Open top menu
Showing posts with label MP4-28. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MP4-28. Show all posts
20 Mar 2013
McLaren's stuttering start (My initial thoughts on the MP4-28)

The signs aren't looking good for the McLaren fans out there but fear not if any team can turn around their own fortunes the Woking based team are prime candidates to do so (Afterall look at the turnaround they made in 2009). So what's so drastically wrong with the MP4-28 or were we all expecting too much too soon? The season opener in Melbourne saw both McLaren drivers being critical of their new car whilst the Team Principal didn't hide his dismay at the lack of performance the team had either.

Just as we found at the start of Ferrari's 2012 campaign pockets of the media are simply pointing at McLaren's adoption of Pull Rod Front Suspension and using it as a scapegoat for the teams bad start. By all means I'm not completely ruling it out as one of the factors for the teams bad start, as the team struggled with the time taken to make setup changes throughout the Pre-Season tests as components that are easier to get to when using Push Rod are now located on the underside of the chassis. This is a problem that Ferrari also encountered last season and have made changes to their arrangement for 2013 to alleviate the problem. Furthermore Adam Cooper reported that the setup used to achieve their quickest time in Jerez was done when a component was inverted during car setup and that when the team rectified the problem their pace seemingly disappeared.

So why the change to Pull Rod? A good question that requires several answers, the placement of the components in the chassis lower down attributes a lower CoG (Centre of Gravity) which of course is always welcomed in F1. A small aerodynamic gain is also made by the placement of the rod in the Pull Rod configuration allowing it to work more efficiently with the wishbones to manage airflow onward to the Sidepods.

Mechanically they have two very different characteristics and I'm talking about the effects of 'Bump' and 'Droop', this is when the wheel is deflected upward (Bump) or drops away with the circuit (Droop) both Push and Pull Rod Suspensions will react differently in both scenarios:

Push rod flexes whilst in 'Bump' where as a Pull rod flexes in 'Droop' which also requires the loads on the wishbones to be measured differently too with the Pull Rod adding additional strain on the connection of the upper wishbone to the chassis.

Of course mechanically there is little difference in Push and Pull rod suspension although as mentioned by virtue of 'Bump' and 'Droop' the way in which the forces are placed on the chassis and associated suspension components do differ.

Not being privy to driving a car with these different suspension options I can only speculate that the resultant differing of forces will require the driver to adapt his style to suit the given specification.

The time taken to facilitate setup changes on the MP4-28 is an undesired effect of the Pull Rod setups nature as access to all of the components is now placed under the chassis. This has had a knock on effect aerodynamically with team sporting some new and intricate under nose Turning Vanes at the first test in Jerez that were latterly replaced by much simpler Turning Vanes in Barcelona more than likely due to their installation hampering suspension setup times. Turning Vanes complete an essential job under the nose of the car, not only managing the centralised airflow between the pylons (Y250 region). They further manage the airflow between the wheels and the chassis especially with the Front Wheels turned in yaw. Have McLaren sacrificed some of the aero advantages of raising the nose trying to understand the suspension?


Further down the car one of the big changes between the MP4-27 & 28 is the height of the tub, the MP4-27's tub was around 550mm high which fell in line with the teams initial design criteria but as the team realised that other teams had moved closer to the limitations (625mm) and run their cars with increased nose heights McLaren too moved to a higher nose tip. Therefore when designing the MP4-28 the team decided to raise the tub to the maximum 625mm allowing them to also run with an even higher nose tip. The aim of this is to drive more air under the nose of the car onward to the floor and Sidepod undercuts.

Above: Images of the MP4-27 and MP4-28 courtesy of www.F1Fanatic.co.uk


This however leads us onto the Sidepods where height is also increased over it's predecessor, the frontal area of the Sidepod is a crucial region as it's not only the inlet to the radiator but controls flow rearward both around the Sidepods undercut and over the Sidepod in the downwash toward the exhaust. McLaren have made marked changes in this region over the '27' with both the Side Impact Protection (SIP) being placed in a more forward position than the actual Sidepod (much like Lotus' E20/21) and a change in design of the Inlet from the previous Butterfly styling.

