McLaren has created an internal structure dedicated to extracting the maximum possible performance from the Mercedes power unit, amid a season marked by technical problems. The news was revealed by Mark Temple, the team’s technical performance director.
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The team, which is the current Formula 1 constructors’ champion, has faced difficulties throughout the year, mainly related to electrical systems. Mercedes has also recorded similar reliability problems, with failures that led their own drivers to retirements on some occasions.
Temple explained that McLaren reorganized part of its structure and created a group specialized exclusively in power unit performance. The department does not participate in engine development but seeks to find gains from the combination of data collected on track, simulations, and analyses carried out off the circuits.
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“We now have a power unit performance team, something we didn’t have before. They are focused on understanding how we can get the most out of the power unit,” said Temple. The group also works together with race engineers and uses the simulator and other tools to identify opportunities for gains.
According to the director, the new structure represents an important change in McLaren’s way of working in light of the current technical demands of Formula 1: “It’s definitely a new skill set and a new way of working, because these are things we really didn’t need to worry about before,” Temple concluded.
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