McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[Robbobnob]

No, the rear crash structure have been homologated since the crash test

[kalinka]

I think seg, the RB7 is nowhere near unbeatable as it seemed before the season start. I don't think that Vettel wanted Hamilton to close the gap to 1.3sec before the first pitstop. If RBR was so superior, than we must assume he wanted the gap to be the bigest before the pitstop, but in fact it was the smallest !
It's off-topic anyway.

[myurr]

No, the rear crash structure have been homologated since the crash test

They could raise the beam wing in the central section as some of the other teams do. However I think McLaren have rejected that idea, at least for now, as it's something they ran in 2009 so they're definitely aware of it.

[Tamburello]

Nah. Next week it'll stay 20. But people will say it was in m/s

James Allen mentioned 17kph on Australian TV post qualifying and given the fact that Vettel was consistently 3-4 tenths faster than Hamilton through the last sector, I have little reason to doubt the veracity of the claim that the RB was significantly faster through 11-12.

[myurr]

Nah. Next week it'll stay 20. But people will say it was in m/s

James Allen mentioned 17kph on Australian TV post qualifying and given the fact that Vettel was consistently 3-4 tenths faster than Hamilton through the last sector, I have little reason to doubt the veracity of the claim that the RB was significantly faster through 11-12.

He was also that much faster than Webber through that sector, so it could be more about driver, tyre, and setup just gelling rather than an inherent car advantage. Or did Webber somehow have less downforce?

[Just_a_fan]

Guys, I can hear a mod coming - this discussion should be in the race thread...

[murtoidf1]

TO get things back on topic.


Brawn mentioned that an octopus exhaust would go hand in hand with L shaped side pods.. So my question is, how are they fast already with the basic exhaust? Or is this still slow compared to how fast the original concept would have been.

[Just_a_fan]

No, the rear crash structure have been homologated since the crash test

They could raise the beam wing in the central section as some of the other teams do. However I think McLaren have rejected that idea, at least for now, as it's something they ran in 2009 so they're definitely aware of it.

Not sure they can. The rules define the box that the beam wing sits in and the only way to separate the wing and crash structure is to have a more S shaped crash structure or a very n-shaped centre 150mm portion - but how effective would that be anyway?

3.10.1 Any bodywork more than 150mm behind the rear wheel centre line which is between 150mm and 730mm
above the reference plane, and between 75mm and 355mm from the car centre line, must lie in an area
when viewed from the side of the car that is situated between 150mm and 350mm behind the rear wheel
centre line and between 300mm and 400mm above the reference plane. When viewed from the side of the
car no longitudinal cross section may have more than one section in this area. Furthermore, no part of this
section in contact with the external air stream may have a local concave radius of curvature smaller than
100mm.

From: http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.ns ... 2-2010.pdf

[Just_a_fan]

TO get things back on topic.


Brawn mentioned that an octopus exhaust would go hand in hand with L shaped side pods.. So my question is, how are they fast already with the basic exhaust? Or is this still slow compared to how fast the original concept would have been.

Presumably this. They must have found that the thing was very effective to have gone to all of the effort of effectively designing the car around it.

[bot6]

Impressive how the Mackie Boys have bounced back. Gives some credence to what Hamilton was saying about his guys never giving up.



I think the McLaren cannon exhaust is really interesting as it seems to use slightly shorter pipes than the Ferrari and Red Bull ones. The exhausts also seem to be raised slightly above the floor instead of being completely integrated in the floor. I think that little foil in front of the wheel helps them get away with it by channeling the exhaust, ending up with a simpler, lighter solution with less heat transmitted to the floor and less power loss due to the longer pipes.

Really interesting solution!

[mith]

Presumably this. They must have found that the thing was very effective to have gone to all of the effort of effectively designing the car around it.

If that is the case, they could built it of pyrosic and test properly on Friday, to see, if it gives expected gains in real life. If so, then it would be worth of trying to find some way to construct it using only allowed materials or circumvent the rules. Or are they so sure of their concept, they don't need to prove it - of course if bespoken rumour is true.

[adrianjordan]

Impressive how the Mackie Boys have bounced back. Gives some credence to what Hamilton was saying about his guys never giving up.


I think the McLaren cannon exhaust is really interesting as it seems to use slightly shorter pipes than the Ferrari and Red Bull ones. The exhausts also seem to be raised slightly above the floor instead of being completely integrated in the floor. I think that little foil in front of the wheel helps them get away with it by channeling the exhaust, ending up with a simpler, lighter solution with less heat transmitted to the floor and less power loss due to the longer pipes.

Really interesting solution!

I expect to see the exhaust more concealed at future races - having it exposed like that can't be doing the aerodynamics of that part of the car any good.

[kalinka]

The exhausts also seem to be raised slightly above the floor instead of being completely integrated in the floor. I think that little foil in front of the wheel helps them get away with it by channeling the exhaust, ending up with a simpler, lighter solution with less heat transmitted to the floor and less power loss due to the longer pipes.

That's the benefit of the U sidepods, because they doesn't need that flow around the sidepods to the back so desperately like other teams, so they can make this compromise without significant drawback. I espect too though that they're working on more sophisticated-integrated solution.

[SiLo]

Is it me, or is this the easiest car to drive on the grid? Even when watching the Red Bull it is only similar/little bit more twitchy.

http://vimeo.com/21491368

[myurr]

Is it me, or is this the easiest car to drive on the grid? Even when watching the Red Bull it is only similar/little bit more twitchy.

http://vimeo.com/21491368

It definitely looks absolutely planted. Almost as if it has much more rear downforce than at the front, which is something that Button alluded to earlier in the weekend. Bringing front end downforce to the car should be a lot easier than increasing it at the rear.