The Woking-based team arrived at the Red Bull Ring with a bold new design that features a series of extremely tall slots in the endplate to allow air to pass between the surfaces.

Allied to tweaks to the floor, the aim of the design is understood to be related to minimising drag without it compromising on downforce levels.

Fernando Alonso 's car was fitted with the wing for first practice as he conducted a back-to-back test to check on the developments.

In the afternoon, with rain hitting second free practice, he reverted to the normal wing because of the limited dry mileage that was expected.

McLaren evaluated the data from the wing overnight but felt it would be too much of a gamble to race with it having not got the mileage it wanted under its belt.

It is likely therefore that the wing will reappear for practice at the British Grand Prix next week so the team can get a better understanding of it.

A team spokesman said: “We are still treating the wing as very much a test item rather than a finished product. So you can expect to see it back again for further Friday tests.”