McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[McG]

point being the car is capable of producing an 8 tenth difference

Not quite. Vettel's best time was set with purple in every sector. If you used the best 3 sectors that Hamilton set he could've got to within 5 tenths of the SV's Red Bull meaning that things are considerably closer than people realise.

Correction it's not as close as .5. Hamilton's best time with his sector times was 1.24.157 to Vettel's 1:23.529.

Thank you for that brilliant bit of clarification!

[l4mbch0ps]

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".

Well no offence, but I think you're a little mad to think that a team the size of Mclaren didn't have this design under evaluation before they saw it on the Red Bull. The unification of design doesn't come *solely* from copying - it also comes from disparate groups of people coming to the same conclusions independently.

[Coefficient]

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".

Well no offence, but I think you're a little mad to think that a team the size of Mclaren didn't have this design under evaluation before they saw it on the Red Bull. The unification of design doesn't come *solely* from copying - it also comes from disparate groups of people coming to the same conclusions independently.

At the end of the day, the solution they brought to melbourne isn't that different to what they had at Spa last year. You talk as if EBDs are a new thing and everyone is rushing to copy Red Bull. All the big teams have used EBD devices in myriad different forms on numerous cars over the years. Mclaren had it on the 18A actually. To say they hadn't thought of this as an option is foolish because the turn around time to integrate this concept into their car is way too long to just do it on a whim and hope it works. You seem to suggest that taking a few photos of the Red Bull and carving something up in the shed that looks similar would do the trick, that is nonesense!!

[shelly]

You seem to suggest that taking a few photos of the Red Bull and carving something up in the shed that looks similar would do the trick, that is nonesense!!

I think it is no nonsense, but it is more or less what happened.
Of course mclaren have done some evaluation before sticking to redbull solution.

I am curious to see if mclaren will bring in the octopus exhaust later on in the season after fixing some issues with regulations and reliability; they seemed to expect a big gain in performance from that system

[Marco Alves]

Is not the best of images but the diffuser appears to be black again:

[adrianjordan]

Is not the best of images but the diffuser appears to be black again:

I was sure it was the light grey colour in some of the TV shots I saw - will try and find a picture...

[keoxiv]

hello there.
Seems like Mac had tested new diffuser in 1st practice:

and switched to Australian one for the 2nd:

I wonder have they developed material that can withstand high temp like titanium or they cool down exhaust gases...
They used the same exhaust layout:

[F1Squishy]

According to someone on the Autosport forums who was at the track for FP1 & 2, Lewis was the only one sporting the new diffuser while Jenson had the titanium one probably from the previous GP. Bit supprised that they havn't got two ready for this GP but I have no idea how long the manufacturing process is or when they they even started!

[Richard]

hello there.
Seems like Mac had tested new diffuser in 1st practice

Welcome! That's an impressive first post, thank you.

[bajan snyper]

I wonder what else will change by P3. Would love to see Lewis and Jenson race different diffusers.

[PlatinumZealot]

I really hope they don't give Jenson the faster equipment in order to show "driver equality." Haven't gotten the chance to watch FP2 but what tyres were they on? And what about the REdBull? Wondering if the gap has reduced..

[JB2011]

I think the disparity in diffusers was just so they could test both at once on the same circuit, then pick the one they think will perform best. I'm sure they've got 2 of the new one.

[feynman]

Both cars had the black, 4-vane, diffuser for FP1.

Button switched back to the titanium, 2-vane, one for FP2, Hamilton stayed with the new one. Button was on the radio complaining about balance during FP1, so perhaps he didn't enjoy the new diffuser and wanted to switch back.

[FemiA]

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".

Well no offence, but I think you're a little mad to think that a team the size of Mclaren didn't have this design under evaluation before they saw it on the Red Bull. The unification of design doesn't come *solely* from copying - it also comes from disparate groups of people coming to the same conclusions independently.

Mclaren were reported to have 4 different exhaust solutions ready for evaluation at Woking 2 weeks before Autralian GP. Of course it is not likely that Mclaren copied RB's exhaust, analysed it, modified it to suit there package and manufactured it and put it on the cars in just 10 days without having it as one of their options much earlier on. I am willing to bet that the evaluation of different exhaust solutions including Renaults have been evaluated by Mclaren and were all ready to come on the cars before the first GP.

[ringo]

Both cars had the black, 4-vane, diffuser for FP1.

Button switched back to the titanium, 2-vane, one for FP2, Hamilton stayed with the new one. Button was on the radio complaining about balance during FP1, so perhaps he didn't enjoy the new diffuser and wanted to switch back.

Anything to help with rear grip. They should have given him a lead diffuser instead of titanium and take the ballast out the front of the car.

bigger oil cooler duct: