McLaren will be using a revised Honda engine for its 2017 season. The former world champions are keen on getting back among Formula One's frontrunners.
Tim Goss, McLaren's technical director, has been very vocal about their goal for 2017. He revealed in their team website that: "For 2017, the Honda engine architecture and layout have been altered to serve both for performance and packaging needs."
McLaren is the only team using Japanese engines. After restrictions on engine development have been lifted, Honda was allowed to overhaul tightly-packaged 'size zero' designs.
The design aims at making the engine packaging as tight as possible. It will feature a split turbine and compressor situated within the confines of the V-bank of its internal combustion engine. This is very similar to what Mercedes has done. They too have utilized the twin elements of a turbocharging system and a connecting shaft between the V-bank.
Honda has been hard at work on focusing on improving the internal combustion unit elements of its package. It hopes to have made good gains with energy recovery. Additionally, it will adopt a multi-jet injector system to spray fuel into the combustion chamber. This is very similar to Ferrari's Turbo Jet Ignition system.
This year's F1 cars will have wider tires and significantly enhanced aerodynamics. This aims to reduce lap times by up to several seconds.
The new cars will also feature extra grip. This will allow engineers to reclassify some corners to be straights, shaving more seconds off the potential lap time.
Additionally, McLaren has redesigned their new power unit just for this season. The team finished sixth overall last season and had a very poor 2015 season where they finished ninth.
Ultimately, McLaren aims to make cars not only look more aggressive. They also want to make them faster and make the F1 all about speed. This will also make it more difficult for the drivers.
"The drivers say these new cars will be more challenging to drive, and they'll have to work harder and concentrate more to get the best from them," Goss has said. The drivers have already confirmed that the new cars are more difficult to drive but they are up for the challenge.
Will McLaren do better this year? They believe so. While they are technically the most successful team after Ferrari, they have not won a single race since 2012.
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