take significant work before the wing would be ready to race. Speaking to GPblog and other media, the Briton acknowledged the complexity of the project.

"It's not an easy project. It takes time to figure out such a complicated wing like this. But it's cool, it's innovative, it's nice to see," Norris said.

Despite the setback with the experimental wing, McLaren enjoyed a relatively encouraging Friday in Austria. The opening practice session proved difficult, with Norris suffering a hydraulic issue while Oscar Piastri took some time to get up to speed.

However, both drivers bounced back strongly in FP2, finishing second and third respectively to put McLaren firmly in contention heading into the remainder of the weekend.