McLaren did its homework. There's nothing wrong with being smart. No paradigm shift is needed. It's up to the competing teams to build better performing cars and to let these race by the best skilled drivers.
Reposting this earlier post about how so-called
'observational engineering' and gnats at the Sebring circuit helped transforming a Porsche race car into a complete beast: the Porsche 917.
Summary: Porsche had no truly competitive Le Mans car in the late 60s. Ford and Ferrari dominated the field. Porsche was determined to win Le Mans. They analyzed the rules, struck a deal with an experienced British team with a US sponsor (Gulf) and build together a rocket ship: the 917. Eye for details: prototypes proved to be unstable at high speed - a 'widow maker' ...until bugs/gnats splatter at the Sebring circuit showed Porsche the way: Porsche engineers had noticed way less splatted bugs on the tail and rear spoiler of their cars. However, the Can Am version with a longer upwards inclined tail proved to be more stable. Observational engineering and a so-called 'Aha Erlebnis': to improve air flow and downforce dynamics they decided to redesign the tail of the 917: inclined aluminum panels were bolted on the tail with screws and duct tape. *Bingo*: improved stability and way faster lap times. Porsche subsequently perfected the redesigned tail. The rest is history.
See from 12:20 onwards - amazing story:
Fast forward to 2024: Andreas Preuninger explains the
"dramatic" importance of a Gurney flap on the Porsche 911 S/T. A Gurney flap is a common feature of BMW M cars.
See from 11:25 to 12:37 (
"what a huge difference" - "You wouldn't believe how much effect this thing [Gurney flap] has at higher speeds"):