New car reveals

[ghost83]

I love it already, I just hope they are competitive

[ralphrj]

CraigyMc said:

There are the same number of sponsors on the car this year as last year.

There is one crucial difference. The Honda logo came with sponsorship money. McLaren are paying Renault to display their name (and provide an engine).

CraigyMc said:

I note that Kimoa is on both the bargeboards and the nose. That's Alonso's company, I suppose he's contributing some dosh to the team this year through that.

I suspect it is in lieu of (or in return for a reduction to) salary.

[Vocal Minority]

I like it I have to say - I’m not a tub thumping ‘it must be traditional’ sort - but it’s a pleasing livery - and another colour on the grid

I have to say o found the chrome mentioned earlier busy at best and a bit gauche at worst, rather than classy.

Should have a nice colourful grid this year

[anonymous-user]

The studio photos don't do the colour justice. That is going to stand out when on track against the other cars and look stunning in bright light. It's a great looking car.

[CraigyMc]

jsf said:

The studio photos don't do the colour justice. That is going to stand out when on track against the other cars and look stunning in bright light. It's a great looking car.

Have you seen the car in the flesh, jsf?

[ralphrj]

Not really about new cars but interesting nonetheless:

The FIA has issued a technical directive clarifying that not only must power units supplied by the manufacturers be of an identical spec they must be capable of being operated "in precisely the same way".

The most obvious effect of this clarification is that Mercedes must supply Williams and Force India with access to the qualifying/extra power engine maps.

[hoegaardenruls]

Buzz84 said:

parabolica said:

Dazzled said:

It’s been hard enough in recent years to identify the drivers as they sit so low in the cockpit. Now it’s next to impossible.

Thank god for everyone having their numbers printed on the sides and in some cases their 3-letter names code eh?

ELUSIVEJIM said:

To be fair F1 drivers change their helmets far too often anyway so it's near impossible to know at times.

I really hate that as a helmet was the stand out feature.

They also implemented a a rule in 2016 to say that the drivers had to have the same helmet all year round (minor changes, like sponsors are allowed) and are only allowed to have a completely new helmet for one race once in the season.

Not forgetting that every team uses a different colour for the camera housing (above the the engine intake) on each car..

[miniwill58]

Are the maps not property of Merc and only for Merc cars?

[kambites]

ralphrj said:

The most obvious effect of this clarification is that Mercedes must supply Williams and Force India with access to the qualifying/extra power engine maps.

And presumably their oil/coolant/etc. specs? Or it might just mean the engine needs to respond the same way if the customer's ECU sends it the same signals that the Mercedes one does.

[andburg]

ralphrj said:

Not really about new cars but interesting nonetheless:

The FIA has issued a technical directive clarifying that not only must power units supplied by the manufacturers be of an identical spec they must be capable of being operated "in precisely the same way".

The most obvious effect of this clarification is that Mercedes must supply Williams and Force India with access to the qualifying/extra power engine maps.

i read that differently, must be capable of to me says they are forced to provide the exact maps but doesnt mean they will allow the same durations of use.

It seemed to be the case last year that Williams/FI said they had the same toys but couldn't use them as much, I dont see this being a major change.

[ajprice]

Vocal Minority said:

Should have a nice colourful grid this year

Mercedes - Silver
Ferrari - Red
Red Bull - Dark blue?
Force India - Pink?
Williams - White
Toro Rosso - Blue?
Renault - Black/Yellow
Haas - Grey
McLaren - Orange
Sauber - White/red

I think the only confusion between teams might be between the white Sauber and Williams cars from front on.

[HighwayStar]

ralphrj said:

Not really about new cars but interesting nonetheless:

The FIA has issued a technical directive clarifying that not only must power units supplied by the manufacturers be of an identical spec they must be capable of being operated "in precisely the same way".

The most obvious effect of this clarification is that Mercedes must supply Williams and Force India with access to the qualifying/extra power engine maps.

Renault have always said the supply identical spec packages to all their teams. Mercedes haven’t done this. I’ve always thought it strange that a team could be legitimately hamstrung by their engine supplier. Glad to see this new directive come in, it should never have been needed.

[anonymous-user]

CraigyMc said:

Have you seen the car in the flesh, jsf?

No, but i have worked on many papaya McLaren race cars, it's a stunning colour in daylight and especially so when viewed at speed.

[kambites]

HighwayStar said:

Renault have always said the supply identical spec packages to all their teams. Mercedes haven’t done this. I’ve always thought it strange that a team could be legitimately hamstrung by their engine supplier. Glad to see this new directive come in, it should never have been needed.

I thought Mercedes stated that engines of the same version were fundamentally the same between he works and customer teams. I suppose the question comes when there's an upgrade which is initially only available to the works team - will they now not be allowed to try an engine change until they've manufactured enough units for every customer car to be fitted with one?

[Vaud]

kambites said:

I thought Mercedes stated that engines of the same version were fundamentally the same between he works and customer teams. I suppose the question comes when there's an upgrade which is initially only available to the works team - will they now not be allowed to try an engine change until they've manufactured enough units for every customer car to be fitted with one?

The engine version was the same, but Merc race team had more maps available IIRC.

[Piginapoke]

The net position of the team with Renault power unit is £100m negative p.a.

To have so few sponsors will surely start to test the patience of the Bahrainis, if the team does not raise its game this year. I really do think this year is critical to the future of the team.

Dell and Petrobras are essentially supply deals, and Kimoa is on the car to keep Alonso, no money involved. The last of the big money left with Johnnie Walker.

Car looks nice, but RB looks a year ahead of Mclaren in packaging and aero.

[turbomoped]

motor racing fans are obsessed with stickers so empty spaces worry them on a car.
As far as I can tell cars like the williams,force india and Sauber are festooned with the comfort giving stickers and they always seem on the verge of extinction.
If the Mclaren has a reasonable turn of speed maybe they can fill the spaces with better paying sponsors than the 3 teams mentioned.

[Dr Z]

Piginapoke said:

Car looks nice, but RB looks a year ahead of Mclaren in packaging and aero.

Yes, that's because RB have had a year with the Renault engine/PU. This is a launch/test spec McLaren. Once the baseline is established next week in the test, we'll see a lot more bits added to it and the rear more shrink wrapped--even so, the airbox/undercut looks about par with the other cars. I suspect the Melbourne spec will be very different. McLaren under PP have tended to launch very simple versions of the car and ramp up very quickly once the season gets underway.

On track:

[DanielSan]

That Mclaren looks awesome on track, just hope it has some pace.

[N0ddie]

McLaren have already said that their Australian GP car will be substantially different to their launch/test car.