McLaren F1 have had an awful 2015, so tasking their boffins to take a punt at what may be many years in the future is probably providing some light relief.
The McLaren MP4-X demonstrates how solutions such as closed cockpits may be incorporated and how the skin of the car can become a ‘fully adaptive digital marketing surface’. McLAren also suggests we may see smart crash structures, able to regain their shape and withstand multiple crashes – great for any son/grandson of Pastor methinks – sorry and female offspring, because of course by then girls and boys will be racing F1.
Presumably driven by desperation to get any extra power they can to Jenson and Fernando, solar panel cells feature as part of the futuristic car design. In a bid to assist Mercedes control naughty boy Lewis Hamilton in the races, gesture and brain control feature as part of the cars management systems. On that note, McLaren have fitted some mega sub-woofers, just in case their prodigal son returns to the fold.
Clearly cost control is of no concern in F1’s future given that the sport’s new owners will give back 95% of the revenues they receive. This enables teams to blow millions on ‘active aero’, where the car knows whether it is in a high or low downforce section of a circuit and adapts immediately.
Open wheels are gone too, though the front wheel housing mountings look rather flimsy.
Sexy or just not an F1 car? That’s for you to decide. But it’s all just a lot of fun and certainly put some smiles on otherwise unhappy faces at the MTC for Christmas.
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Disgusting.
The F1 car of the future should look like the late 60’s and early 70’s F1 cars, but be even safer to drive than today’s cars. The future looks like Speed Racer cars. The problem with making cars stop and turn on a dime is that our brains can’t cope with the g-loads. Make the cars beautiful to look at but very difficult to drive. Also… lets see the drivers, otherwise they might as well be driven by remote controls.
Hmmm…. Once the good folks at McLaren realized their season was going to be a disaster, they must’ve started spending way too much time on their Playstations….. This is the result. Not sure what the point is besides giving the public a preview of what could end up being in the next version of Gran Tourismo. Guess we now know what Alonso was dreaming about while meditating in that lawn chair at Interlagos….
PMSL!
I found the Ferrari concept car from last year to be more aesthetically pleasing, but after my initial dismissal I realised that this McLaren is only a few iterations away from the full Batmobile!
Is this an indication of Wayne Enterprises making a move to buy out CVC? I certainly hope so, because Formula 1 needs a hero right now, and, in the absence of any chance of that happening in the real world, I am resorting to fantasy.
@dobzizzle can the caped crusader obtain an FiA super license? I mean, he’s not even done GP2 or even GP3, does owning the bat-mobil automatically give you enough points to qualify? I’d say yes, but it’s not up to me
😜😜😜😜😜😜😜
Shouldn’t be too difficult for ‘Bruce’ to get Bernie to bend the rules…
…us billionaires gotta stick together, right?
Plus, F1’s the perfect place to research and develop new parts for the Batmobile – where better to hide than in plain sight?
Just wait and see if Bacardi acquire a large stake from CVC…
Playboy billionaire.
Bat ‘device’ as company logo.
Factories all over the world.
Have you ever seen Facundo L Bacardi and the Batman in the same room?
Didn’t think so…
It looks more functional than Ferrari’s attempt but is tending more towards a Le Mans Prototype, save the exposed front suspension. Flattery.
Worryingly, it seems the MP4-X designers couldn’t conceive up any new future sponsors.
A very lose interpretation of “open wheel”
I don’t envy the put crew either, maybe they will rescue orphans and train them to change the tyres, cos a grown man sure ain’t getting his hands into that gap…..
They’d use a combo power wrench and vacuum device to remove the wheel nut and suck the wheel out of its enclosure–and the mechanics would all have to be weightlifters. SIMPLE!
Mind control is here already we need less not more
Mind your tires
Mind your breaks
Mind the fuelflow
Mind the bleuflages
And on and on amd on…
#ineedabreakimgettingtosarcastic
“a ‘fully adaptive digital marketing surface’.”
Of course! That’s precisely what F1 currently lacks!
McClaren may not have been able to construct a championship winning car for decades b ut their brains trust hasn’t been idle. Trific.
Closed wheels look fugly
“MAC copy 5 yr old Red Bull design” Listed under breaking news!
that beast is looking really great ! But with closed cockpit, cloces wheels . . . – is this thing still gonna be called the F1 ?
Solar panels? For what, powering some LEDs on the steering wheel? Who are they kidding putting a few solar cells on something of that size? You’d capture more energy from the steam firing out of your drivers’ ears at having to drive yet another shitty McLaren.