McLaren MCL36

[diffuser]

Nothing on sidepods I've heard, only floor changes, still some rear brakeduct iterations, weight saving parts.

Thanks very much - interesting to know. I suspect sidepod changes for any team would essentially be like taking on a whole new philosophy, so here’s hoping the floor can bring what we hope for.

Do we know where we are weight wise versus the competition? (IE How much can we lose?) I think Alpine shed 4kg with their new floor this weekend didn’t they and they were very good for most of the weekend.

There was a discussion by Scarbs about car weights, the only that hasn’t been calculated is McLaren’s… Apparently both Alpine and Alfa Romeo have the lowest weights at 799kg.

It would be expected for the test parts (first iterations) to not be as lightweight since the expectation would be that those will be replaced down the road, once a concept / idea is validated on track, they can proceed to try and make them lighter.

We also need to consider that most of the ideas or upgrades that may have come out after not only understanding the car’s performance in testing, but also after knowing what others have done and how those ideas could be incorporated to the MCL36 won’t see the car for at least a couple months after testing, therefore May would be when most newer ideas / improvements would start coming to the car.

There was an article where they spoke to Pat Fry and he said the same thing. The first major upgrade Imola/Miami and it would of things they found on their own. The upgrades after that will start to incorporate what they've learned from the different approaches by other teams.

[SmallSoldier]

Thanks very much - interesting to know. I suspect sidepod changes for any team would essentially be like taking on a whole new philosophy, so here’s hoping the floor can bring what we hope for.

Do we know where we are weight wise versus the competition? (IE How much can we lose?) I think Alpine shed 4kg with their new floor this weekend didn’t they and they were very good for most of the weekend.

There was a discussion by Scarbs about car weights, the only that hasn’t been calculated is McLaren’s… Apparently both Alpine and Alfa Romeo have the lowest weights at 799kg.

It would be expected for the test parts (first iterations) to not be as lightweight since the expectation would be that those will be replaced down the road, once a concept / idea is validated on track, they can proceed to try and make them lighter.

We also need to consider that most of the ideas or upgrades that may have come out after not only understanding the car’s performance in testing, but also after knowing what others have done and how those ideas could be incorporated to the MCL36 won’t see the car for at least a couple months after testing, therefore May would be when most newer ideas / improvements would start coming to the car.

There was an article where they spoke to Pat Fry and he said the same thing. The first major upgrade Imola/Miami and it would of things they found on their own. The upgrades after that will start to incorporate what they've learned from the different approaches by other teams.

Which makes sense if one considers the cycle time for new upgrades… Most of what we will see before Spain are things that were either already in design / analysis before testing or learnings after testing… Implementing other team’s ideas and concepts will be more towards mid season… Even then, with how different some approaches are, teams need to be very careful with what they copy and from whom, since it could take them down a limited development path.

The development war will be one of the most interesting aspects of this season.

[PlatinumZealot]

Any guesses how much that weighs? Two guys, barely straining, holding it by its thin fins. 15 kilos?

The dropped shoulders of the guy on the left suggest it weights maybe twice that at least?

[dialtone]

Any guesses how much that weighs? Two guys, barely straining, holding it by its thin fins. 15 kilos?

Could make an estimate so you can get a ballpark, say it weighs 2g/cm3, and let's say there 1cm of carbon height to sandwich the structural foam inside, and it looks to be about 1m wide and 2.5m long so 25000cm3 give or take at the end of it all, and with that density it puts it at 50kg, minus the weight of the structural foam inside, plus all the finning and stuff. I'm sure 50kg is not the exact weight, but as a ballpark depending on the actual density and the fact it's not an exact 1x2.5m square, like PlatinumZealot says, it's probably at least 2x if not even 3x of your guess.

[vorticism]

Any guesses how much that weighs? Two guys, barely straining, holding it by its thin fins. 15 kilos?

Could make an estimate so you can get a ballpark, say it weighs 2g/cm3, and let's say there 1cm of carbon height to sandwich the structural foam inside, and it looks to be about 1m wide and 2.5m long so 25000cm3 give or take at the end of it all, and with that density it puts it at 50kg, minus the weight of the structural foam inside, plus all the finning and stuff. I'm sure 50kg is not the exact weight, but as a ballpark depending on the actual density and the fact it's not an exact 1x2.5m square, like PlatinumZealot says, it's probably at least 2x if not even 3x of your guess.

Seems excessive, that would be 50 lbs / 25 kilos per guy, and they are holding it with only their fore fingers of one hand. Not easy to do.

[proteus]

Any guesses how much that weighs? Two guys, barely straining, holding it by its thin fins. 15 kilos?

Could make an estimate so you can get a ballpark, say it weighs 2g/cm3, and let's say there 1cm of carbon height to sandwich the structural foam inside, and it looks to be about 1m wide and 2.5m long so 25000cm3 give or take at the end of it all, and with that density it puts it at 50kg, minus the weight of the structural foam inside, plus all the finning and stuff. I'm sure 50kg is not the exact weight, but as a ballpark depending on the actual density and the fact it's not an exact 1x2.5m square, like PlatinumZealot says, it's probably at least 2x if not even 3x of your guess.

Seems excessive, that would be 50 lbs / 25 kilos per guy, and they are holding it with only their fore fingers of one hand. Not easy to do.

Bigger and sturdier the object, easier to carry. 50kg bag of cement is terrible to pick up and carry, 64kg of black tea (from my personal experience) is much easier to handle since the bag is much bigger in volume, even though it is heavier.

[vorticism]

Bigger and sturdier the object, easier to carry. 50kg bag of cement is terrible to pick up and carry, 64kg of black tea (from my personal experience) is much easier to handle since the bag is much bigger in volume, even though it is heavier.

I see what you're saying, and yes a bag of flour is easier to handle than a bag of cement. However a door at 50 lbs is more awkward to carry than a 50 lbs bag of cement.

[mclaren111]

Matt Somerfield:

But rather than taking away material, as has been the trend up until this point, the team increased the size of the end fence (see dotted line on the right-hand image).

These winglets are important when we consider not only the local flow distribution but also how they can have an impact on the wake shed from the tyre and the diffuser alongside, with even the most minimal of changes able to have a sizeable effect.

[Kalun]

https://racingnews365.com/why-red-bull- ... n-area/amp


Interesting read. Make more sense with the current gen cars.

[PhillipM]

There's an absolute load of nonsense in that write up

[Sevach]

[Lucky]

The cars mentioned sometimes drive up to 40 millimetres higher than planned in the plans. This costs up to 40 points of downforce. Converted is more than a second. And more vehicle height and larger wings as compensation dramatically increase air resistance. This also explains why Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin are double punished and so slow on the straights. It is only a coincidence that everyone has the Mercedes engine in the rear.
The affected teams only recognised the problem when the cars first went on the track in Barcelona. The list of compromises that Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren make regarding vehicle tuning is huge. Now they are all trying to get out of the trap in reverse gear. This is not work done overnight, but a complex process because you have to leave your development concept and go a different way, Green regrets.
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... hen-teams/

[_cerber1]

Initially, the ground clearance of the McLaren was pretty decent, and the tests showed that the car squatted well in corners, so I'm not sure that the McLaren suffers from these problems.

[SmallSoldier]

MCL36 Front Wings for Imola… No changes versus Melbourne:

[diffuser]

MCL36 Front Wings for Imola… No changes versus Melbourne:

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

https://i.imgur.com/SCX3l4t.jpg

The Gulf logo is new.