Mclaren MCL40

[wiktor977]

Free space between the front wing and the nose is HUGE

[HungarianRacer]

I don't think you would be able to see a slotted diffuser from this angle.

With the holes Red Bull and Mercedes cut in their's? Are you kidding me?
Here's the Merc from a more forward-facing angle:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_vcBHaWYAA ... ame=medium

Nowhere near the same angle. You wouldn't be able to see the track surface through the diffuser if the Merc was as side-facing as the McLaren.

Come on now, let's not devolve the discussion into kindergaten-level arguing, the hole in the Mercedes' diffuser would be even more visible & appear bigger from a more side-on angle, that was my point choosing that picture, plenty of images in the W17 thread...

[Darth-Piekus]

With the holes Red Bull and Mercedes cut in their's? Are you kidding me?
Here's the Merc from a more forward-facing angle:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_vcBHaWYAA ... ame=medium

Nowhere near the same angle. You wouldn't be able to see the track surface through the diffuser if the Merc was as side-facing as the McLaren.

Come on now, let's not devolve the discussion into kindergaten-level arguing, the hole in the Mercedes' diffuser would be even more visible & appear bigger from a more side-on angle, that was my point choosing that picture...

The better question is. Does it matter if it has a mousehole or not. Does it even need one if they have other solutions?

[Emag]

Does it even need a mousehole? Who says they don't have another solution?

It doesn't need to, because it's too early to talk performance.

However, when the other top 3 teams all come to the same conclusion with regards to a feature. The one who is missing it is the odd one out.

[MTudor]

Sidepods look like the renders? Floor looks like the renders too? Very basic barge area. No obvious diffuser hole.
https://i.postimg.cc/WzHXtgJx/Ska-rmavb ... -01-38.png

It looks identical to the renders. I wonder if they’re just running that variant for now since these tests are more for the engines and to make sure the cars are running, which would allow them to hide these more sensitive components for now? Maybe at the next tests they’ll start looking to learn more about aero correlation and that’s when we’ll see the final parts? That or maybe this is the first spec, but I find that very difficult to believe.

They confirmed that what you see here will be pretty much what they will run australia with. Up to anyone's guess what they include in that "pretty much".

I doubt that the team won't bring updates for 2 months

[FittingMechanics]

There does seem to be more detail in the bargeboard area than on the render, from what I can see it looks like it does have some kind of horizontal gaps (unlike some teams which have vertical gaps) but it also looks like the bargeboard extends higher than for example Mercedes. Maybe because of the undercut/slim sidepod?

In any case, I doubt we can tell which car is going to be fast by looking at the images. These are super complex aero systems and often times less is more.

[Peter Ian Staker]

With the holes Red Bull and Mercedes cut in their's? Are you kidding me?
Here's the Merc from a more forward-facing angle:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_vcBHaWYAA ... ame=medium

Nowhere near the same angle. You wouldn't be able to see the track surface through the diffuser if the Merc was as side-facing as the McLaren.

Come on now, let's not devolve the discussion into kindergaten-level arguing, the hole in the Mercedes' diffuser would be even more visible & appear bigger from a more side-on angle, that was my point choosing that picture, plenty of images in the W17 thread...

I said that I can't accept a definitive statement over potato quality photos and you responded immediately like I offended your intelligence or something.
Don't complain about kindergarten-level arguing if you can't argue without being passive aggressive.

[Emag]

Nowhere near the same angle. You wouldn't be able to see the track surface through the diffuser if the Merc was as side-facing as the McLaren.

Come on now, let's not devolve the discussion into kindergaten-level arguing, the hole in the Mercedes' diffuser would be even more visible & appear bigger from a more side-on angle, that was my point choosing that picture, plenty of images in the W17 thread...

I said that I can't accept a definitive statement over potato quality photos and you responded immediately like I offended your intelligence or something.
Don't complain about kindergarten-level arguing if you can't argue without being passive aggressive.

