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[Nin-Chin]

Just move the post,I'm too stupid to be on this forum,ill shut up,and go away for a few days.Bye

[Hammer278]

Wow and I thought my ex gf was too sensitive.

It was a joke NC. Hence the smilie.

[Nin-Chin]

You actually thought I was gone,no way would I go so close to Melbourne,I'm gonna be flatout for the weekend

[racechick]

Just move the post,I'm too stupid to be on this forum,ill shut up,and go away for a few days.Bye

No you're not too stupid Nin Chin!.......that accolade when technology related goes to me so don't go away!!

[What's Burning?]

Lewis doesn't drive for McLaren anymore...

would a sad face smiley after that comment make you feel better?

[acosmichippo]

No one has seen this yet?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105949

Honda sources have confirmed to AUTOSPORT that it plans to return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier to McLaren.

Still no hard evidence, but they are at least claiming a confidential source.

[Hammer278]

If that's true it's good news for McLaren I think. Honda coming back in probably will probably give importance to McLaren (I'm guessing) but would it be a feasible venture if they only supply 1 team? We might have Redbull Honda, or even Lotus Honda....who knows.

[bud]

McLaren have always strived for a works deal.

[CookinFlat6]

Honda may supply a few teams, but McLaren will be the works team and most importantly will get free engines in return for calling the team McLaren Honda. Thats where Ron is king, getting whopping deals out of engine suppliers

The only fly in the ointment is the possible 2 year struggle for the engines to become truly competitive. The last Honda F1 engine truly sucked compared to the Merc according to Reubens
A lot has happened in F1 since the old heyday of the Honda turbo. But even if the team get a Cosworth type disaster for a few years its a no brainer not having to pay Merc 20mill (probably rising each year) with no end in sight

At least the team will have button on board on a long long contract and he is well versed in the process of getting Honda engines working well

[scotty]

At least the team will have button on board on a long long contract and he is well versed in the process of getting Honda engines working well

Is that dig really necessary? No, no it isn't.

Polite reminder to all from the forum guidelines:

* Posts intended to flame and/or provoke users for a reaction, regardless of subtlety.

If it seems like people are going around attacking drivers for no particular reason in every other post, then it is going to cause problems and it must fall under this guideline. Seems to (still) be happening a hell of a lot and it needs to stop now otherwise this season is going to cause no end of trouble.

[PartsaS]

Hello everyone, very excited (and anxious) for the mp4-28 new design. I think the new car might not be as fast as the mp4-27 ''out of the box'' but as Martin says it has open a new road of evolution development which will be helpfull in the long run. and this might be the year for Button to become a 2 time WC
I'm dying to know were we are compared to Redbull or Ferrari. I also predict a very strong year for Lotus and Raiko.
I apologize in advance -in case the following have been already talked about;

MP4-281.jpg

Pull rod suspension rather than pushrod, much higher nose so more air flow below the car– different exhaust layout…? the rear body work has been cut extensively around the rear exhaust, open volumes around the rear wing, and especially the lower beam wing. “The aerodynamic gain is enough to outweigh the kinematic and structural issues a pull rod layout creates. Having the pull rod, dampers and torsion bars all mounted lower in the chassis helps bring the centre of gravity down” Michael explains.
The front upper crash structures sit slightly forward of ducts. (Lotus - like)

upmacy1.jpg

upmacy2.jpg

Lets hope the MP4-28 turns out to be a winning and reliable rocket beside the weird winter testing...

[LewEngBridewell]

Lets hope the MP4-28 turns out to be a winning and reliable rocket beside the weird winter testing...

Cheers to that!

[CookinFlat6]

I am a little concerned about a chain of events at Mclaren. I do not want to go as far as mentioning a conspiracy but something aint adding up. And I am going to put aside all bias concerning drivers or staff and approach it as a Mclaren follower of years who doesnt know anything about the drivers etc

First of all Mclaren turn up with a pretty nose for 2012, unique amongst the teams bar one. Ok so the team have had a lower front for a while and we can say its an approach that is daring but understandable. Even Lewis voices concern that maybe the other teams have an advantage. The non stepped nose is possible because of the low front philosophy and the loss of potential for managing more airflow under the front is acceptable because the team are set around the low front and derive other benefits. The car is developed well and is fastest by year end and the team vow to focus on the reliability issues

For 2013 the car is suddenly changed at the front, out with the low and in with the high just like everyone else. Also a radical pullrod suspension is introduced. This is something that is just not considered by any team for years, since the Minardi team, a back grid outfit played with it. However there was 1 team that gambled on it last year and suffered for half the season making it yield benefits comparable to the dependable pushrod used by RBR and the others.

