McLaren MCL38

[f1rules]

a small thing but none the less, they narrowed the width of the airbox considerably. so probably why sidepod inlet dont seem that agressive, cause they moved cooling from one place to other.

[LionsHeart]

well they are trying to hide something, simply covered the tunnel/undercut with a photoshop brush,

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGSnqSwXoAA ... me=900x900

The most I look at the front wing, the most I see a vortex generator in the up inner side of it. Kind a Mercedes solution but in a more unnoticed way

There is a curved separator between 3th and 4th elements, pointing outward and creating a kind of box with the nose where if I´m not wrong will appear a low pressure area. On the outter side of the separator it´s gonna be much higher pressure and when they encouter at the exit, they are going to roll one around the other creating a vortex.

Am I just talking nonsense?

That's the adjustment slot, it's the plate designed to close the gap between the fixed and movable parts of the elements when they move relative to each other. Every front wing has this, but the outward curve can be beneficial in some way, probably creating some vorticity.
https://media.formula1.com/image/upload ... /image.jpg

With that said, I'm pretty sure the wing they presented is the same as last year, and I wouldn't even expect it to be ran at Round 1.

On another subject:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGSQTzkXUAA ... name=large
Do you guys see a seam on the sidepod inlets, right over the Velo "o"?
I'm thinking this means the inlet can change, maybe to have a less conservative solution with a more pronounced overbite, or to suit the car for different cooling requirements.
Does that make sense?

About the seam: all teams have this kind of thing, if I understand correctly which seam we're talking about. Maybe the team will change the inlet, or maybe it's just an early raw version of the final machining of the part.

[DiogoBrand]

yeah its somethng discussed also in the aston martin thread, where it also look like a interchangeable panel their solution. Would make sense, that you could adjust, just like you adjust for cooling needs, wing confiq etc. Mclaren did it in the past, changed the inlet size of the sidepod, making it smaller for high speed tracks
Found here, for comparison, this almost look like a changeable panel also,
https://i.imgur.com/y2sTvht.jpeg

Considering the increased importance of the inlet with the current regulations, as well as the budget cap, I think it makes sense to have a more modular construction there to allow for changes without the need for an entirely new sidepod.

a small thing but none the less, they narrowed the width of the airbox considerably. so probably why sidepod inlet dont seem that agressive, cause they moved cooling from one place to other.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGWmz_TWgAE ... name=small

When I talk about it not being agressive, I’m not even talking about the area, since it doesn’t seem that large on the Mcl38. To me what seems more “conservative” is the more square profile, instead of it being wider and smaller in height, as well as the inclination, with Red Bull looking like they have it more at an angle with a more pronounced overbite.

[DragonSGC]

I don't believe we have seen this image or perhaps a cropped version of this image.

This image was taken from the recent autosports YT video about the mclaren from this timestamp:
https://youtu.be/rwe7mkInPNU?t=94

I just want to point out from this perspective the massive undercut underneath the sidepod particularly heading to the tunnel entrances also notice how Mclaren's PR people have blurred out the suspension pick up points and the floor edges here.

[djos]

https://i.imgur.com/agYe2M2.png

I don't believe we have seen this image or perhaps a cropped version of this image.

This image was taken from the recent autosports YT video about the mclaren from this timestamp:
https://youtu.be/rwe7mkInPNU?t=94

I just want to point out from this perspective the massive undercut underneath the sidepod particularly heading to the tunnel entrances also notice how Mclaren's PR people have blurred out the suspension pick up points and the floor edges here.

Great angle, but McLaren have clearly blurred out most of the detail.

[Emag]

https://i.imgur.com/agYe2M2.png

I don't believe we have seen this image or perhaps a cropped version of this image.

This image was taken from the recent autosports YT video about the mclaren from this timestamp:
https://youtu.be/rwe7mkInPNU?t=94

I just want to point out from this perspective the massive undercut underneath the sidepod particularly heading to the tunnel entrances also notice how Mclaren's PR people have blurred out the suspension pick up points and the floor edges here.

That's a good angle. Most of the detail has been stripped away, but you can see the links to the chassis are being used for aerodynamic purposes (something similar was seen on the aston too):

[mwillems]

yeah its somethng discussed also in the aston martin thread, where it also look like a interchangeable panel their solution. Would make sense, that you could adjust, just like you adjust for cooling needs, wing confiq etc. Mclaren did it in the past, changed the inlet size of the sidepod, making it smaller for high speed tracks
Found here, for comparison, this almost look like a changeable panel also,
https://i.imgur.com/y2sTvht.jpeg

Considering the increased importance of the inlet with the current regulations, as well as the budget cap, I think it makes sense to have a more modular construction there to allow for changes without the need for an entirely new sidepod.

a small thing but none the less, they narrowed the width of the airbox considerably. so probably why sidepod inlet dont seem that agressive, cause they moved cooling from one place to other.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGWmz_TWgAE ... name=small

When I talk about it not being agressive, I’m not even talking about the area, since it doesn’t seem that large on the Mcl38. To me what seems more “conservative” is the more square profile, instead of it being wider and smaller in height, as well as the inclination, with Red Bull looking like they have it more at an angle with a more pronounced overbite.

The floor is similar, in that various parts of it now are modular instead of it being one piece, something that both Mclaren and RB did last year (And I'm sure some others too). This is part of the Weight vs Cost vs Development Time equation. Rear wings are also more modular and I'm sure we will see this year even more "modfules" created as part of this new design.

