McLaren MP4-19 "B"

Eagle

2,665

• Jun 1, 2004

• #1

The media has already dubbed the new chassis "B" despite no official title being given. Boasting a redesigned monocoque and revised engine, it represents McLaren's only hope for 2004. It's also due to appear within the next 4 hours.

Post your thoughts and links to facts and pics as they come to light.

 

under18carbon

3,692

• Jun 1, 2004

• #2

That's good news. I really hope they'll be able to bring up their pace, I'm very, very disappointed with McLaren this season. Where'd you get the info on this BTW?

Edit : Just found this little article @ f1-live.com :

http://f1.racing-live.com/en/index.html

They don't allow you to link directly to the article, just scroll down and click the on titled 'McLaren pinning hopes on new car debut'.

 

sinner

973

852

SinnerP

• Jun 1, 2004

• #3

As much I think they should allocate their resource into next year for a better "MP4-20" (assuming thats what it will be called), I am cautiously optimistic on the 19-B and hope that it should at least put them in contention for a top 5 finish in terms of constructors... actually, I'll just settle for the mclarens both finishing a race...

 

DRIFT4EVA

2,890

Telford

Roaming_kiwi

• Jun 1, 2004

• #4

Originally posted by sinner
As much I think they should allocate their resource into next year for a better "MP4-20" (assuming thats what it will be called), I am cautiously optimistic on the 19-B and hope that it should at least put them in contention for a top 5 finish in terms of constructors... actually, I'll just settle for the mclarens both finishing a race...

Click to expand...

Better go with 1 McLaren finishing. Or even qualifying but with out being placed 10 positions back.

 

sinner

973

852

SinnerP

• Jun 1, 2004

• #5

Well maybe I'm getting my hopes up too high, but Adrian Newey did mention that they expect the 19-B to have a significant improvement, so who knows... it also occured to me that the car numbers for the mclarens next year will likely be double-digits... when was the last time that happened...?

 

Eagle

2,665

• Jun 1, 2004

• #6

They said that about the 18 last year. And the 19 this year.

The info has been floating around a lot of places for quite some time now, and Martin Brundle and James Allen discussed it at the European GP.

I love Jean Todt's comments on that Racing Live site, that some people are just pathetic wanting Michael to fail. I'm curious about the tyre thing though, but that's a matter for another thread. FIA has said nothing of the matter from what I've seen.

 

scuderia229

540

• Jun 1, 2004

• #7

I'll be curious to see what happens. The chassis seems to be the least of the worries for McLaren...it is much more the engine(s) crapping out. Eitherway I think they should seriously consider scrapping both the 18/19 development and go back to the 17 and start over.

We need to get Kimi in a real car though, prefereably a red one! The best driver on the grid next to MS with 1 freakin point...that is just pathetic!

it will also be interesting to see JPM ring the mclaren's neck next season......yikes!

 

F

Firestarter75

145

• Jun 1, 2004

• #8

Bout the only way a new chassis would help is if the chassis isn't rigid enough and the engine flexes as the weekend goes on, thereby bringing failures. Mercedes is being tight lipped so who knows, frankly at some point the Mercedes will come out and say it ain't them then a public pissin match begins.

 

scuderia229

540

• Jun 1, 2004

• #9

Originally posted by Firestarter75
Bout the only way a new chassis would help is if the chassis isn't rigid enough and the engine flexes as the weekend goes on, thereby bringing failures. Mercedes is being tight lipped so who knows, frankly at some point the Mercedes will come out and say it ain't them then a public pissin match begins.

Click to expand...

didn't they already do that early in the season?

I thought the problems with the merc/ilmor engines were seals, something with the header and exhaust...and then a few transmission failures....

 

Diego440

Born to browse

Premium

12,486

CCS

GTP_Diego

• Jun 1, 2004

• #10

I was checking out www.grandprix.com and although they don't have pics of the new car, it seems McLaren unveiled it in Silverstone under a huge downpour, and Kimi got to run about 13 test laps around the track... and I believe he didn't blow the engine.

The last time McLaren had such a bad start was in 1981, when Ron Dennis took charge... someone asked. And as a lot of other people, I also think the MP4-19 should be scrapped... not only because of the engine, but aerodinamically it seems very much behind the rest of the cars... I mean, when you have McLaren fighting positions with Sauber, you know your plan has gone down the toilet.

On Monty in McLaren next year, I can't help but wince. Remember the first few years of Monty in Williams? He was very much alike Kimi in this season, burning the cars and breaking every engine he could get a hold on... except when he totaled against Schumi or trying to get around him... it took a couple of years for Williams to set up the cars to Monty's specs, and next year he enters McLaren, where they don't exactly know his driving techniques, so I predict many many blown engines for Monty's first 10 races in McLaren, unfortunately.

Let's just hope the MP4 20 is as ahead of the rest as the new F2004 is. Because honestly, I cannot stand another Red domination for 2005.

