McLaren MP4-31 Honda

[Aaronque]

[Andres125sx]

Front wing close up from the Autosport feed

http://images.scribblelive.com/2016/2/2 ... 38_800.jpg

I wonder the reason we can see the carbon weave in some parts and only black smooth zones (no weave) in some others, even in same pieces

[shady]

This is merely intuition/opinion, and I dont want to portray this to be fact. But possibly a non-stick for tire/track debris, possible reason its not on the whole surface is that it may not need to be, or weight (mass) on the front wing that isnt ballast. McH last year revised the paint scheme and saved a kilo or three during the process (IIRC the metal flakes were blamed), this is the only correlation to associate with my exceptionally limited observation.

[Jef Patat]

oh no, not that 3kg paint nonsense again

[Jef Patat]

Anyone knows what we are looking at here?

[vantage87]

[vantage87]

Jenson Button says Honda have made massive improvements to the deployment of electrical energy over the winter after completing his first miles in the 2016 McLaren.


"It is difficult to say in terms of power because this won't be the engine we take to the first race. The deployment is so much better. I don't know if it is the same as the other guys have but it feels like it is. That is a big step for us,"

"This isn't a track where you struggle for deployment over one timed lap, but over a long run we were struggling massively and losing four or five tenths on a lap, whereas now we don't so we have gained lap time back over a long run.
"It is much better, very easy to understand the deployment and to play with it and it listens to change which is good. It is good to see all the hard work over the winter has paid off."

[CjC]

Jenson Button says Honda have made massive improvements to the deployment of electrical energy over the winter after completing his first miles in the 2016 McLaren.


"It is difficult to say in terms of power because this won't be the engine we take to the first race. The deployment is so much better. I don't know if it is the same as the other guys have but it feels like it is. That is a big step for us,"

"This isn't a track where you struggle for deployment over one timed lap, but over a long run we were struggling massively and losing four or five tenths on a lap, whereas now we don't so we have gained lap time back over a long run.
"It is much better, very easy to understand the deployment and to play with it and it listens to change which is good. It is good to see all the hard work over the winter has paid off."

Thank The Lord

[Jef Patat]

I don't want to be pessimistic, but after last year's multitude of optimistic peptalk without results I' a bit cautious

[majki2111]

McLaren's Button happy with Honda's F1 progress but wants more

"The standout is the deployment has been very good, very consistent throughout the day, no issues, and quite a big chunk better on the long runs compared to last year."Obviously it shows other weaknesses with the car we still need to improve, but it was a good day, and I'm reasonably happy. On outright pace? Who knows. If you look at the times you would say we are miles away, but we're not going out there to set a lap time, we're going out there to do different checks. We're obviously not going to be the quickest car at this test, and probably won't be for most of the year, but as long as we can see improvements, the feeling of the car is good and something to build on."
[On] deployment we've made a good step forward, but with the power unit we've a lot of work still," he added."They [Honda] have done a good job on working on the reliability and pushing the deployment very hard over the winter."But I don't think any of us will be happy going to Melbourne with the power unit. There is definitely more to come from the first race. We need that."Button, though, can at least sense Honda has made strides, not least behind the scenes after his dealings with the Japanese manufacturer's staff."I said when we had our first meeting yesterday, they have so much more confidence when they are talking in English," said Button."But they are also confident but they really believe in what they have done and achieved over the winter."It's great to see that confidence because initially it was a very different situation.

[Stalker1]

Revealed: McLaren's novel MP4-31 suspension

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cb00uzYWEAAN2qU.jpg:large

Interesting solution. In the article, they are saying that "The upper of the two is slung lower than usual, meaning it should work in unison to pull the airflow down and around the sidepod, rather into or over it." In the comments section, one guy even pointed out the fisbone arms are now actually extensions of the front wing.

However, how does the suspension geometry affects the car on bumpier braking areas?

