McLaren MP4-28 (pre-launch speculation)

[onewingedangel]

One interesting point to look out for, away from the technical aspect of the car is will there be any Mexican sponsors? You'd imagine Telmex and Vodafone can't be on the same car..

Jose Cuervo would be the obvious transplant from Sauber considerring Diagio's existing ties to McLaren.

[Jackles-UK]

One would think that with McLaren having used pull-rod rear for the last few seasons they will stick with it for this year (I'd be surprised to see any team with the funds/sense to go push-rod on the rear to be honest). As for pull-rod front, well, there wasn't really any huge benefit seen on the Ferrari this year but who knows.

If they are to stick with the low nose ethos that the MP4-XX family tree has brought us over the years would a front pull-rod system be easier or harder to incorporate than on high nosed cars? Firstly, the strengthening would surely need to be even more extreme than on the F2012 (it'll have to be negatively cambered rather than the near horizontal F2012) and, secondly, if its main benefit is to offer a tiny aero gain on high nosed cars, will it being mounted on the chassis lower down negate any advantage?

[wesley123]

An 'problem' on the F2012 with it was the angle of the pull rod, with a lower tub height the pull rod will have a larger angle, but not so much

[FW17]

A revolutionary car next year would be a disaster as with the mp4-19 fw-26

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

One interesting point to look out for, away from the technical aspect of the car is will there be any Mexican sponsors? You'd imagine Telmex and Vodafone can't be on the same car..

Anyone got an idea whether Mclaren will be doing a Front/Rear Pullrod suspension system?

pull-rod, push-rod, could-rod, let's-rod, wait 3 and half week and you will see. no one knows what system will they use.

McLaren MP4-28 (pre-launch speculation)

[Javert]

McLaren estimated MP4-28 1s per lap faster than -27

I wonder where they have taken so much time.

[turbof1]

McLaren estimated MP4-28 1s per lap faster than -27

I wonder where they have taken so much time.

Where did you got this info?

[McMrocks]

McLaren estimated MP4-28 1s per lap faster than -27

I wonder where they have taken so much time.

This is a good improvement. I guess some small improvements (high nose(?), new frontwing (?), and other parts) give in addition this 1 sec. Mercedes thinks that RB will improve about 1s, too. So i think every top team has to improve the car about 1s to be competitive.

I wonder if they used the old DRS rules to calculate this lap time?

[CjC]

McLaren estimated MP4-28 1s per lap faster than -27

I wonder where they have taken so much time.

Where did you got this info?

I heard this too.

Whitmarsh said it on Sky

I also do agree that all the top teams will have found a second with their new cars

[dren]

I wonder if they used the old DRS rules to calculate this lap time?

Doubt it. It is likely 1sec better compared to a similar lap without DRS use.

[beelsebob]

I wonder if they used the old DRS rules to calculate this lap time?

Doubt it. It is likely 1sec better compared to a similar lap without DRS use.

Indeed, I'd bet heavily on that being 1 second in the race, and hence probably about equal qually laps.

[mclaren_mircea]

It might not by enough 1 sec faster than mp4-27, because means that Mclaren will be at parity with Mercedes W04 in Melbourne. I read an article on a forum dedicated to the supporters of the MercedesF1, than from their sources their team recovered 1.5 seconds before Christmas compared to Red Bull/Mclaren. They were talking about an exciting ultra-compact gearbox, Red Bull-exhausts style, pull-road suspension on the front and on the rear, flexible suspension geometry etc. In that article that if the wind tunnel was correct 1.5 seconds were recovered before january 2013, and they will find another 1.5 seconds by march 2013. I think that is a huge leap. So, that is not enough for Mclaren. On the table everything should favour Mclaren: - Red Bull is late with their design car
- Ferrari still continues to have structural problems+ they will be hampered a little DOING ALL WORK ON 2013 CAR
in Koln.
- Lotus does not have the resources to stay close with Mclaren during the second half of the season.
- Mercedes above all that promises doesn't have the top-quality in their technical team. (Costa, Willis, Bell =>
mediocrity; Mike Elliot (new head of aerodynamics could not understand the Coanda Exhaust)
- Force India+Sauber = a win maybe two
What do you think?