The additional height of the Sidepod should allow more air to move around the undercut to the rear of the car. Meanwhile the frontal height of the Sidepod being increased has also required the team to make alterations to the sloped section of bodywork that trails down to the exhaust channel. With approximately 50-60mm higher Sidepods the team may be finding that their previous 'Coanda' approach isn't as planned even though the team have also shortened the overhang at the rear of the car. This is in contrast to Ferrari and Mercedes who have both re-orientated and lowered the section of overhanging bodywork at the rear of the car. Which leads me to believe that the team are drawing the exhaust plume down onto the floor much further back otherwise the airflow coming from around the Sidepod will impinge on this.

Above: As we can see from the side by side comparison the rearward slope of the Sidepod has been altered on the MP4-28 whilst the more drastic rearward undercut has been reduced significantly

Above: As we can see Mercedes have used a very similar concept to the MP4-27's rear end Sidepod undercut and seem to be enjoying good results from it

McLaren were not only the first team to introduce the Semi-Coanda exhaust last season but also pioneered the use of the Vertical Vortex Generators we see adorn many other cars now. When they introduced their new package at Hockenheim the team switched to a horizontal approach integrated into the Vertical Sidepod Airflow Conditioner. For 2013 the team have opted to continue in a similar vane but separated the 2 components utilising a Cockpit Wing or Leading Edge Slat which should aid in the downwash effect.
Another area where the MP4-28 sees carry over from the '27' is both the Front and Rear Wings with the former resembling a specification used by McLaren from Austin onwards last season. As we know the Front Wing is crucial in terms of setting up the airflow aft of it and so it would seem strange that with both the aero change to Pull Rod and all of the relative changes by raising the tub/sidepods that the team continue to use a similar design.

Above: The new Front Wing (Top) only has the the singular curved section at the Mainplanes outer portion whereas the slightly older specification (Bottom) features two.  These help to form elongated vortices for aiding in the control of airflow

When compared to the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and now Mercedes you have to question the rudimentary style of the McLaren wing. Still only utilising 3 tiers in their design we have the like of Ferrari pushing on with complex 7 tier arrangements. It therefore begs the question of how much more efficient are their competitors Front Wings with their additional outer tiers and split flap arrangements.


The MP4-28's rear wing is also pretty much a carry over when compared to it's predecessor and although Melbourne is a circuit requiring a good level of downforce I was surprised to see how much Angle of Attack (AoA) the team seemed to be running combined with a Gurney tab too. In terms of Rear Wing design Ferrari have to go down as the team with the largest update over the past few seasons when they introduced their Trailing Edge Slats. However an area that seems to have passed McLaren by whilst others have taken advantage is the use of the Top Flap V grooves used to reduce drag. Meanwhile further down the car the team are still running very much the same Beam Wing and Monkey Seat configuration they ran last season too which of course is allied to the effects of the Diffuser and Rear Wing so all must have changes made in harmony, it's just perplexing that not much progress has been made in the area.

I'm not wanting to get all doom and gloom over the McLaren situation as I opened with, I believe McLaren are more than capable of making the necessary changes to resolve their issues. Sepang is a very different circuit to Melbourne and so will probably give us more of a gauge as to where the team stand relative to everyone else and what they need to do going forward.  The issue however for me is that when compared to their rivals the MP4-28 perhaps lacks the finer details that could give it the potential to win races.
Read more
31 Jan 2013
McLaren MP4/28 Launch Analysis

McLaren enter 2013 marking 50 years in F1 with fans expectation peaked as the teams enter a new era in 2014, the team hope they can build momentum clinching titles leading upto it this year.  McLaren as always will be meticulous in the their approach to 2013 hoping that they can surmount a challenge for the constructors title which the team surprisingly last won in 1998 and the drivers title which Lewis Hamilton last grasped for them in 2008.

Sergio Perez joins the fold with Jenson Button firmly establishing himself as the lead driver, both are known for their smooth driving styles which leads to better usage of the slick Pirelli tyres.  Sergio will require a little while to settle in perhaps changing ethos to the Sauber way of doing things.  This will be mostly seen by Sergio himself as he adapts to a new tool unavailable at Sauber: The Simulator.

Only Lotus thus far have beat the Woking based team to revealing their car but just as I suspect McLaren will do today many details were not as first seemed.

