McLaren’s Engineering Director Paddy Lowe Talks About MP4-25 upgrades
The ever quickening pace of Red Bull’s RB6 and Ferrari’s F10 have prompted a flurry of activity at the McLaren engineering garage where the sides engineering director Paddy Lowe is keen to bridge the performance gap between McLaren’s MP4-25 and the Red Bull and Ferrari machines.
The McLaren technician was asked if the blown diffuser introduced to the MP4-25 had paid dividends after the complications experienced during the recent German Grand Prix practice sessions. Lowe responded by saying that McLaren had been slightly late in introducing the particular upgrade to their system compared to Ferrari and Red Bull, so it was understandable that some time should elapse before the full fruits of the endeavour could be reaped.
The McLaren engineer elaborated that the blown diffuser technology was a highly elaborate upgrade that entailed significant ramifications and it was only natural that it should take a while before the full potential of the step-up could be realised.
With regard to the flexible front wings introduced by both Red Bull and Ferrari, Lowe professed his ignorance as to the exact merits of the innovation. The engineering head termed the new feature to be a “phenomenon” and said he was still quite in the dark as to whether or not Red Bull and Ferrari had breached the regulations in introducing the allegedly performance enhancing component.
Paddy Lowe was keen to emphasize that the F-duct system, which was originally a McLaren update, had been adopted to great advantage by the other two cars in the title contention i.e. the RB6 and the F10. Yet Lowe admitted his side was lagging behind its main competitors on the exhaust blown aspect of the upgrade, albeit by a small margin that was by no means unbridgeable. In fact, the principle technician believed it had most probably been inadequacies on the exhaust blown front that had let McLaren down at last weekend’s German Grand Prix.
Lowe highlighted the perks of having Exxon Mobil as a partner, saying that his sides association with the oil firm was fortunate as it made the provision of fuel for races a much more efficient exercise.
When questioned as to whether McLaren’s current struggle to keep up with the ever improving form of the RB6 and F10 would necessitate a compromise over the development of the team’s 2011 car, Lowe said balancing the trade off between current years needs and future resource allocation was a tough decision that had to be dealt with every season. Lowe reasoned that it all basically came down to a team’s championship position, which was the principle determining factor behind the management’s decision over the allocation of resources.
He said that announcements concerning alterations in regulations were also a factor the McLaren technical department was taking into account as it prepared for the 2011 campaign. Overall, Lowe insisted that everything was working out according to plan in the McLaren garage and that the team would have to wait until the assessment run in the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to fully evaluate the progress that had been made over the McLaren 2011 model.
Meanwhile Paddy Lowe was careful not to let expectations run too high for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix, emphasising that the unique characteristics of each circuit could either be amenable to the upgrades introduced or work the other way. The emphasis in McLaren, Paddy said, was to exhaust all means available to bring forth the best possible result.
Speaking about restrictions on in-season testing, Paddy stated he found the restraints to be more challenging than frustrating on the whole. He said the team headed to each event fully aware they had just three practice sessions to make improvements to a car, and the limits rendered the whole exercise into a rather enjoyable challenge.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers’ championship, with his teammate Jenson Button not far behind in the standings. Hamilton consolidated his lead at last weekend’s German Grand Prix, but McLaren have reason to fear the ever quickening pace of the RB6 and F10 which represents a highly potent threat to the team’s title chances.
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