McLaren MCL60

[Mansell89]

I wonder what the direction it is that they realised too late?

Think it has anything to do with that AM ramp we saw on their launch tonight or is it something floor related do we think?

[F1Krof]

I wonder what the direction it is that they realised too late?

Think it has anything to do with that AM ramp we saw on their launch tonight or is it something floor related do we think?

I think it has to do with the new Pirelli Spec front tyres, which apparently need to be worked out differently.

[Venturiation]

here they are negative about Mclaren , they might drop to the back of the grid in terms of technical knowledge of their car
they say they copied last years redbull and now they will run with a 1 year older car when everyone else has improved

[K1Plus]

I believe the issue (terminal understeer) is caused by the Toyota Wind Tunnel. They can't simulate the aero surfaces so complex there, and it's probably less accurate than some of the other known today.

[PlatinumZealot]

Interesting but boring car at the same time.

Interesting blend for the side pod shape. A gaping undercut, but an Apline ramp at the same time.

Coke bottle is very clear and open.

The cooling looks basic for now, but that is easily changed.

All cars look the same so far. But the Alfa and Aston Martin look more complex than this one. Not to say complex means fast though!

[JordanMugen]

The sidepod is a work of art but the bit that I really dont like is the such high line on the engine cover under 'Chrome'. It just looks like someone has made a square box and radius' the corner edge of it. It looks out of place.

The sharkfin seems very minimal, is there a reason for that?

Or is it just that the ducting for the coolers comes back very far on the McLaren and gives the impression of a smaller sharkfin?

Good comparison showing the amount of undercut and the flow from the tunnel entrance:

https://i.imgur.com/ifsRm9Y.jpg

Vía: Salvatore Asero

I also think the sidepod comes out wider to the legality maximum, which it didn't previously on the McLaren, which may make the undercut look larger than it is.

The much wider sidepods are obvious from the top-down view.

[Holm86]

[mwillems]

Well, that’s all we have to judge by right now

But, there was a lot of talk about how with the changes in the floors, having a bit of rake (in order to not only increase downforce, but better manage suspension compliance) was to be expected… Pictures of the 2023 Alpine seem to show some rake also while on their shakedown… I would have expected a bit more rake now that the teams understand how to work with the Venturi tunnels a bit more.

And it is to enable a looser rear suspension and more rake that the rear of the floor has the skidblocks.

You can see the ramp coming from the fences and past the undercut is also trying to send more airflow to deal with tyre wake.

The front wing looks interesting, you'd need to see it in the flesh, but there seems to be elements that are more spoon like at the very front.

And of course the most important changes will be on the floor and diffuser which we can't see.

I feel like it is more heavily refined than it appears at first glance.

I agree… There are a lot of small little details and changes compared to the MCL36 beyond the sidepods (which of course are what catches the eye the most)… But the front wing creates more outwash, they have moved the adjuster as far outboard as possible to create a vortex, they have also increased the width of the main plane of the front wing, allowing them to have the outwash generated by other 3 elements meeting the end plate.

Beyond the changes on the inner and outer fence of the tunnel, the inboard fences are now contoured, similar to what Red Bull used last season, which means that they have understood how to better manage the vortex created by those and the flow at the front portion of the tunnel.

The changes in the suspension are also interesting, with the upper wishbone extremely high (maybe their own interpretation of anti-dive?)

Let’s hope it does imply a step forward to the 2022 car and even though the top 3 may still be out of reach, if the gap closes a bit they would be in the right path.

I have a feeling the front wing has been contoured also to be more efficient in different load states, to generate more aero under low rear load and to generate less and be less draggy under full rear load, in as much as it can.

Pictures in the Test will tell us more but this is not the same car as last year and appears to have the capacity to at least try and tackle the drag, which will be a big win. The use of rake in itself is a conceptual shift that will have required changes across the car.

Quite how the new suspension geometry will help the car is a bit beyond me but I'm sure it is relevant, even if is a small change.

I'm excited by this car. I know we had less time to develop it than we'd like because of the brake issues impacting last years development time, so it is right and appropriate that we have used knowledge from what we can see on the grid to pull ourselves closer to the opposition, and I don't think this should be a surprise or a disappointment. Rather, if we hadn't it would be a disappointment.

I think what remains to be discovered is what have we brought to the party that is unique to Mclaren that the team think could do more than just remove other teams advantages.

