McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[liveforf1]

Last year I thought the most significant change was Red Bull's pull rod rear. The car seemed to be able to respond to any circuit design and only struggled when their engine couldn't keep up.
They also have a very short wheel base which seemed to make the car very nimble in the corners.
The Mclaren this year has moved to the pull rod rear which I was happy to see. I'm still concerned about the long wheelbase approach. The car seemed downright clumsy in the slow corners last year. What other than straight line and high speed cornering stability is the advantage of the long wheelbase? These are important factors, but that hasn't been where they gave up huge performance deficits last year.
I love the fact that Mclaren is always searching for that "eureka" moment. It fits with their leading edge technology philosophy.

Let the show begin!

[myurr]

I was under the impression that the Red Bull was one of the longer cars, comparable to the McLaren in length. Also it was widely discussed last near that it's a bit of a myth that short wheelbase cars are more nimble than long wheel base cars.

[Florio]

Been on a trip and just seen the car! SIDEPODS! WOW!

[Giblet]

I was under the impression that the Red Bull was one of the longer cars, comparable to the McLaren in length. Also it was widely discussed last near that it's a bit of a myth that short wheelbase cars are more nimble than long wheel base cars.

Yes true you can have a long car that oversteers or a short car that understeers. Both may get around the corner at the same time.

[Raptor22]

Dear McLaren,

Thanks for producing a distinctive car.
Regards,

Raptor

[N12ck]

I think there is more to this car than meets the eye, those sidepods are strange but i dont think they are the main feature of the car...

[Just_a_fan]

Been looking at the -26 and the rear end is interesting. A couple of things that caught my eye:



Looks the rear end was very far from the real deal. The diffuser each side of the starter hole has quite a complex shape.

Also of note is the attachment of the lower wishbone to the hub. It's almost at the same height as the drive shaft - this will improve airflow to the diffuser top. Note also that the toe control link is mounted below the rear lower wishbone mounting point on the gearbox. (The toe control link might be the higher of the two, but even so the whole lot is up out of the way of the airflow).

Be interesting to compare this with the representative car at the next test/first race. I think a whole lot of new stuff is going to be appearing here. I also think that the design of the volume below the crash structure points away from McLaren using a Renault style front exhaust.

[delacf]

I do not think sidepods be a differentiator. A great car is a sum of little things but I do not think that the best of this car are the sidepods, obviously.

Also it was widely discussed last near that it's a bit of a myth that short wheelbase cars are more nimble than long wheel base cars.

Why? This is demonstrable. Physics, the mother of all sciences [-o< .

Regards,

delacf

[hud]

with that large opening sits just behind front wheels how will it performs in a very wet race? will it sucks all the spray from the tyre?

[Raptor22]

I;'d like ot post a pic of how I see the endplates and exhaust outlets developing. how do I do this. Lookslike it needs to be webhosted.

[myurr]

I;'d like ot post a pic of how I see the endplates and exhaust outlets developing. how do I do this. Lookslike it needs to be webhosted.

Upload to http://imageshack.us or equivalent, view it in the browser, then copy the link. Paste in an img tag here.

[myurr]

Also it was widely discussed last near that it's a bit of a myth that short wheelbase cars are more nimble than long wheel base cars.

Why? This is demonstrable. Physics, the mother of all sciences [-o< .

Regards,

delacf

Your demonstrable proof being?

It was based on comment from the chief engineers of the teams last year at the launches of their cars where they said that the difference in wheel bases between a 'short' and 'long' car weren't that great relative to each other, and that there were other more important factors in determining the nimbleness of the cars. It was discussed at length last year with, I believe, the majority of the engineers concurring with the F1 guys that it was more myth than fact.

[Raptor22]

I;'d like ot post a pic of how I see the endplates and exhaust outlets developing. how do I do this. Lookslike it needs to be webhosted.

Upload to http://imageshack.us or equivalent, view it in the browser, then copy the link. Paste in an img tag here.

bolocks, will have to do that from home as work firewall behaves like an old nanny

[Raptor22]

Also it was widely discussed last near that it's a bit of a myth that short wheelbase cars are more nimble than long wheel base cars.

Why? This is demonstrable. Physics, the mother of all sciences [-o< .

Regards,

delacf

Your demonstrable proof being?

It was based on comment from the chief engineers of the teams last year at the launches of their cars where they said that the difference in wheel bases between a 'short' and 'long' car weren't that great relative to each other, and that there were other more important factors in determining the nimbleness of the cars. It was discussed at length last year with, I believe, the majority of the engineers concurring with the F1 guys that it was more myth than fact.

With the current narrow track cars, the wheel bases are all considered to be variations of long.
With the wider track cars it was more of a factor.

[gibells]

Great video. How come it's never me though? #&@*

In a unique event attended by hundreds of fans, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes brought together members of the public to construct and reveal its new MP4-26 chassis, the team's challenger for the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Exclusive footage from various POV including the fans that brought parts to the reveal (including the content they captured on their phones) plus shots taken from the car, both Lewis and Jenson's lapels etc

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zCXGFeesug[/youtube]