Much was written last season about the effects of step noses up and down the grid and McLaren's adoption of what most fans would deem a regular nose.  As the season progressed the team however made adjustments and by Mugello they had settled with a half way house concept which saw the nose tip raised in order to flow more air under the car.  Why didn't they just switch to a step nose? many asked, the nose however was not the limiting factor but the chassis itself with the team not running to the maximum height restrictions as others had.  It's not as simple as bolting one part from another car onto the car in question and the team must evaluate many factors both upstream and downstream of the component before introducing upgrades.

In 2012 McLaren arrived at testing and Melbourne with what most considered to be the most effective exhaust solution now known by most as the 'Coanda' exhaust due to the way it utilises Henri Coanda's principles of introducing a jet of air to manipulate airflow in the region.  Most of the field converged on the McLaren ethos whilst Red Bull forged their own path.  As it became apparent toward the end of 2012 that their Ramp and Cross-under tunnel now provided the same if not more downforce than the McLaren solution teams will have started to assess exactly that.

MP4-28



When the drivers peeled back the cover on the MP4-28 launch you could be forgiven to looking at it and thinking it's an MP4-27.  Just like the Lotus launch I think we have to take some of what we see with a pinch of salt, it would first appear that McLaren are looking once again to dismiss the step style nose but in fact they have gone more towards the limitations of the 625mm bulkhead height and used the modesty panel to cover up any discrepancies.  The Front Wing pylons although they look the same dimensionally longitudinally appear to be pronounced from the nose as the under belly of the nose tapers toward the front of the car
They have also followed Ferrari's path by adopting pull rod front suspension which undoubtedly help the team to unlock the Pirelli tyres more effectively whilst also marginally lowering the Centre of Gravity.


The Sidepods have been treated to a new design too with a step created in the bodywork to define the regions where airflow travels over the Sidepod (With the section above the inlet slightly ramped) and the undercut starting further back.  This is so the crash sturcture element is offset to the inlet a design that Lotus used on the E20 and R31 (Renault). A very simplistic airflow conditioner is also attached to the side of the sidepod departing from the L shaped wing conditioner we saw toward the tale end of 2012.  This is certainly one area where I believe McLaren are being coy at launch and we will see changes at Jerez/Barcelona/Melbourne.  The Bargeboards have been amended in order to facilitate the airflow amendments needed by the re-profiled Sidepods along with what looks like a change in design to the front corner of the floor.  The mirror stalks also serve an aerodynamic purpose, purposely blade shaped in order to adjust the flow in that region.



The tea tray was an area that the team had to make alterations for at China in 2012 when they were found to be using the 3mm tolerance in design as a loophole. This lead the team to have to adapt their future upgrades around this and so the team will have undoubtedly taken a fresh approach again this year with a raised chassis to boot.


Further downstream and the Sidepod appears to have a similarly steep curvature leading to the exhaust trough as the solution ran on the MP4-27 from Hockenheim onwards.  The exhaust undercut also looks very similar to that specification along with the exhaust positioning itself.  It remains to see whether the car will be the same come launch in this area but I'd expect a significant alteration. 


One of the key features of Adrian Newey's since the inception of the new rules in 2009 has been the isolation of the halfshafts from the airflow regime by the utilisation of a shroud.  In free air the halfshafts rotation with create downforce (Magnus Effect), the exhaust plume however has an eratic airflow and thus will create an issue when providing airflow over the floor of the car impinging on the halfshafts downforce generation.  McLaren have now followed Newey's lead and isolated the halfshaft by means of a shroud too making it more simplistic to model and provide uniform downforce levels.


The rear wing is most likely a placeholder like the front wing but as we can see the top flap on the launch car is extremely short chord with an extreme AoA on the mainplane.  No DRD is in sight on the launch car but I'm quite sure the team will be assessing it's potential especially with Lotus having said they will continue to work on the passive drag reduction device.


