McLaren: No plans to race shark fin cover

The Mercedes-powered team tested the engine cover at Hockenheim but ruled out racing it despite many of their rivals having already adopted it.

McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh said the team's priorities are now focused elsewhere.

"Its intended aim was to improve the car's sensitivity during yaw, but we found that some of the advantage it brought to that area was being offset elsewhere," said Whitmarsh of the engine cover.

"As you can clearly see, it is a large structure and one that is particularly sensitive to crosswinds.

"We felt that our car already delivers sufficiently in yaw and that continuing to experiment with the dorsal fin might not bring us the sufficient performance benefit we'd require to make it worthwhile.

"As such, it is not something we are giving priority to at the moment."

Whitmarsh said, however, that McLaren continue with their development push and that new components will appear at the next race in Valencia.

"We are undertaking two 50km shakedown tests ahead of Valencia," he said. "We're also continually developing new parts for the car.

"As our simulation and development departments continue to produce new parts, we'll take a view as to whether they'll be raced. We won't disclose what they are but I'm sure you'll see some new components appear during Friday testing at the next race."