McLaren is one of the great disappointments of this start of the F1 season: after the Barcelona tests the MCL36 seemed one of the best cars in fighting porpoising, while both in the tests and then in the opening round of the world championship in Bahrain, it has showed some technical deficiencies not only in the front braking system which caused the car to slide to the rear of the grid.
The car curated by James Key that adopts the Mercedes M13 E Performance power unit impressed with some design choices that went in a different direction from the other single-seaters. The front pull rod suspension and the rear push rod suspension are a clear testimony of this.
McLaren MCL36, technical detail of the rear with engine packaging and push rod suspension
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The image of Giorgio Piola shows us the bare rear end of the MCL36 which highlights some choices made by the Woking team, such as the cooling system of the power unit which was divided between the radiators and the intercooler placed in the bellies and the radiant packs which were installed above the 6 cylinders of the Star.
The white arrow highlights the careful work that has been done in the packaging of the power unit, trying to collect the channels in an integrated system that testifies to the careful study of the location of each detail.
The shot also allows us to observe the rear suspension with the push rod strut very inclined forward that pivots to the balance wheel placed between the engine and gearbox like all the internal kinematics which, obviously, are not seen. The upper triangle is rather narrow, while the lower one is much more open and the semi-axle is not faired as many other teams have chosen to do.
McLaren MCL36: here are the front wings for now the same as those of Sakhir
Photo by: Uncredited
For the moment, the wings have not been changed for the Jeddah track compared to those seen in Bahrain.
#technical #McLaren #miracles #packaging #rear #push