Is McLaren now copying back from Ferrari?
McLaren's car updates have pushed the car back up in between the front runners, and unsurprisingly, the improvement came once again from exhaust modifications. McLaren redesigned the sidepod to have the exhaust exit lower above the ground and further back, creating a more consistent flow onto the outer extremities of the diffuser.
In essence, McLaren's update appears to be influenced by Ferrari's famous acer ducts, something which the MP4-27 now features as well. The ducts are sloping down and feature an undercut of the sidepod, allowing air to flow underneath the tail of the duct and towards the centre of the car. The resemblance is striking, and particularly interesting because it was Ferrari that initially copied McLaren's downwash exhaust exit.
In addition to the sidepod, the fins at the bottom of the rear wing endplate have been modified as well. Again, these work in combination with the diffuser to generate downforce at the rear end of the car.
Comments
By tweaking all those car parts near the wheels, they are constantly changing the air dynamics and changing the performance of the cars. Each of those changes will alter the performance of the car every so little, but during a race, it all adds up.
I don't think McLaren is copying from Ferrari. Well, yes, maybe they have some new parts which are similar but I don't think that those are enough evidence to conclude about copying. They are both great car manufacturers especially on this field and I honestly think that they are both just striving hard to cope up with the new trends and using the same technology to improve their products. Plus, if you know that your car can improve more, won't you be willing to do it? lol. I have been observing these two cars and I know that they are competing fairly and closely. And I have asked some certified auto repair shops about this and they agree that it's not true. Both are just adjusting their cars to be more powerful.
I personally think designs from different companies tend to influence one another. It is no surprise that they came up with similar auto parts. It may just be hatched from a similar idea to begin with. Further, with McLaren learning from Ferrari and vice versa, there is a good chance that products will be improved much more effectively. I feel that both McLaren and Ferrari are great companies who have been taking part in Formula one for many years. I hope that these two companies will continue to learn from each other for even better product in future. http://www.carid.com
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My humble side-to-side contribution (Germany):
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2718 ... 102eng.png
Lots of similarities, however, nothing unusual in terms of getting ideas from each other.