[beelsebob]

It might not by enough 1 sec faster than mp4-27, because means that Mclaren will be at parity with Mercedes W04 in Melbourne. I read an article on a forum dedicated to the supporters of the MercedesF1, than from their sources their team recovered 1.5 seconds before Christmas compared to Red Bull/Mclaren. They were talking about an exciting ultra-compact gearbox, Red Bull-exhausts style, pull-road suspension on the front and on the rear, flexible suspension geometry etc. In that article that if the wind tunnel was correct 1.5 seconds were recovered before january 2013, and they will find another 1.5 seconds by march 2013. I think that is a huge leap. So, that is not enough for Mclaren. On the table everything should favour Mclaren: - Red Bull is late with their design car
- Ferrari still continues to have structural problems+ they will be hampered a little DOING ALL WORK ON 2013 CAR
in Koln.
- Lotus does not have the resources to stay close with Mclaren during the second half of the season.
- Mercedes above all that promises doesn't have the top-quality in their technical team. (Costa, Willis, Bell =>
mediocrity; Mike Elliot (new head of aerodynamics could not understand the Coanda Exhaust)
- Force India+Sauber = a win maybe two
What do you think?

Honestly, I think Merc's bluster is just that – bluster. They've already said the 2013 car would be a minor upgrade over the 2012, and that 2014 is where it'll happen.

[Javert]

It might not by enough 1 sec faster than mp4-27, because means that Mclaren will be at parity with Mercedes W04 in Melbourne. I read an article on a forum dedicated to the supporters of the MercedesF1, than from their sources their team recovered 1.5 seconds before Christmas compared to Red Bull/Mclaren.

I sincerely doubt that they can gain 2.5 seconds from W03

I start thinking the teams are referring to the start-of-season cars,
i.e. start-of-season MP4-28 is 1s faster than start-of-season MP4-27

After all, I think that end-of-season MP4-27 earned overall almost 1 second (0.2 seconds removing the snowplough, -0.2 seconds after China's rule clarification, 0.15 seconds new nose, 0.3 seconds new sidepods, 0.1 seconds with refining the front of the sidepods, 0.2 seconds new front wing, 0.1 seconds Japan floor updates, 0.2 seconds "refining the package")

so end-of-season refined MP4-27 should be equal to start-of-season not-refined MP4-28

[mclaren_mircea]

First of all guys, I want to thank you for replying so fast to my thoughts on mp4-28. I'm from Eastern Europe (Romania) and watched what you were talking for severel months, and now I decided to make an user to talk with you about F1 because I'm a loyal Mclaren fan since 1998.
Secondly, I try to inform me daily about my preferred team, and indirectly i found a lot of information about the other teams.
Nikki Lauda said at the begininnig of november that they are developing a "completely new car for 2013". It will not be a refined W03 and instead will be a totally "new concept" that they will carry for W04. I'm not so naive to take for good all what someone is telling, but you can take some conclusions after you analyze what he said. I think he wanted to say that W04 will be more a "revolution" than an "evolution" from W03. The car was structurally designed to maximize the DDRS, and the Coanda exhaust could not be well integrated in that car. And with that system banned for next season, and all the teams following for extreme Coanda exhaust for 2013, they have to start from 0. You might right (90%) with the possible performance of the W04, because we saw what a "revolution" car can represent (mp4-26 and Ferrari F2012).
About Mclaren, I'm a little afraid with the pull-rod suspension, and with the possibility of Mclaren going for a higher nose. Because that kind of suspension was a mess for Ferrari/ and Mclaren lacks experience with that kind of suspension in the modern era of F1. I hope it is not another "octopus exhaust" case in performance for Mclaren. And with the nose, Mclaren for some years developed good cars with low-noses. It's like a gamble for Mclaren if the rumours are right and we will see on January 31 this changes. It will be a little revolution because the strenghts of mp4-28 were totally diferent solutions.