Who championed and was responsible for introducing this pullrod arrangement? Paddy Lowe!
Paddy Lowe is now on gardening leave as he is off to Merc and kept away from the car. So when was it decided that the 28 would have this new concept which is only really relevant for one more year?

During testing the team have struggled a bit to understand the car with issues arising from lengthy setup change times associated with ......the front just like Ferrari last year.

And now we hear from Whitmarsh that the team have decided to gamble on performance first and reliability second as they want the fastest car by far. This is in stark contrast to the Ferrari team where Alonso says give me a reliable and slightly slower car this year over the fastest but not reliable car. This is the team that spent half last year the 4th fastest car understanding the pullrod front
This is where it gets interesting - Whitmarsh now says he has spoken with, and is bringing back to work on areas not having a bearing on 2014........non other than Paddy Lowe!

Whitmarsh added that he spoke last week to former technical director Paddy Lowe, who is on gardening leave before joining Mercedes next year, and will do so again on his return from Australia with the view of continuing to use his expertise this season.
He said: "The beauty is that there are quite big areas of this year's regulations which are completely not applicable going forward so I would hope we will get him involved in some of those challenges."

When Lewis signed for Merc he would have been told something concrete to make him believe that there was no mileage staying at Mac vs moving to Merc

And Button was categoric about the fact that the 27 was no good for him, but the 28 would be

So what is going on here?

Did Paddy create something Goss couldnt handle just before he jumped ship? Or did he jump ship because he was asked to create something he didnt believe in? maybe a panic decision in the middle of last year? Did this cause Lewis/Paddy to talk to Merc?

I just cannot see how McLaren are gambling all or nothing on a radical 2 sec advantage car, needing to bring Paddy back, reversing the approach on reliability and deciding now that with 1 year left was the time to join the others as the low front was afterall flawed with regard to development potential? Did they not know this at the start of 2012 if even Lewis was pointing to the other teams?

Finally Whitmarsh seems to single out Mercedes when talking about getting to the bottom of reliability issues

"We've been working hard with [engine supplier] Mercedes-Benz on some of the issues we saw last year, and we've been working internally as well.

Since last year ofcourse the part that gave up in testing was ....a fuel pump

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21741052


Any ideas?

[racechick]

Some very interesting points raised there. I did wonder why they'd been so radical with the car when they finished the season with the fastest car. For the sake of one year I'd have thought they would have refined what they had. They said there wasn't enough development left in it, maybe so, but surely enough tweeking possibility for just a year before the big redesign.
But more odd is the Paddy Lowe situation. Why is he leaving? money? Recently Lewis has said anyone who thinks I left McLaren for the money is wrong, because I'd have been on a bigger salary there. So they have enough money to keep Paddy if Its just about money.Paddy's worked with Lewis since he started in f1 and is on record singing his praises, saying how much more leeway a designer/ engineer has when a driver like Lewis is in the car. Did he want to stay with Lewis? Does he see the same opportunity for greatness that Lewis is chasing? On the other had he must clearly have been involved in the helping Button period last year which must have hampered the push for the championship. Or did he disagree with that? And then again we have Button on record saying how important Lowe is to his future ( before talk of him leaving started) and how he was the main one who helped him settle in and feel at home at McLaren. So where do Lowe's loyalties lie? What turns him on? That's the bit I find fascinating. Politics, politics, politics. Always rearing their ugly head

[CookinFlat6]

either there is a sub plot somewhere in there or the team are just stumbling around now.
To put Paddy Lowe on gardening leave and publically declare Tim Goss up to speed and a choice with its own merits to suddenly persuading Paddy to come back after one race

Did they not know already that he could be working on areas not important for 2014? Why would you not have him at testing in that case

Try as I can its hard not to look out for what happening at McLaren after so many years and its like a train crash happening in slow motion. But I really hope Merc are not somehow involved in this deliberately, that would be unforgivable no matter what

but somethings up, Honda waiting in the wings like an avenger, i just hope its not a knee jerk reaction from McLaren, i wish ron would step in and show us its all a devious plot of his