McLaren believes it has only just begun to scrape the surface when it comes to exploiting the full potential of its blown diffuser.
The Woking-based team is racing its revised floor for the first time at this weekend's German Grand Prix, although the new concept could not help Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button challenge Red Bull Racing for pole position.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh reckons McLaren is nowhere near optimising the performance it can get out of its blown diffuser - and that the team should be able to get much more speed out of it over the next few races.
"I think we have probably got less than half of what is possible and I am sure that as the races go by we will get more from that," said Whitmarsh at Hockenheim.
"Once you have got this concept working then the aerodynamicists can start to work on the details of the floor, start to work on the exhausts, and start to work on how it interacts with the wheels and the tyres. There is a lot of scope now to make progress."
Whitmarsh has echoed comments from other teams that the blown diffuser is not the key element that will help McLaren beat Red Bull to the title – as he targets other areas of car developments too.
"We spotted some other things on their car [Red Bull] that we are looking at the moment," explained Whitmarsh. "They have worked on developing the blown diffuser but we mustn't get carried away with the idea that the blown diffuser is the answer to everything.
"I think once you are exploiting exhaust gases in that way then you can start to develop the car. They have other features on their car which are interesting too. We will be looking at them and we will be looking to see what we can do."
Whitmarsh reckoned his team needed to find a lap performance improvement of up to 0.25 seconds per race if it was to triumph in 2010.
"We know that we have to continue to try and develop the car by 0.125s to 0.25s per lap at every race," he said. "That is a second every four races.
"We need to be doing that. This championship is still very winnable and we will be focused and pushing hard on that inevitably as the weeks go by. Then we will start to concentrate a little bit more on next year's car but I think we will get that balance right."
News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Showing posts with label Martin Whitmarsh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martin Whitmarsh. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
McLaren not satisified with MP4-25 speed
Martin Whitmarsh insists that McLaren cannot be satisfied with the speed of its car, despite leading the world championship standings heading into the start of the European season.
Although the Woking-based outfit has made the most of the opportunities that have come its way in the first four races, with Jenson Button's two victories helping him lead the drivers' standings, team principal Whitmarsh thinks there is plenty of work to do to extract more pace from the MP4-25.
"There is no secret that we will keep pushing," said Whitmarsh, who is well aware that Red Bull has secured pole position at every race so far.
"We have a new package that we are bringing for Barcelona and for every race we have demonstrated over the years that we can improve the car, race on race, and that is what we have got to do.
"All the teams will be doing that and we just have to do it at a quicker rate. We are closer than we have been, we are not satisfied with the car, and we have to improve it and have to make it quicker."
Whitmarsh also admitted that his team was left slightly frustrated by the way Formula 1's ride-height control controversy panned out - having been given the go-ahead to develop its own version prior to the FIA outlawing it after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"It was understood some time ago by previous rulings that you could not have specific parts that move in relation to the sprung mass which have influence on the aerodynamics of the car," he said.
"From that we were given that you could not have parts in the suspension system that moved the ride height, but we sensed that maybe some teams were taking advantage of that capability, quite possibility legitimately. We enquired with the FIA and we were surprised when we were told that such systems were legal.
"On the basis of that, we started to develop such systems and we intended to have such a system in China. Then, before the race, we were told that the FIA had reconsidered that position and that such systems were no longer legal - so we had wasted a bit of time.
"We are not trying to be critical of the FIA, because in fairness Charlie [Whiting] and the FIA have 12 teams diligently pestering them trying to get rulings, twists and turns in the regulations and interpretations, but I was surprised when we had a positive ruling, and delighted because we are about creative engineering and we enjoy those sort of challenges.
"So it was shame we could not introduce it, it would have given us a little bit of an advantage but we couldn't do it, so we move on. That is the nature of it. The FIA has to make difficult decisions. It can always do things better, but it would have been nice if we had had a clear no at the outset but we didn't."
Despite being forced to abandon its suspension plans, Whitmarsh says there is still plenty of scope for McLaren to bring more pace to its current car.
"We can generate more downforce, we can bring on more aerodynamic efficiency, we can make is less sensitive, we can make it lighter, we can do all those things. That is our job and that is what we enjoy chasing and pursuing.