The long and the short of it is the MP4-28 is a new car, different in ethos to it's predecessor and will likely feature many more components at testing not shown here at what is essentially a marketing launch.  Major omissions include under nose turning vanes and rear brake scoops which will likely form areas in which the team have spent development time on.  (Lotus also excluded under nose turning vanes from their launch car / renders)

EDIT: Based on the 3D render made available on McLaren.com there are a couple of discrepancies just like the Lotus launch with McLaren showing the fin style Front Wing used towards the end of the season and Sidepod horizontal flow conditioners (Leading Edge Slats) above the inner ramped section above the sidepod inlet

 
If you'd like some other perspectives on the MP4-28:

Craig 'ScarbsF1' Scarborough Craig 'ScarbsF1' Scarborough with Peter Windsor filming at the launch


Gary Anderson (BBC's Technical Pundit and ex Jordan/Jaguar Engineer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21274591 (Grey bar on the left side of the page)

Mark Gillan (Ex Williams) - http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/01/fastest-car-of-2012-made-even-better-technical-analysis-of-new-mclaren/
Read more
25 Oct 2012
no image

  • Thursday, October 25, 2012
  • 1
The McLaren and Honda story has been doing the rounds for a little while now but is there any substance to the rumour that the car maker may return to F1?
F1 and car manufacturers tend to fall in and out of love with each other, this is a cost vs reward exercise with the manufacturer needing to justify their spend on F1 being worth the global exposure.

Honda's last foray in F1 cost them big, having ploughed huge sums into their own works team (having purchased it from BAR) and really being the major investor in Super Aguri they needed results to satisfy the board. The huge global economic downturn that followed was enough for the Honda board to close the doors at Brackley having already pulled the plug on Super Aguri.

The Honda board knew the team had been striving to create the best car in 09 from a new regulation set outlined by the FIA. The design team in Brackley had abandoned the ill fated RA108 earlier into it's shelf life then normal instead concentrating on the RA109/BGP001 knowing that both a change in aerodynamic rules and a move back to slick tyres could jump the Honda team into contention. This however was not enough to convince the board that they should remain in F1. 
Honda supplied only their own team on the grid with V8's so didn't need to justify their actions outside of their own board rooms. As we all know the team as we know went on to win both Constructors and Drivers titles through the BrawnGP brand with the Double Decked Diffusers causing the controversy of the season an idea that filtered through from the Super Aguri outfit when the team assimilated some of their staff when Honda effectively closed their doors.  This however does not mean that a Honda powered team would have resulted in the same results achieved with Mercedes power.

In terms of F1 engines their V8 was never really a potent force, as Honda suffered under the FIA's homoglation rules having a very peaky performance band. It was widely reported when the Mercedes powerplant was injected into the BGP001 that both drivers felt the Mercedes powerplant offered much greater driveability when compared to the Honda V8 of the year before.

McLaren's breakdown in relationship with Mercedes is intrinsically linked to the story of Honda's exit, as McLaren sought to establish their road car division the ties that had been formed with Mercedes no longer became viable. Mercedes have supported the McLaren outfit with engines since 1995 meaning the team have not needed to pay for their engines. Mercedes also owned around 40% of the McLaren racing division up until the Mercedes board decided to buy the remains of the Honda/BrawnGP outfit at the end of 2009.

At this point a deal was struck that McLaren would re-purchase the shares from Mercedes over a period of 3 years. At the end of this McLaren would then pay Mercedes 8 Million pounds per year for supply of their Engines/KERS units. (This commences from 2013) although it is widely rumoured due to the enlarged costs associated with the new 1.6 V6 Turbo engines this cost will rise significantly in 2014.

McLaren's contract with Mercedes for engine supply runs until 2015 and it is also worth pointing out that Mercedes AMG HPP (High Performance Powertrains) is but an arm of the Mercedes brand. This means that the teams are given parity and the Mercedes works team won't receive a different specification engine to McLaren or Force India. As I discussed in this article: http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/technical-assesment-of-lewis-hamilton.html it is however plausible that a team could use their own ERS system in 2014 to leverage an advantage over the other teams using the same engine.

If some media outlets are to be believed McLaren will not use the Mercedes powerplant as early as next year (2013). This in my opinion is not going to happen as the MP4-28 is already in development and has been for some time. It doesn't mean it isn't possible as I believe the Honda V8 is still able to race although the last time it was in use we had the 20,000rpm rev limits and not the 18,000rpm now imposed on the teams. The still born RA109 also had plans in place to run with KERS which BrawnGP abandoned due to packaging issues in comparison to the Mercedes setup. The RA109 was designed to carry the KERS batteries beneath the front nose something that hasn't been attempted by the other teams who locate their batteries beneath the driver for better CoG (Centre of Gravity).

