The 2025 McLaren F1 Extremes the Suspension Setup of the MCL39

F1 2025 – The 2025 McLaren MCL39, unexpectedly unveiled on Thursday, February 13, introduces advanced technical solutions in its suspension system, with a particular focus on enhancing aerodynamic stability and managing forces during braking and cornering. The design has been refined to optimize airflow efficiency both at the front and rear axles.

The suspension configuration follows a well-established layout: pull-rod at the front and push-rod at the rear. However, the interpretation adopted for the F1 2025 McLaren MCL39 takes this design choice to a new level.

At the front, the suspension arms have been repositioned with a greater height difference between the elements of the upper triangle. Specifically, the rear upper arm now has a lower mounting point on the chassis. The front lower arm mounting appears to have been raised as well. Unfortunately, the available photos are of low quality, making it difficult to conduct a detailed analysis.

At the rear, the push-rod suspension arm has been angled more steeply. This choice not only affects the car’s mechanical response but also significantly impacts aerodynamics, as it improves airflow management around the Coca-Cola zone and the diffuser. The goal is to generate more aerodynamic downforce, improving traction and cornering stability.

At first glance, the rear suspension seems to adopt a configuration similar to the Mercedes W15, sacrificing mechanical aspects for an aerodynamic advantage.

The altered position of the rear upper pull-rod arm has certainly not gone unnoticed. There’s already talk of an extreme suspension kinematics approach, aimed at achieving a greater anti-dive effect.

What is Anti-Dive?

Anti-dive is a suspension design feature that counteracts pitch motion during braking, preventing the car’s front end from dipping when the driver brakes.

From a physical standpoint, during braking, there is a transfer of load from the rear axle to the front axle, causing the front springs to compress and the rear springs to extend.

The principle behind anti-dive suspension geometry is quite simple: the suspension arms are arranged longitudinally with a tilt such that the horizontal traction force counteracts the longitudinal load transfer.

What results is a balancing equation between the horizontal braking force and the longitudinal load transfer.

Advantages of Anti-Dive Geometry

The key advantage of anti-dive geometry is maintaining a consistent ride height, allowing the car to maximize ground effect without sudden changes. This improves aerodynamic stability and predictability during braking operations. It also helps avoid aerodynamic downforce loss during braking, as excessive pitch could alter the car’s balance and make it less effective when entering corners.

It is important to note that, in practice, it is never beneficial to push the anti-dive value too close to 100% for several reasons. The first relates to driving: a car that remains level might reduce driver sensitivity during both braking and acceleration, as they can rely only on G-forces. The second reason is mechanical; excessively high anti-dive values can lead to worse road irregularity absorption by the suspension, with the car potentially bouncing dangerously. Furthermore, the particular angle of the suspension arms may require recalibration of various setup parameters, particularly caster angle, which could become particularly unfavorable.

How to Design an Anti-Dive Kinematics?

A specific configuration of the suspension arms must be adopted, as shown in the figure below:

Using Chasles’ theorem, the instant center of rotation (ICR) of the wheel is located at the intersection of the extensions of the suspension arms viewed from the side. If the center of gravity lies on the line connecting the wheel contact point with the ICR, we have a 100% anti-dive, meaning the car won’t dip during braking. On the contrary, the suspension will allow rotation, as a lever arm forms between the center of gravity and the projection of the ICR on the perpendicular line where the center of mass lies. In this case, the load transfer generates a moment of counterclockwise rotation, while the horizontal braking force generates a clockwise moment.

Why Did McLaren Choose Such an Extreme Design for the 2025 MCL39?

At first glance, the lowering of the rear upper arm attachment point on the MCL39 might lead one to think that the anti-dive effect has been significantly increased. However, as we have seen, other arm positions must also be considered. McLaren seems to have raised the front lower arm attachment as well. This way, the lines of the analyzed arms can intersect near the line connecting the wheel contact point to the ICR. This means that the anti-dive effect would not be radically altered compared to the McLaren MCL38. Clearly, we do not have full lateral views of the arms (due to the limited available images), so we can only make assumptions.

What McLaren appears to have done is an aerodynamic optimization, aiming for maximum efficiency. The peculiar rear arm position seems designed to allow undisturbed airflow to the side inlets, which have changed shape, now adopting a more vertical orientation compared to the MCL38.

This led to a redesign of the front suspension. As is often the case, aerodynamics drives the mechanical choices. Once this new configuration was chosen, Woking’s engineers must have faced suspension compromises, seeking to maintain a functional suspension system within the altered geometry.

Another aspect to consider is that anti-dive could be increased to provide greater floor stability, in light of new technical directives on wing flexibility. With a less flexible front wing, especially in straights, aerodynamic resistance will increase, generating more downforce. This will lead to greater car compression towards the ground, and a variable ride height compared to the past. It’s clear that we’re still talking about small percentage points relative to the car’s overall downforce, which is mainly generated by the floor.

Conclusion

The design choices for the MCL39 aim to improve the correlation between vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics. In modern Formula 1, where ground effect is crucial, ensuring a constant setup becomes an absolute priority.

This philosophy pushes the concept of suspension-aerodynamics interaction to the extreme, striving for a more efficient, stable, and high-performing car at every stage of driving. Whether this approach will be successful will only be determined during the first races of the season.

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