 

SouL

303

• Jun 1, 2004

• #11

MP4-19B Pics: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/t-43863.html

Looks cool. I like it. According the planet-f1.com it performed well at Silverstone. Kimi completed 49 laps and clocked the 2nd fastest time ... .044 behind Alonso, with Trulli rounding out the top 3.

I'm not getting my hopes up too much. Can't really tell anything after 1 day of testing. But it would nice to see Kimi or DC finish with decent amount points near the end of the season. Maybe even a podium... but with the way things are now... that could be a long shot.

 

D

-}=Dr={-Devil-}

(Banned)

57

• Jun 1, 2004

• #12

Humm the car looks nice...

lets hope its more reliable then the first one we saw this year...

It would be good if the Mclarens and the BMW's would produce more (ie williams is gonna be better next year with new drivers (Jv )) it would make a 5 way battle at the top (Williams-Ferrari-Mclaren-Renault and yes... I hate to admit it... BAR)

Jezz i wish there would be more action in the sport...
like the great years of the GV-Arnoux rivalities and stuff like that

F1 is getting boring now...

 

Eagle

2,665

• Jun 2, 2004

• #13

The road back to the top for McLaren and Williams will take a long time. They need stability and structure, and with all the new cars, new drivers and job shuffling they're not going to get it for a while.

I find F1 more entertaining and exciting than ever personally. Being able to experience more of it thanks to the net has been a big help.

There are no great rivalries in F1 because there is no one to rival Michael.

The new McLaren has promising pace, it's good to see it out and running, no one can tell from one test whether it will help (especially as McLaren has had decent pace at some events only to fail in all aspects on Sunday) but still, it's a start on the way back to where they belong I hope.

 

M

MADDOG-99

63

• Jun 2, 2004

• #14

Sorry Eagle,
I didn't mean to detract from your thread at all, i dont remember seeing it and just thought that i should post some pics and link(s) ASAP as i knew everyone was waiting for it,
Maybe an administrator could merge mine on to the end of yours?

Firestarter75,
I don't remember where I heard it, but I heard that the reason the Merc's are blowing up is because the chassis is flexing too much. And since the engine is a stressed member of the chassis, this flex is really bad on the engine. This is why they are blowing. Who knows if it is true or not, but it sounds plausable.

JPM´s father was interviewed today at a radio station and he was asked if JPM was worried about McLaren current form, Pablo answered that JPM was not worried because McLaren was bringing up the 19B, and he explained that the fundamental flaw of the MP4-19 was that Illmor tried to low the center of gravity of the engine, thus weakening important parts of the engine, and it fitted precisely on the MP4-19, when Illmor brought a revised version of the engine they found out that it could not fit in the 19´s chassis so they had to build a new one.
If you look closely at the car, the sidepods are higher, because the engine it´s a little bit elevated from the previous model.

 

Diego440

Born to browse

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GTP_Diego

• Jun 2, 2004

• #15

Well, IMHO the big step forward in the MP4-19B is in terms of aerodynamic performace because the changes to the chassis allow for a completely new aero package. Virtually all the mechanical parts are the same.

The biggest problem however, is the engine which is not only uncompetitive but in recent weeks has also become very unreliable as the team takes bigger risks in an attempt to improve performance in a hurry. This is the logical strategy given that the performance of the engine is not going to give the team any major results this year if major steps are not taken.

I'm guessing the team will probably continue with its strategy seen at the Nurburgring of running the cars light so as to appear to have better performance and while big results are unlikely the strategy could cause a few upsets for others, as was the case in where Raikkonen held up Alonso and Sato to such an extent that Schumi was able to pull out an advantage of two seconds a lap.

 

Eagle

2,665

• Jun 3, 2004

• #16

...I think it would be better to conserve the engine as much as possible for the race, their lifetime seems to be extremely limited. Run a 2 stop strategy like they did at many events last year. Giancarlo and Rubens have proved it can work well. The engines don't seem to like pitstops either, so getting rid of one more pit stop might ease some strain.

The Nurburgring problems were attributed to a bad batch of pistons.

I'm not sure if JPM's father offered that explanation above or if it just got thrown in with the mention, but it would go a long way to explaining the problems and the subsequent revisions to the car...

Last I heard Montoya wasn't feeling particularly confident about the McLaren move.

 

3rdgenracerX

466

• Jun 3, 2004

• #17

I think they've made the right step in the forward direction. The improved aerodynamics with basically the same good chasis will be a good improvement over the MP4 19. They really really really should start some work on the engine department though. Dont matter how good your chassis and areo package is when you engine wont make the distance.

Even if they have to detune their current engine some to make the distance then so be it. I'd rather see them make the distance for once rather than see a smoke show.

 

Eagle

2,665

• Jun 3, 2004

• #18

I think that should be the focus, make an engine that lasts then refine it for power.

 

Darin

(Banned)

5,718

• Jun 6, 2004

• #19

The the McLaren Mercedes will stop blowing up?