McLaren MP4-23

[Sawtooth-spike]

Front Wheel Rims for the Mclarrens

[manchild]

looks like some strange material

[ben_watkins]

interesting that they have the port facing forwards against the flow of air, where all other wheel rims vent rearwards, with the flow of air.. wonder why?

[axle]

Could it be to intake rather than exhaust...ie push air through from outside to inside and then use the exit air to work on another aero piece?

[manchild]

Position of outlet is different because Mclaren has calipers on different place relative to Ferrari for example. These apertures follow the position of callipers.

[ben_watkins]

i see, that makes sense.. however what i don't get still is that the hot airflow from the brakes, on the Ferrari at least, is used to help with rear downforce, utilising the hot brake air under the car.. the McLaren solution looks like it may not benefit as much from that effect, but perhaps they don't need to?

[scarbs]

The Mac shields are different from other teams, as the fairing has its outlet and ducting moulded into one piece. The opening is definitely an outlet. as the trailing edge of the opening has ramp extending inside the wheel, this routes the flow out in a spiral starting at the brake calliper going in the direction of the wheels rotation. rather like the Inner walls of a snail shell.
Its just a different way of doign the same thing as Ferrari and BMW. Toyota, Williams and Renault have largely copied the Ferrari philosophy.

[Benniau]

ummm.... is this some sort of religious thing going on for Mclaren??


Look at the area above the air intake where the camera and transmitter are....

[Spencifer_Murphy]

I always assumed the very large looking camera incorporated a pitot tube, the point being to locate the pitot tube up high to avoid any effects made to the measurements by the aerodynamic surfaces of the car.

[i70q7m7ghw]

looks like some strange material

Why is the bargeboard black? Wasn't like that at the launch was it?

[ben_watkins]

Must be a test part that they've not painted yet?

[MrT]

Mclaren showing some pace today?? Hekki 6 tenths clear of everyone else.... some revived hope my end... Mclaren are certainly cranking up the laps with an average of 100 laps per day per car....

[mx_tifoso]

... Mclaren are certainly cranking up the laps with an average of 100 laps per day per car....

Must be because of the extensive testing of their gearboxes, that must now last four races. At least thats what they were focusing on yesterday, I assume that they have similar objectives today as well.
http://www.f1technical.net/news/8079

Seeing how they average so many laps per car every day, reliability must be quite good again this season.

Question: Must each gearbox last for 4 SUNDAY races, or 4 GP weekends Thnx in advance.

[scarbs]

Question: Must each gearbox last for 4 SUNDAY races, or 4 GP weekends Thnx in advance.

4 weekends, which means Saturday (Practice and Q) and Sunday, Friday practice is exempt from Engine Gearbox longevity rules.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Why is the bargeboard black? Wasn't like that at the launch was it?

I think that's just the reflective paint either:
a) reflecting the colour of the tarmac of the track
or
b) reflecting light in a manner which just decieves the eye. If you look carefully, its not a solid black colour, and the chamfered edges of the bargeboard are more reflective.