McLaren has unveiled its 2012 Formula 1 car, the MP4-27, at the team’s Woking base. With two British world champs in Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, McLaren finished last season with six victories and second in the standings, behind champions Red Bull. The MP4-27’s brief is therefore simple – beat the bulls.
The 2012 car looks a lot like last year’s machine, but McLaren says that the MP4-27 chassis has been substantially revised, with all major systems updated or redesigned. No more U-shaped sidepods too, to comply with new regulations.
“We have set ourselves tough and ambitious targets, and we aim to deliver those by the first race and have a championship-winning car. This car is a complete rework from nose to tail, and there is very little that is carried over. A bit of the fuel system is the same, but almost everything else on the car has changed,” said Tim Goss, McLaren’s director of engineering.
“There were a few features we have pushed quite hard from the beginning of the project. I am proud of the whole team and the efforts so far, and from now we go to the next phase of the project which is really wringing the performance out of it. We have a good track record of that – we have big plans, upgrades for the front wing, rear wing, floor and bodywork are already planned,” Goss added.
Elaborating further, technical director Paddy Lowe said: “The regulations are trimming us into narrower and narrower boxes. We don’t see big radical changes from one year to the next year. This car looks very similar but underneath a great deal of changes have taken place.
“Every part has been assessed for weight and performance. If you add all that up, you get a car that is quicker. Teams are tasked to find that 1% to 2% performance improvement – but nevertheless there are obvious innovations.
“We have done a lot of work around the back end, and there is a lot more tidy packaging there, and we have had to do a lot of work on exhausts. That has given the aerodynamicists a great challenge, not only to find the downforce but also in creating the right balance. You need downforce but also you have to be able to use it in the right area.”
Are we looking at the machine to break Red Bull and Seb Vettel’s total domination?
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I am already kan chiong for 2012 F1. Sorry McLaren… go go go Lotus!
the car that Felipe Mass would love to bang again this season.
Well, the U-shaped pod has gone. Looking at the rear more tightly than last year which resemblance of RB7. Most appealing is the nose which is “beautiful”. Excited to see what the Maranello team will unveil. Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo used descriptions including “not pretty” and “lousy” when describing the physical appearance of the car.
2012 F1 Cars Launching dates
Caterham F1 January – 26
McLaren February – 1 (Woking)
Ferrari February – 3 (Maranello)
Force India February – 3 (Silverstone)
Lotus – February – 5 (online launch)
Red Bull February – 6 – 1pm UK time (online launch)
Sauber February – 6 (Jerez)
Toro Rosso February 6 (Jerez)
Williams F1 February 7 (Jerez)
Mercedes February – 21 (TBC)
Toro Rosso – Date not confirmed – Toro Rosso 2012 F1 car will join first pre-season test at Jerez
Marussia (Virgin Racing) – Date not confirmed – After first pre-season test
Looks like ugly noses aren’t mandatory this year. The Mclaren looks nice and tidy
i wanna buy this car can? how much? got aircond and airbag?
F1 cars obviously don’t have air-conditioning or airbags so it’s very uncomfortable inside, but I say they’re the safest cars in the world because even if the drivers crash at super high speeds of 200-300km/hr they could still come out almost uninjured.
Indeed, a beautifully designed car.
Only, the real beauty of a race car is winning race…
So, caterham predicted that most or all teams will have their nasty looking stepped nose. Boy, did they turn out looking ugly. This car looks stunning next to the green car. Hopefully, caterham will be able to keep up with the middle pack.
Ferrari’s is uglier.. Stepped nose as well.
Mclaren always tidy and smart. What I like the most is the cornering stability of mclaren F1.
Meh…only certain ‘coward’ drive this car
Dream on.. You are not a McLaren driver :)
all talk only now……proof it at the track, with other cars….The real test….
now…can it play my .avi and .mkv files?
the lotus f1 car photos were posted online. pls check here for more photos!
https://www.facebook.com/LotusRenaultGP?sk=photos