McLaren Pull-Rod Suspension Causing Setup Pains

Maech 14th 2013 (F1plus/E. Black).- At the beginning of February, McLaren Mercedes unveiled their 2013 F1 challenger, the stunning MP4-28. Unlike the Red Bull Launch where guests were kept at a safe distance from the car unable to take photos, McLaren opted for a more media friendly approach.

One very obvious change was with new suspension layout. The engineers and design staff decided to follow Ferrari's lead by switching from last season's push rod setup to a new pull rod design. To say Ferrari pioneered this design, would not be entirely accurate, they merely re-introduced.

Ferrari did go through some teething pains with it last season but they seem to have made some adjustments.

McLaren however, are said to currently be unhappy with their solution. It was observed during testing that making a setup change on the car, required the MP4-28 to be worked on for a longer period of time than desired. On average, it is estimated that each suspension setup change takes between 30 and 45 minutes according to Craig Scarborough.

The primary reason is simply the amount of space available for the mechanics to make the changes. It's simply very tight. If McLaren areable to make the suspension do what they want it to, it could yield better results than their push rod design from 2012.

If anyone can figure a way to make this work and make the setup change more efficient, it will likely be the team from Woking.

All eyes will be on Red Bull though as the unofficial word is that they have yet to unleash the cars potential. They have been very secretive from the moment in which they launched the RB9. It may seem as though very little has changed on the car, but we will all see it's true form in Australia in just a few days.