Mclaren MP4-29 Pre-launch Speculation

[gary123]

Wait, so pushrod at the front suspension returns?

Yes...

[trinidefender]

Wait, so pushrod at the front suspension returns?

Yes...

Maybe. The only concrete piece of evidence here is that they are loosing their title sponsor. All the other information is speculation. The revolutionary rear suspension thing has been floating around for some time now. If they will return to push rod is to be seen. Ferrari have proven that you can make a quick car with a pullrod front suspension as it seemed aero was ferrari's problem this year and not the mechanical traction allowed by the suspension. McLaren seemed to be sorting out their problems with their car toward the end of the 2013 season. So yes, they might go back to pushrod, or they might stay and don't be surprised if they stay with pullrod front suspension either.

[mclaren_mircea]

It was confirmed by Whitmarsh that they will ditch the pull rod suspension during the summer. He said that their problems with the front of the car came from pull rod suspension, the project has failled and that the people who went for that solution are no longer in the company. AMUS, Omnicorse, f1analistecnica are said that next year Mclaren will have a push rod suspension. When the decision to go for the push rod was taken Mclaren was bleeding, and psihologically I cannot think that they will risk another year with the pull rod. I read that James Allison said that Ferrari too will have a push rod suspension.

[Manoah2u]

I have my doubts about the Orange Livery. Sure it looks fabulous but since the new Title Sponsor is unveiled with the Car it must be a perfect coincidence if they' are Orange.

I think they will stay with the Chrome and just change the Red parts to whatever the new Sponsor says.

As to the Suspension: What would be the sense to reveal a new and possibly great development if you don't bring it to the Test Weekend? That would give the other Teams an Advantage to copy it maybe even to the First Race.

the orange livery may be presented just for the 'unveiling'. If the new title sponsor has not yet been announced by then,
or a deal still hasn't been achieved [hardly likely] then due to the non-presence of a title sponsor mclaren might just for the occasion paint the cars orange. i don't think they'll run orange for the entire year.

i do wonder how long McLaren will maintain that chrome paint. Even though it has been developed by Mclaren in partnership with AkzoNobel, i have the impression the chrome might eventually find it's way to Mercedes. who knows.

[f1rules]

It was confirmed by Whitmarsh that they will ditch the pull rod suspension during the summer. He said that their problems with the front of the car came from pull rod suspension, the project has failled and that the people who went for that solution are no longer in the company. AMUS, Omnicorse, f1analistecnica are said that next year Mclaren will have a push rod suspension. When the decision to go for the push rod was taken Mclaren was bleeding, and psihologically I cannot think that they will risk another year with the pull rod. I read that James Allison said that Ferrari too will have a push rod suspension.

can you refer to where mw said "their problems with the front of the car came from pull rod suspension" im not denying, and i do think it caused a lot of their problems, i just didnt read or hear something that direct

[mclaren_mircea]

Whitmarsh said the decision to switch to a pull-rod front suspension layout had been particularly costly for the team this year.

"It's primarily the front," he said. "The suspension systems front and rear are quite different. The front suspension connects and holds the wheels on the car, as you know, but it is also right in the wake and wake management of the front wing and that's had quite a big influence on what we are doing and that knocked on to a whole development path that I think at one stage was quite wrong."


http://en.espnf1.com/mclaren/motorsport ... 13601.html

[bauc]

I agree, Orange paint on the Mclaren would look great....but I'm almost sure they will stay with same color scheme (except for the new sponsor part) ....I just cant wait to see the MP4-29.....dam if the rumor is true that is one month away (

[wesley123]

Yes, it was admitted that the pull-rod brought in some unwanted problems, but that does not confirm that they'll switch back to next year. They could very well have been fixing the issues with the pull-rod and run it on the -29.

Point is, if you would turn back every time something new would bring problems, we would still have been hunting with sticks.