[PhillipM]

The front wing has been scalloped and even shifted slightly forward wrt the tyre to deal with the tyre wake when cornering more, that's part of what was being worked on when they found the front tyres deform differently.
That's why I'm assuming they'll have more tweaks there as only finding that out mid winter is quite late.

[f1rules]

nice interview with Norris, exactly what i would expect from him with his growing experience, but unfortunately also highlight the sensation i got from the team not least the laissez fair James Key, that they are a bit slow and reluctant for big changes
https://the-race.com/formula-1/norris-h ... y-changes/

[mwillems]

The front wing has been scalloped and even shifted slightly forward wrt the tyre to deal with the tyre wake when cornering more, that's part of what was being worked on when they found the front tyres deform differently.
That's why I'm assuming they'll have more tweaks there as only finding that out mid winter is quite late.

Ahhh that's interesting. I was associating the general proportional changes to the planes as being related to dealing with the outwash but the scalloping just made me think a little of how they handle the rear wing with some relation to the generation of downforce and drag, particularly around the certal portion of the front wing under the tip of the nose.

[PhillipM]

I mean for all the talk of copying, lets not forget Mclaren also went with the different suspension last year and only they and RB went for it. They do still change away from the 'normal' - and often. Same with initial floor last year it was a much different concept to anyone elses.

I think because people don't see massive differences like with Ferraris bathtub sidepods (cough, I know some team had some L-pods a long time before that ) they assume Mclaren aren't making innovations. When it's just immediately visible flashy stuff over the actual reality.

[SmallSoldier]

And it is to enable a looser rear suspension and more rake that the rear of the floor has the skidblocks.

You can see the ramp coming from the fences and past the undercut is also trying to send more airflow to deal with tyre wake.

The front wing looks interesting, you'd need to see it in the flesh, but there seems to be elements that are more spoon like at the very front.

And of course the most important changes will be on the floor and diffuser which we can't see.

I feel like it is more heavily refined than it appears at first glance.

I agree… There are a lot of small little details and changes compared to the MCL36 beyond the sidepods (which of course are what catches the eye the most)… But the front wing creates more outwash, they have moved the adjuster as far outboard as possible to create a vortex, they have also increased the width of the main plane of the front wing, allowing them to have the outwash generated by other 3 elements meeting the end plate.

Beyond the changes on the inner and outer fence of the tunnel, the inboard fences are now contoured, similar to what Red Bull used last season, which means that they have understood how to better manage the vortex created by those and the flow at the front portion of the tunnel.

The changes in the suspension are also interesting, with the upper wishbone extremely high (maybe their own interpretation of anti-dive?)

Let’s hope it does imply a step forward to the 2022 car and even though the top 3 may still be out of reach, if the gap closes a bit they would be in the right path.

I have a feeling the front wing has been contoured also to be more efficient in different load states, to generate more aero under low rear load and to generate less and be less draggy under full rear load, in as much as it can.

Pictures in the Test will tell us more but this is not the same car as last year and appears to have the capacity to at least try and tackle the drag, which will be a big win. The use of rake in itself is a conceptual shift that will have required changes across the car.

Quite how the new suspension geometry will help the car is a bit beyond me but I'm sure it is relevant, even if is a small change.

I'm excited by this car. I know we had less time to develop it than we'd like because of the brake issues impacting last years development time, so it is right and appropriate that we have used knowledge from what we can see on the grid to pull ourselves closer to the opposition, and I don't think this should be a surprise or a disappointment. Rather, if we hadn't it would be a disappointment.

I think what remains to be discovered is what have we brought to the party that is unique to Mclaren that the team think could do more than just remove other teams advantages.

Testing will give us more indications… I full agree with you

[kfrantzios]

I mean for all the talk of copying, lets not forget Mclaren also went with the different suspension last year and only they and RB went for it. They do still change away from the 'normal' - and often. Same with initial floor last year it was a much different concept to anyone elses.

I think because people don't see massive differences like with Ferraris bathtub sidepods (cough, I know some team had some L-pods a long time before that ) they assume Mclaren aren't making innovations. When it's just immediately visible flashy stuff over the actual reality.

McLaren was always innovative. And copied a lot. Public opinion is so malleable it gets boring. People were bashing McLaren for the "size zero" concept and now they all admire how tight that coke bottle area is..

[haza]

Only just seen the new macca not to fussed on the bare carbon car still looks good sidepods have carried over from last year but with a very large undercut and the redbull crease from what I can see the large undercut is now possible due to the alleged merc cooling layout for this season one thing that caught my eye was the top wishbone on the front end and how high it is, is there any benefits from that?