"If every now and again the regulations throw up an unexpected opportunity, we will jump on it. This [ride-height affair] momentarily threw one up, we jumped on it but ultimately couldn't exploit it."
Although the Woking-based outfit has made the most of the opportunities that have come its way in the first four races, with Jenson Button's two victories helping him lead the drivers' standings, team principal Whitmarsh thinks there is plenty of work to do to extract more pace from the MP4-25.
"There is no secret that we will keep pushing," said Whitmarsh, who is well aware that Red Bull has secured pole position at every race so far.
"We have a new package that we are bringing for Barcelona and for every race we have demonstrated over the years that we can improve the car, race on race, and that is what we have got to do.
"All the teams will be doing that and we just have to do it at a quicker rate. We are closer than we have been, we are not satisfied with the car, and we have to improve it and have to make it quicker."
Whitmarsh also admitted that his team was left slightly frustrated by the way Formula 1's ride-height control controversy panned out - having been given the go-ahead to develop its own version prior to the FIA outlawing it after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"It was understood some time ago by previous rulings that you could not have specific parts that move in relation to the sprung mass which have influence on the aerodynamics of the car," he said.
"From that we were given that you could not have parts in the suspension system that moved the ride height, but we sensed that maybe some teams were taking advantage of that capability, quite possibility legitimately. We enquired with the FIA and we were surprised when we were told that such systems were legal.
"On the basis of that, we started to develop such systems and we intended to have such a system in China. Then, before the race, we were told that the FIA had reconsidered that position and that such systems were no longer legal - so we had wasted a bit of time.
"We are not trying to be critical of the FIA, because in fairness Charlie [Whiting] and the FIA have 12 teams diligently pestering them trying to get rulings, twists and turns in the regulations and interpretations, but I was surprised when we had a positive ruling, and delighted because we are about creative engineering and we enjoy those sort of challenges.
"So it was shame we could not introduce it, it would have given us a little bit of an advantage but we couldn't do it, so we move on. That is the nature of it. The FIA has to make difficult decisions. It can always do things better, but it would have been nice if we had had a clear no at the outset but we didn't."
Despite being forced to abandon its suspension plans, Whitmarsh says there is still plenty of scope for McLaren to bring more pace to its current car.
"We can generate more downforce, we can bring on more aerodynamic efficiency, we can make is less sensitive, we can make it lighter, we can do all those things. That is our job and that is what we enjoy chasing and pursuing.
"If every now and again the regulations throw up an unexpected opportunity, we will jump on it. This [ride-height affair] momentarily threw one up, we jumped on it but ultimately couldn't exploit it."
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Whitmarsh defends Hamilton weave
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has jumped to the defence of driver Lewis Hamilton amid criticism about the former world champions weaving in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton weaved several times down the start-finish straight at Sepang as he tried to break the slipstream from a pursuing Vitaly Petrov, whom he had been battling with for several laps.
And although Hamilton was given no penalty for the move, with the stewards just giving him a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour, several rivals have said they are unhappy about what he did.
However, Whitmarsh insists that Hamilton did absolutely nothing wrong and that his driver would never race in a dangerous manner.
"The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalise Lewis," said Whitmarsh in China. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe."
The matter is likely to be brought up in Fridays drivers briefing in China, however, with Williams driver Rubens Barrichello expressing his own disappointment about what happened.
"I don't think this is the right thing to do," said Barrichello in China on Thursday. "When I saw it, I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. If he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn't right."
Hamilton weaved several times down the start-finish straight at Sepang as he tried to break the slipstream from a pursuing Vitaly Petrov, whom he had been battling with for several laps.
And although Hamilton was given no penalty for the move, with the stewards just giving him a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour, several rivals have said they are unhappy about what he did.
However, Whitmarsh insists that Hamilton did absolutely nothing wrong and that his driver would never race in a dangerous manner.
"The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalise Lewis," said Whitmarsh in China. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe."
The matter is likely to be brought up in Fridays drivers briefing in China, however, with Williams driver Rubens Barrichello expressing his own disappointment about what happened.
"I don't think this is the right thing to do," said Barrichello in China on Thursday. "When I saw it, I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. If he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn't right."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)