The reverse of the hurdles faced by BrawnGP in 09 would be faced by McLaren if they were to make such a rash decision to run a Honda V8 in 2013 creating its own packaging issues in comparison to it's Mercedes counterpart along with less driveability.

IF McLaren were make an early move to Honda in 2013 it may hamper McLaren in the short term technically but would allow for Honda to ease themselves back into the sport and the hearts of the Japanese car makers board. It may also mean that as Honda undoubtedly have a few of their V8 units kicking around, McLaren could pick them up free as part of a marketing move for Honda.

In terms of longevity for Honda to re-enter the sport as an engine manufacturer at this stage could be pivotal with; Cosworth up for sale and still early in the throws of their own 2014 engine development and PURE looking like it might not get it's V6 Turbo engine into production with money issues.
This leaves a void for another supplier with Ferrari supplying 3 teams (Ferrari, Sauber & Toro Rosso), Mercedes 3 Teams (Mercedes, McLaren & Force India) and Renault 4 teams (Red Bull Racing, Lotus GP, Williams & Caterham) if Cosworth don't develop a new engine and a new supplier doesn't come along it puts pressure on the others to supply either Marussia and/or HRT.
At 4 teams Renault have already declared themselves at full capacity and won't look to supply any other teams, meanwhile Ferrari and Mercedes could simply pick up the remainder giving parity to all the suppliers in F1. By making a statement of intent to re-enter the sport with McLaren, Honda could not only pick up Marussia and/or HRT but lure one of the other teams away from their current supplier.

Honda as a company are still working their way through the economic downturn that was the catalyst for their original F1 exit but perhaps a return as as supplier could be a shrewd move that gets them the exposure without the cost of a team. This is a lesson that has been employed by Renault who still enjoy the media attention and success of F1 vicariously through Red Bull Racing. The new engine formula for 2014 will interest Honda as they look to move some of their performance road car ranges to turbo's meanwhile ERS shows a more eco conscious element to motorsport which Honda were keen on when last in F1. Aligning their motorsport brand with the road range has always appealed to Honda who currently use WTCC and Indy Car as promotional tools on 4 wheels whilst they apply theirselves to a wide spectrum of 2 wheel motorsport.  I personally would welcome Honda in a return to F1 but it would be foolish to believe that aligned with McLaren they could dominate the sport the way they did in 88 with the MP4/4. 

Even if Honda aren't in the frame for a return McLaren may still be eying other options in order to either cut costs or further galvanize their brand. It could also be argued that McLaren may look to manufacturer their own powerplants but I believe they know only too well that the costs involved are prohibitive and would create a huge drain on their own resources and limit the future success of the brand. The MP4-12C from the road car division features a 3.8l V8 Twin Turbo engine that was developed in partnership with Ricardo taking the original Nissan VRH35 engine as a footprint. This could be seen as a stepping stone to a future which sees a division of McLaren supplying both the race and road departments with engines but it would be a massive stretch whilst the road car business is still in it's infancy to suggest they could fund this.

The only way I see for McLaren to make the large leap into a full scale Chassis and Engine manufacturer in F1 quickly would be part of a deal to buy Cosworth. Cosworth recently placed itself for sale and have both Rolls Royce and GKN eying a deal to buy the company. With Cosworth now split into different divisions neither Rolls Royce or GKN may find themselves interested in the Automotive element but rather be looking at their Aerospace and Defence interests. In terms of the Automotive & Motorsport businesses they may look to sell off these assets. 

Cosworth have already stated they have started work on their 2014 V6 Turbo Engines / ERS systems which could provide a platform for McLaren to work with and also give them an avenue to become their own supplier. The work done by Cosworth within the road car industry also ties off nicely with any long term plans McLaren may have in this field.

All in all there are many ways in which this story could develop and unfold and I for one look forward in interest to see whether McLaren stick with Mercedes, entice Honda back to F1 or forge their own path toward a larger future/brand.
Read more
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Total Pageviews