Presentacion del McLaren MP4-26 en directo

[Enigma]

McLaren’s Tim Goss explains the MP4-26

McLaren’s technical team say that the major focus of aero work this winter was to optimise airflow to rear wing in order to help make up for the double diffuser ban.
The sidepods and cooling arrangement of the new car are the most intriguing features. It remains to be seen whether the front of the sidepods reflects an intention to add a Renault-style exhaust exit in the coming weeks.
“I think there are some novel features on the car – the long wheelbase and U-shaped sidepods are probably the most obvious examples,” says engineering director Tim Goss. “The thinking behind that is to feed as much good-quality air as possible to the rear-lower mainplane and the floor of the car. We want to get the rear-end working as well as possible following the loss of performance caused by the banning of the double-diffuser.
“For 2011, KERS is now a single integrated unit that sits within the survival cell, beneath the fuel-tank. In 2009, it was housed in the sidepods. The hybrid’s cooling intake sits directly below the main rollhoop intake. And, once again, we’ve really pushed the car’s cooling configuration: we’ve got a second air intake on the engine cover for gearbox and hydraulic cooling.”
Regarding the biggest challenges of 2011, Goss says: “For me, there have been two: recovering the rear downforce we lost following the banning of the double-diffuser, and fully exploiting the Pirelli tyres. The tyres only last for around 10 laps, and making them last longer is quite a challenge. So we need to look closely at how we configure the set-up and suspension to make the tyres last.
“We set ourselves a very ambitious aerodynamic target for 2011. We always want to do more and we’re always very critical about performance, but we feel we’ve done a good job. We’ve identified some areas where we can add performance to the car – over the next weeks, the task will be to get them on to the car and reliable by the first race. That’s the big challenge.”
Technical director Paddy Lowe says that the team has worked with Mercedes GP to get the ideal KERS packaging.
“Getting KERS back on the car was a big task,” says Lowe. “Collaborating with Mercedes GP to define the specification for Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines was very satisfying: there was great collaboration and co-operation between us. There can be lots of difficulties finding alignment between two teams, but I’m pleased with how we made it happen and very happy with the outcome.”
“The system was also more difficult to package because you’ve got to carry more fuel,” said Goss. “That was the first challenge, but we got through that. There were a few difficult decisions concerning architecture around different aerodynamic concepts, but I think we ended up with a design layout we’re happy with.”