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The first picture from Barcelona, a very interesting nose compared with the MP4-20

http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarge.p ... catID=1931

looks like they stuck with zero keel, no surprises there, and the chimneys show how much less cooling the V8's need.
http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarge.p ... catID=1931

lets hope this years is more reliable

mp-41-21 photos:

These are from the McLaren Mediaroom...

It's a cliche but very very true here:- "If it goes as fast as it looks, the others should be worried.".
It's not pretty but you can see that this car is logical progression of the thought processes from 20. But, that progression has gone very far indeed.
Quite an extreme creation. An impressive Newey McLaren swansong.

Wow.

Have to agree with you monkeyboy - as a devoted Ferrari fan I must say it's ugly, but scares the hell out of me!!

Curious bit of bodywork under the keel - it seems to be a zero keel suspension set-up, but then there are two "keels" descending towards the turning vane. I guess we'll have to wait for some more piccies to see where they go.

Furthermore, this is the first car (apart from the Sauber?) that has open chimneys - surprising they neeed that at this time of year...

Anotherr observation is the endplate of the front wing has retained the curved base plate - Interestingly the Ferrari used to have this curved section, but I noted has gone flat this season... wonder what it does!! I love the smooth mounting of the front wing to the nose in the Macca - no clue if it really alters anything, but looks really cool, much better than a straight connection".

Two interesting little nubs sticking out of the side of the nose behind the front suspension... what are they feeding?

http://www.f1technical.net/news/1631
http://www.f1technical.net/news/1632
http://www.f1technical.net/news/1633
http://www.f1technical.net/news/1634

Well...the car indeed looks fast... Hopefully for McLaren, it's not only a fast car like the MP4-20 but also a reliable car, because that's what the MP4-20 missed last seaon.

Those two nubs you mention only seem to appear on Gary's car (MP4-20), not Pedro's (MP4-21).

Just been looking at more pictures (Autosport-Atlas Subscriber)... the little bits of bodywork under the lower suspension arms go into turning vanes.

The nose reminds me of the MP4-19, and last few renaults too..

theres some interesting detailing on the car, noteably around the upper front wishbones (Where they meet the chassis, the mounting appears curved, I guess to aid flow off the front wing), and on the rear impact structure. It looks like it forms into a small fin on the top light (when you see the pics you'll understand )

One intersting thing to note, is that they haven't gone for a secondary loading point on the rear wing. The new Renault and Ferrari have gone the Toyota (single post) and B.A.R (double post) respectively. Looks Mac are still using the endplates to transfer the load from the upper elements.

Sidepods look more extreme now. Not sure if thats a by-product of having smaller inlets for the V8's though, but they do seem to have an even steeper undercut than the 20.

All in all, a logical looking progression over the 20... so it should be FAST

That's odd, something I've noticed, in those 5 pics near the beginning of this topic, the shape of the nose of the MP4/21 is different in the photo second from bottom.
I've seen it elsewhere too, there's the new, pointy/flat (and, to be honest, not pretty) nose and a nose that resembles the MP4/20's.

The fatter nosed car is the MP4-20. Must be in there because they are testing the 20 (with Gary Paffett - you can just make out "Gary" written on the nose and I think that that is his helmet) alongside the 21 (driven by Pedro de la Rosa). Helps with comparisons in this topic I suppose.

Technical specs for McLaren's MP4-21
Monday January 23 2006
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McLaren unveiled their 2006 car, the MP4-21, on Monday at the Circuit de Catalunya. Here the specs for the new car and its engine...
MP4-21 Technical Specifications
Chassis - McLaren moulded carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb composite incorporating front and side impact structures. Contains integral safety fuel cell
Front Suspension - Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pushrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement
Rear Suspension - Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pushrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement
Suspension Dampers - McLaren
Electronics - McLaren Electronic Systems control units incorporating electronics for chassis, engine and data acquisition. McLaren Electronic Systems also supplies the electronic dash board, alternator voltage control, sensors, data analysis and telemetry systems
Bodywork Construction Construction - One-piece sidepod and engine cover. Separate floor section, structural nose with integral front wing.
Tyres - Michelin
Radios - Kenwood
Race Wheels - Enkei
Batteries - GS Yuasa Corporation
Steering - McLaren power-assisted
Instruments - McLaren Electronic Systems
Adhesives - Henkel Technologies

Transmission
Gearbox Speeds - Seven forward and one reverse
Semi-auto - Yes
Driveshafts - McLaren
Clutch - Hand-operated

Engine
Type - Mercedes-Benz FO 108S
No. of cylinders - 8
Fuel - Mobil 1 Unleaded
Lubricants - Mobil 1 products
Engine - 95kg

TryHard wrote:the rear impact structure. It looks like it forms into a small fin on the top light (when you see the pics you'll understand )

Tight rear end...

To be honest the car doesnt really suprise me much. Everything seems to be a logical progression over the MP4-20, tighter sidepods, zero-keel, two "fake" keels used as part of the bargeboard assembly, the "Viking Horns" (altho they seem to have a sharper piont to them as they curve to the vertical)

The only thing that really suprises me with this car is the nose, it looks very much like that of the R25, which in turn looks like Mclaren's own MP4-18/19/19B cars. I always assumed they desided to ditch the "ant-eater" nose idea...guess not.

If i was an air molecule - i would love to flow over all those smooth transitions

It is clearly evident that they did some major design work to produce this car. I especially like the fillet 'blending' on the mount for the upper front wishbones. The vertical rear fin is something I've seen on the BAR that set the 400kph+ top speed. It was quite bigger, but it must have a significant impact on directional stability.

monkeyboy1976 wrote: An impressive Newey McLaren swansong.

I guess it would be nice if it wasn't his last McLaren, oh well.