McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[aral]

IF it's even legal. But we don't even know it's worth a second.

Why would McLaren develop an exhaust system that is illegal?

The concept is not illegal, only the material from which it is made.

[Holm86]

Its not illegal no. But if they somehow get it to work later in the season im 100% sure it is illegal next year.

[mx_tifoso]

F1 magazine cover car discussion split off:
MP4-26 in F1 magazine

[beelsebob]

Button is claiming in an interview with the BBC that McLaren have upgrades that they think will put them level with RedBull in terms of performance. Lets see

[Hangaku]

Button is claiming in an interview with the BBC that McLaren have upgrades that they think will put them level with RedBull in terms of performance. Lets see

OMG, soulless corporate machine!

Button is doing his job well for McLaren. I suspect that we'll hear something similar from Hamilton.

Considering that Macca have (effectively) completed their first session at race distance (the last race!), it would be silly to assume that they haven't made progress. How they are going to pull 8 tenths of a second in though, I'm not too sure.

I suspect that at this stage, the key points will be:

- Revised exhaust outlets (closer to what RedBull are doing)
- Possible revised beam wing (considering exhaust is now blowing different areas when compared to octopus)
- Properly manufactured rear diffuser
- Larger cooling outlets / inlets for various components
- A more fleixble front wing (now that they have passed their first test with a semi-flexi wing)
- Probably a few revised winglets here and there on the car

Anything else? All the standard second race revisions then!

[raymondu999]

I don't think they would've been able to do all that in 2 weeks, but something along those lines

[Biscuit]

A team the size of McLaren I'd assume they had already started working on the process for creating the CF version of the diffuser when they got it in their heads to prototype 2 in titanium. It's quite likely they've had a good bit longer than 2 weeks to work on that component.

If they understand already how to produce more flex in the wing but were taking small steps, it's also possible that they had more aggressive designs complete or in the works. Seeing a more flexible front wing might also be fairly reasonable to see in between the two weekends.

They are still running a rather large flap rear wing, it will be interesting to see if they test variations of that this weekend. I haven't seen a consensus yet on whether a large flap is better for DRS top speed or DRS rear grip, several arguments have been made either way. I suspect the ideal ground for this hasn't been identified by the teams yet either.

[Coefficient]

I don't think they would've been able to do all that in 2 weeks, but something along those lines

They haven't been doing this for 2 weeks. They've been doing it since they first realised that they needed to come up with an interim exhaust solution which was pretty early on in the tests. That's why we saw MP4 26 running with the exhausts running in the same position they're in now in testing albeit in a less refined state.

All the bits are part of the planned surface aero upgrade plus a few bits to refine they're revised exhaust system. I don't see them getting on terms with Red Bull though but they should be a bit closer. Close enough for Hamilton to make the difference in wheel to wheel battle anyway.

[scarlet]

There's still a gauze over the brake ducts:

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews/d11mal171.jpg

This article cites leaves on the track as the reason for doing so in Melbourne, but this is surely a non-factor in Sepang?

[beelsebob]

I don't think they would've been able to do all that in 2 weeks, but something along those lines

They haven't been doing this for 2 weeks. They've been doing it since they first realised that they needed to come up with an interim exhaust solution which was pretty early on in the tests. That's why we saw MP4 26 running with the exhausts running in the same position they're in now in testing albeit in a less refined state.

We did? At what stage did McLaren run exhausts out the sides and pointed under the diffuser during the tests?

[i70q7m7ghw]

There's still a gauze over the brake ducts:

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews/d11mal171.jpg

This article cites leaves on the track as the reason for doing so in Melbourne, but this is surely a non-factor in Sepang?

I understood it as more to do with marbles generated by the softer Pirelli tyres this year...

[Coefficient]

I don't think they would've been able to do all that in 2 weeks, but something along those lines

They haven't been doing this for 2 weeks. They've been doing it since they first realised that they needed to come up with an interim exhaust solution which was pretty early on in the tests. That's why we saw MP4 26 running with the exhausts running in the same position they're in now in testing albeit in a less refined state.

We did? At what stage did McLaren run exhausts out the sides and pointed under the diffuser during the tests?

Well, to answer your very specific question I'd have to say Melbourne. However, Mclaren did run traditional exhausts towards the outside of diffuser during testing. Admittedly, they were blowing over the diffuser by the look of them but the idea was already there to use the gases in that vicinity. The newer model used in Melbourne is surely a development of this concept and surely not plagiarism of the Red Bull?

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/cars/mclaren-mp4-26/

[bonjon1979]

Button is claiming in an interview with the BBC that McLaren have upgrades that they think will put them level with RedBull in terms of performance. Lets see

He's not really is he, just that's what the title says!

[bonjon1979]

We did? At what stage did McLaren run exhausts out the sides and pointed under the diffuser during the tests?[/quote]

Well, to answer your very specific question I'd have to say Melbourne. However, Mclaren did run traditional exhausts towards the outside of diffuser during testing. Admittedly, they were blowing over the diffuser by the look of them but the idea was already there to use the gases in that vicinity. The newer model used in Melbourne is surely a development of this concept and surely not plagiarism of the Red Bull?

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/cars/mclaren-mp4-26/[/quote]

I thought that one of their many testing iterations was an exhaust that routed out to the side of the diffuser and had a slit that fed directly underneath into the floor of the car. Check out scarbs drawing a little way down the page.

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/category/2011-testing/

[beelsebob]

Well, to answer your very specific question I'd have to say Melbourne.

So... not during testing at all?

However, Mclaren did run traditional exhausts towards the outside of diffuser during testing.

They were high up, and pretty far in – they weren't "towards the edge of the diffuser" at all – they were simply a safe system that they knew would work.

The newer model used in Melbourne is surely a development of this concept and surely not plagiarism of the Red Bull?

I think you're mad if you think the exhaust system used in melbourne is anything other than "oh hey, RedBull's exhaust is a neat idea and our idea didn't work right yet, lets copy theirs".