McLaren leads the way, but will there be other teams following them in bringing the front suspension back to F1 with the pull rod scheme?
The lightened image that we publish, in addition to showing the steering wheel that Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will use, highlights a peculiarity of the body: the floor does not rise much below the driver’s knees, confirming the tendency of James Key’s car to want move the inside of the suspension onto the chassis floor to adopt the tie rod pattern rather than the strut used on the MCL35M.
McLaren MCL35M detail of the push rod front suspension
Photo by: Uncredited
During the fire up of the Mercedes power unit on the McLaren which took place last January 26 at the Technology Center, Zak Brown, the great team leader, wanted to shoot with his smartphone, capturing details that clearly show how in Woking they have taken a different path from others, opening a line of research that indicates how ground-effect single-seaters will by no means be all the same.
Comparison between the Ferrari SF16H with push rod scheme and the SF15T with the pull rod
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
From 2016 the F1 cars had all converted to the push rod scheme after Ferrari had abjured the front tie rod with the 2016 SF16-H, a scheme that had been maintained in the 2012-2015 four-year period with F2012, F138, F14T and F15T in sequence.
The changes are usually determined by the rules: Nikolas Tombazis and Pat Symonds for the 2022 single-seaters have chosen a low nose to reduce the risk of a nose that is too high that could cause damage to the driver possibly hit sideways.
F1 2022
Photo by: Formula 1
The choice dictated by the search for safety opens up different solutions: most of the teams opted to dig the nose and the frame in the lower part to have a greater air flow that can feed the two Venturi channels used to generate the aerodynamic load. . For this they will keep the push rod pattern, with the balance wheel anchoring to the top of the frame and at the lowest point of the hub carrier.
The intention is to prioritize aerodynamic choices with an “anteater” nose that will hardly extend to the main profile of the front wing. McLaren, on the other hand, will try to exploit other advantages, taking advantage of the mechanical part that is back very topical with the adoption of 18-inch Pirelli tires.
For example, with the pull rod scheme it will be possible to lower the center of gravity of the MCL36, bringing the suspension kinematics down: the car could be more reactive in sudden changes of direction, where the weight increase (43 kg compared to F1 2021 ) could be felt affecting the life of the tires.
James Key’s staff, therefore, may have been looking for a suspension with greater shock and spring travel, as they will have to dampen the stresses absorbing the shoulders of the 13-inch tires.
First image of the McLaren MCL36 chassis
And the McLaren communication did nothing to hide this technical address, because already in the first photograph of the MCL36 chassis posted on Twitter some interesting details had emerged: there will no longer be the cradle in the upper part of the body to accommodate the suspension under the vanity. panel, but there will be a real cockpit, essential to allow the mechanics to work on the set-up adjustments.
Also the trend of the bellies above the Venturi channels could be different from others with rather low and long sides, and with less inclined radiators than last year to reduce the drag of the car body, rather than the front. So let’s also expect a front wing of a different design in the flaps from the one shown in the FIA show car …
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