[ALO_Power]

McLaren's Button happy with Honda's F1 progress but wants more

"The standout is the deployment has been very good, very consistent throughout the day, no issues, and quite a big chunk better on the long runs compared to last year."Obviously it shows other weaknesses with the car we still need to improve, but it was a good day, and I'm reasonably happy. On outright pace? Who knows. If you look at the times you would say we are miles away, but we're not going out there to set a lap time, we're going out there to do different checks. We're obviously not going to be the quickest car at this test, and probably won't be for most of the year, but as long as we can see improvements, the feeling of the car is good and something to build on."
[On] deployment we've made a good step forward, but with the power unit we've a lot of work still," he added."They [Honda] have done a good job on working on the reliability and pushing the deployment very hard over the winter."But I don't think any of us will be happy going to Melbourne with the power unit. There is definitely more to come from the first race. We need that."Button, though, can at least sense Honda has made strides, not least behind the scenes after his dealings with the Japanese manufacturer's staff."I said when we had our first meeting yesterday, they have so much more confidence when they are talking in English," said Button."But they are also confident but they really believe in what they have done and achieved over the winter."It's great to see that confidence because initially it was a very different situation.

Sorry but I can't understand this. Their biggest problem for 2015 was the ERS harvesting/deployment. The McLaren chassis is claimed to be a good one plus the ICE. If they resolved their ERS related issues and with the updated ICE / turbos and stuff + updates on chassis then what are they waiting for? With all of these sorted they should get really competitive and aiming for podiums and stuff. What more is Button expecting?

EDIT: Now I noticed that he mentioned: "for most of the year" . So he intends that somewhen throughout the year McLaren could be the fastest car on the grid?

[vantage87]

Jenson Button says McLaren-Honda has slashed its lap times by 'four or five tenths' per lap after fixing its engine ERS deployment system over the winter.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/227806/1/b ... mpaign=rss

[willmesquita]

McLaren's Button happy with Honda's F1 progress but wants more

"The standout is the deployment has been very good, very consistent throughout the day, no issues, and quite a big chunk better on the long runs compared to last year."Obviously it shows other weaknesses with the car we still need to improve, but it was a good day, and I'm reasonably happy. On outright pace? Who knows. If you look at the times you would say we are miles away, but we're not going out there to set a lap time, we're going out there to do different checks. We're obviously not going to be the quickest car at this test, and probably won't be for most of the year, but as long as we can see improvements, the feeling of the car is good and something to build on."
[On] deployment we've made a good step forward, but with the power unit we've a lot of work still," he added."They [Honda] have done a good job on working on the reliability and pushing the deployment very hard over the winter."But I don't think any of us will be happy going to Melbourne with the power unit. There is definitely more to come from the first race. We need that."Button, though, can at least sense Honda has made strides, not least behind the scenes after his dealings with the Japanese manufacturer's staff."I said when we had our first meeting yesterday, they have so much more confidence when they are talking in English," said Button."But they are also confident but they really believe in what they have done and achieved over the winter."It's great to see that confidence because initially it was a very different situation.

Sorry but I can't understand this. Their biggest problem for 2015 was the ERS harvesting/deployment. The McLaren chassis is claimed to be a good one plus the ICE. If they resolved their ERS related issues and with the updated ICE / turbos and stuff + updates on chassis then what are they waiting for? With all of these sorted they should get really competitive and aiming for podiums and stuff. What more is Button expecting?

EDIT: Now I noticed that he mentioned: "for most of the year" . So he intends that somewhen throughout the year McLaren could be the fastest car on the grid?

He wants a BGP001...

[ringo]

Jenson Button says McLaren-Honda has slashed its lap times by 'four or five tenths' per lap after fixing its engine ERS deployment system over the winter.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/227806/1/b ... mpaign=rss

Alonso wanted 2.5 seconds slashed off

Anyhow, i think this PU is the 2016 engine, with some developments missing, especially with ERS management.
Full deployment is new to them, so a lot of fine tuning and learning will be taking place as the car covers more laps.
I don't expect them to be mercedes killers, but i'm not worried about the honda engine being anemic.
They should come within striking range of at least the customer mercedes engines.