[DiogoBrand]

https://i.imgur.com/agYe2M2.png

I don't believe we have seen this image or perhaps a cropped version of this image.

This image was taken from the recent autosports YT video about the mclaren from this timestamp:
https://youtu.be/rwe7mkInPNU?t=94

I just want to point out from this perspective the massive undercut underneath the sidepod particularly heading to the tunnel entrances also notice how Mclaren's PR people have blurred out the suspension pick up points and the floor edges here.

That's a good angle. Most of the detail has been stripped away, but you can see the links to the chassis are being used for aerodynamic purposes (something similar was seen on the aston too):

https://i.ibb.co/0qrThJY/suspension.png

Just from the gap between the front element of the top wishbone and the rest of the suspension, you can already tell the wishbone has quite a big angle this time.

[Balalu]

Are McLaren on the same route as Redbull regarding the sidepod inlets?

Although the different engines probably require different cooling, and Redbull seem to be more extreme. Still, McLaren seem to have likewise thinking.

[djos]

RedBull and McLaren have both gone the overbite route, that definitely inspires confidence imo!

[MTudor]

I don't know about you guys but i feel like for the first time since 2014 when he had that huge hemoragy of personel going to Mercedes,we can finally compete with the "big boys".

[CjC]

well they are trying to hide something, simply covered the tunnel/undercut with a photoshop brush,

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGSnqSwXoAA ... me=900x900

The most I look at the front wing, the most I see a vortex generator in the up inner side of it. Kind a Mercedes solution but in a more unnoticed way

There is a curved separator between 3th and 4th elements, pointing outward and creating a kind of box with the nose where if I´m not wrong will appear a low pressure area. On the outter side of the separator it´s gonna be much higher pressure and when they encouter at the exit, they are going to roll one around the other creating a vortex.

Am I just talking nonsense?

That's the adjustment slot, it's the plate designed to close the gap between the fixed and movable parts of the elements when they move relative to each other. Every front wing has this, but the outward curve can be beneficial in some way, probably creating some vorticity.
https://media.formula1.com/image/upload ... /image.jpg

With that said, I'm pretty sure the wing they presented is the same as last year, and I wouldn't even expect it to be ran at Round 1.

On another subject:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGSQTzkXUAA ... name=large
Do you guys see a seam on the sidepod inlets, right over the Velo "o"?
I'm thinking this means the inlet can change, maybe to have a less conservative solution with a more pronounced overbite, or to suit the car for different cooling requirements.
Does that make sense?

I’ve spotted this as well
@mwillems
This could be what you are alluding to regarding how we haven’t seen everything yet. Either it’s currently hidden with a conservative solution or an aggressive solution is in the pipeline.

Who knows… but this is what the launch season is

[Vanja #66]

Are both these teams opening up similar development paths for this season? And how difficult would it be for other teams which have committed to the opposite philosophy (AM, Ferrari and Merc) to switch if this indeed proves to have a higher ceiling when it comes to development potential?

It's impossible to say this now, but you'd think MCL38 would have the closest concept to RB20. However, for RB20's solution to work with the floor fully, the whole floor would need to work towards that solution and I don't think McLaren would come up with a car closer to 23 cars if they want to test this as quickly as possible. Right now, it looks like RB is the only team going down that path. Obviously, MCL38 does not have an integrated S duct solution near the tub, which might also be a very important piece of the puzzle.

As for other cars, AMR might not be able to do it at all I think, while Mercedes and Ferrari may have designed their cars moderate enough in sidepod area to make a switch, especially Ferrari since they have the S duct they already introduced last year.

[Apexseal157]

Are both these teams opening up similar development paths for this season? And how difficult would it be for other teams which have committed to the opposite philosophy (AM, Ferrari and Merc) to switch if this indeed proves to have a higher ceiling when it comes to development potential?

It's impossible to say this now, but you'd think MCL38 would have the closest concept to RB20. However, for RB20's solution to work with the floor fully, the whole floor would need to work towards that solution and I don't think McLaren would come up with a car closer to 23 cars if they want to test this as quickly as possible. Right now, it looks like RB is the only team going down that path. Obviously, MCL38 does not have an integrated S duct solution near the tub, which might also be a very important piece of the puzzle.

As for other cars, AMR might not be able to do it at all I think, while Mercedes and Ferrari may have designed their cars moderate enough in sidepod area to make a switch, especially Ferrari since they have the S duct they already introduced last year.

as discussed in the rb20 thread we dont even know if the redbull has a vertical s-duct yet, that'll be confirmed when we see the car, and I don't think the s-duct is really "a very important piece of the puzzle", it may offer slight gains for some cars but I'm sure all the teams looked at it when ferrari showed it off but yet only one team are speculated to have it (redbull) other than ferrari, seems weird to me. You'd think if it offered any large benifit all the teams would have come to the same conclusion but they haven't. realistcally most of the cars are going down the same development path as last years redbull so saying something like "AMR might not be able to do it at all I think" ignores the fact that the amr sidepod concept is just an evolved version of the late rb19 sidepod with added waterslides. these two concepts are basically the same, trying to maximise the undercut while still creating enough high pressure to push out the wheel wake so it wouldnt be radical for amr to flip the outlet and have a very similar pod to redbull

[AR3-GP]

Speculation about whether or not one team can copy another easily seems pointless.