To be fair, you can't conclusively say anything for either. The photos are not good enough quality to make an assessment. From what I can see personally, I don't think it's there, but maybe they have a smaller one, or implemented differently so you need a different angle to spot it. From the Mercedes you also can't clearly see it from these angles shot from miles away :

https://i.postimg.cc/RFW1W1Wd/image.png

Neither can you spot it in the Ferrari :

Obviously rake is something they can vary but looks like McLaren running more rake today than other top teams from the limited images we have. Vcarb too
https://i.ibb.co/KjmsqGm4/20260128-122856.jpg

Then a comparison with red bull involved https://i.ibb.co/PZnSbbCJ/20260128-121924.jpg

Let's wait and see if we get some nicer shots in the afternoon session. If not, surely the F1 highlight video at the end of the day will provide some nicer images.

[AR3-GP]

There does seem to be more detail in the bargeboard area than on the render, from what I can see it looks like it does have some kind of horizontal gaps (unlike some teams which have vertical gaps) but it also looks like the bargeboard extends higher than for example Mercedes. Maybe because of the undercut/slim sidepod?

The horizontal gap at bargeboard foot is in the render

[Peter Ian Staker]

Come on now, let's not devolve the discussion into kindergaten-level arguing, the hole in the Mercedes' diffuser would be even more visible & appear bigger from a more side-on angle, that was my point choosing that picture, plenty of images in the W17 thread...

I said that I can't accept a definitive statement over potato quality photos and you responded immediately like I offended your intelligence or something.
Don't complain about kindergarten-level arguing if you can't argue without being passive aggressive.

To be fair, you can't conclusively say anything for either. The photos are not good enough quality to make an assessment. From what I can see personally, I don't think it's there, but maybe they have a smaller one, or implemented differently so you need a different angle to spot it. From the Mercedes you also can't clearly see it from these angles shot from miles away :

https://i.postimg.cc/RFW1W1Wd/image.png

Neither can you spot it in the Ferrari :

Obviously rake is something they can vary but looks like McLaren running more rake today than other top teams from the limited images we have. Vcarb too
https://i.ibb.co/KjmsqGm4/20260128-122856.jpg

Then a comparison with red bull involved https://i.ibb.co/PZnSbbCJ/20260128-121924.jpg

Let's wait and see if we get some nicer shots in the afternoon session. If not, surely the F1 highlight video at the end of the day will provide some nicer images.

That's what I was trying to say. The tyre and brake ducts can obscure the diffuser hole from that angle.
Also couldn't the diffuser hole be different on the McLaren to work with the air channeled from their downwashing sidepods rather than the undercut on the Merc/Ferrari?

[Xero]

I find it hilarious that back-to-back constructors champions are being called out for not doing what some other teams are doing.

I said this exact same thing 2/3 years ago - I'd rather have a simple/clean working baseline to build upon, rather than gamble on a more complicated design which may not work long term.

The car looks very neat and tidy, but there are nice details to be found if you look closely. The front wing actuator looks embedded inside the nose, don't recall seeing that on other cars? Front wing looks more developed too, some very interesting shapes outboard.

[organic]

I find it hilarious that back-to-back constructors champions are being called out for not doing what some other teams are doing.

I said this exact same thing 2/3 years ago - I'd rather have a simple/clean working baseline to build upon, rather than gamble on a more complicated design which may not work long term.

The car looks very neat and tidy, but there are nice details to be found if you look closely. The front wing actuator looks embedded inside the nose, don't recall seeing that on other cars? Front wing looks more developed too, some very interesting shapes outboard.

The nose integration is similar to red bull

McLaren's actuator is fitted further away from the tip of the nose than red bull but fundamental idea is the same here

[sucof]

I find it hilarious that back-to-back constructors champions are being called out for not doing what some other teams are doing.

I said this exact same thing 2/3 years ago - I'd rather have a simple/clean working baseline to build upon, rather than gamble on a more complicated design which may not work long term.

The car looks very neat and tidy, but there are nice details to be found if you look closely. The front wing actuator looks embedded inside the nose, don't recall seeing that on other cars? Front wing looks more developed too, some very interesting shapes outboard.

Yes. Add to that that people still think they know better than the 1000+ amazing engineers.
And that you can know better just by looking at some photos...
They in the factory have the worlds most amazing CFD and Wind tunnels, and most amazing talents to understand all these and come up with the best solution.
So calm down everyone, enjoy looking at the development of these professionals!

[De Wet]

S-Duck Opening under 1 ?

[dren]

Looks like an access panel for the suspension components.