McLaren MP4-31 Honda

[GoranF1]

changes are...
-front and rear wing
-floor
-rear brake ducts

AMuS

[Thunder]

That's a new Angle. Posted on the Honda Twitter.

[GoranF1]

Hydrulic leak on No14 MP4-31.

[diffuser]

Never noticed the concave area at the Pirelli logo is and the slight lift of the nose where the Honda Logo is. I looked back only as far as Monaco and it was there.

[Thunder]

Always been like that.

Pic from Page 1:

[DiogoBrand]

That nose is quite complex. You'll be noticing new shapes forever if you keep looking.

[Jackles-UK]

How increasing drag would be a good sign?

F1 is a delicate balance between aero and engine. The less DF the car generates through the corners the faster it goes down the straights (as a rough generalisation of course) with the holy grail being aero/engine balance.

If in Barcelona, for example, they could only run at 95% of their peak top speed with 60% of their peak downforce then a portion of their optimal lap-time if being wasted. With updates maybe they are able to run at 95% top speed with 70% peak downforce - no loss of straight-line speed but with better speed through the corners.

If Honda have generated enough additional power in the PU and McLaren are happy to sacrifice a small drag penalty from new bodywork (essentially inefficient downforce) it means that the top end HP from the engine has increased to nullify the offset difference.

We know that Honda have spent two tokens on a new turbo aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the hybrid system and that ExxonMobil have developed a new fuel which JB says will be worth around 0.1 secs per lap (around Montreal). Maybe the these updates have had the desired effect giving McHonda a serious boost (excuse the pun ).

Button having the same lap time as a Williams around a power-friendly circuit is a fantastic result. Does anyone have speed-trap data yet?

[DiogoBrand]

How increasing drag would be a good sign?

F1 is a delicate balance between aero and engine. The less DF the car generates through the corners the faster it goes down the straights (as a rough generalisation of course) with the holy grail being aero/engine balance.

If in Barcelona, for example, they could only run at 95% of their peak top speed with 60% of their peak downforce then a portion of their optimal lap-time if being wasted. With updates maybe they are able to run at 95% top speed with 70% peak downforce - no loss of straight-line speed but with better speed through the corners.

If Honda have generated enough additional power in the PU and McLaren are happy to sacrifice a small drag penalty from new bodywork (essentially inefficient downforce) it means that the top end HP from the engine has increased to nullify the offset difference.

We know that Honda have spent two tokens on a new turbo aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the hybrid system and that ExxonMobil have developed a new fuel which JB says will be worth around 0.1 secs per lap (around Montreal). Maybe the these updates have had the desired effect giving McHonda a serious boost (excuse the pun ).

Button having the same lap time as a Williams around a power-friendly circuit is a fantastic result. Does anyone have speed-trap data yet?

He was talking about drag from a supposedly larger airbox. Nothing to do with DF.

[GoranF1]

the Mclaren seems to work better on harder tyre here?

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 29200.html

[the EDGE]

the Mclaren seems to work better on harder tyre here?

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 29200.html

I would disagree with that looking at those figures...

US - Joint 6th, 1 sec off pace
SS - P 6, 1 sec off pace
S - P 6, 1.28 sec off pace

Consistently P 6, but a bigger deficit on the soft

[ollandos]

the track suit well ...long brake zones kerbs slow s and curves helps a lot ...with 25-30hp more mclaren can take podium and with 50hp win here ....tyre managment is the key on race...i hope for mix weather ...reverse monaco....dry start wet after...and JB .....surprice

[GoranF1]

what is this?

[the EDGE]

what is this?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkqjzvuWsAA8-sd.jpg:large

looks like a cable, like the old stretchy telephone hand set cables, im gonna guess its connected to that green senson on the suspension arm housing

[DiogoBrand]

Isn't that just a cover for the rear axle?

[PhillipM]

Output from the diff, the photo's are at different angles, it's further forward in the left one.