[mclaren_mircea]

Everything is possible, but it was reported by several sources that they reverted to push rod for 2014. There much more chanches to revert to the push rod suspension than to continue with the pull rod. I don't think they will risk another year even if they did some progress towards the end of the year. 80% it will be push rod. At the back of the car it will be someting innovative, but at the front of the car they will have a push-rod suspension.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Whitmarsh said the decision to switch to a pull-rod front suspension layout had been particularly costly for the team this year.

"It's primarily the front," he said. "The suspension systems front and rear are quite different. The front suspension connects and holds the wheels on the car, as you know, but it is also right in the wake and wake management of the front wing and that's had quite a big influence on what we are doing and that knocked on to a whole development path that I think at one stage was quite wrong."


http://en.espnf1.com/mclaren/motorsport ... 13601.html

Whitmarsh isn't saying here the mechanics of the pull rod front are the cause of the MP4-28 problems. He specifically mentions they got the aero wrong because of the difference of the pull rod layout compared to push rod and how the layout affects wake management of the air coming off of the FW.

[mclaren_mircea]

No it's not true. He says that the suspension systems are different, but he doesn't say that the problems came from the difference between the rear and the front. The discussion has nothing to do with the rear end in this case. Martin says that the problem is it's primarily the front. He doesn't do a single reffernce about the rear. He insists on the fron suspension. It does not only holds the wheels (obviously the front suspension) but also influence of the FRONT WING. He insists only about the front end of the car, and no other statement from a Mclaren man speaks about the different systems. He insists on the front. It's obvious that Whitmarsh speaks in this case about the pull-rod suspension. If you make an analysis you can write a whole book and you can find reasons that the different systems can cause problems, but it was not Mclaren's case. And we are only talking about Whitmarsh's opinion about Mclaren's problem. The fron suspension and only the fron in this case.

[akshat21]

I have my doubts about the Orange Livery. Sure it looks fabulous but since the new Title Sponsor is unveiled with the Car it must be a perfect coincidence if they' are Orange.

I think they will stay with the Chrome and just change the Red parts to whatever the new Sponsor says.

As to the Suspension: What would be the sense to reveal a new and possibly great development if you don't bring it to the Test Weekend? That would give the other Teams an Advantage to copy it maybe even to the First Race.

the orange livery may be presented just for the 'unveiling'. If the new title sponsor has not yet been announced by then,
or a deal still hasn't been achieved [hardly likely] then due to the non-presence of a title sponsor mclaren might just for the occasion paint the cars orange. i don't think they'll run orange for the entire year.

i do wonder how long McLaren will maintain that chrome paint. Even though it has been developed by Mclaren in partnership with AkzoNobel, i have the impression the chrome might eventually find it's way to Mercedes. who knows.

McLaren and the chrome scheme have been present for a long time. People have started associating the chrome (and silver black before that) with McLaren the same way Red is Associated with Ferrari. I don't think that they would change the scheme too dramatically lest they confuse the fans.

I know that Mclaren uses Orange Livery in other series but for the F1 business and F1 fans, the image is set. Hence it would be re-inventing the wheel as far as marketing goes for fans and F1 brand image, which is counter productive.

[Manoah2u]

though i agree to your point completely, it must be said that mclaren used to run the white-red marlboro livery [before switching to grey/black with the west sponsorship] for so long it has been 'their' association aswell. Didn't seem to do much when they switched from whitered to blackgrey [ even though people still enjoy the white/red legendary combo ].
I agree 'chrome' is their signature of late, but i'm interested to see what new sponsor will affect and how much Honda will affect Mclaren's 'livery'.

Redbull is slowly stepping towards a purple infinity. Renault's characteristic yellow turned into black/gold ala JPS lotus when Genii stamped 'lotus' on it.

again, I agree the chrome is mclaren's signature livery, but i must say i feel like mclaren is going through such a 'change'
that perhaps the chrome livery could be ditched in time.

[dren]

I'd like to see an all white car with the red Mclaren swoosh on it and a red H on the nose.

[Manoah2u]

I'd like to see an all white car with the red Mclaren swoosh on it and a red H on the nose.

noticing mclaren recently has lots of 'tv ads' with all blank background and the mclaren word in black and the red 'swoosh',
it could be a precursor for a white and red mcl