Why McLaren went the opposite way to Mercedes' front wing

Here is the thing about engineering in top-tier racing: what works for one machine will utterly fail on another. McLaren have just underscored that exact truth by making precisely the opposite change in their front wing philosophy to the one recently made by Mercedes.

The new McLaren wing appearing in Sao Paulo attaches to the nose via the middle of the three elements. That is a direct shift away from their previous design, which used the bottom element for the connection.

Mercedes, by contrast, went the exact other way at the recent US Grand Prix. It is a wild illustration of how two teams can look at the same aerodynamic puzzle and arrive at entirely different answers for their beasts.