Filed under: Motorsports, Mercedes-Benz, Racing, McLaren



The 2014 McLaren Formula One car has officially been unveiled. The new, turbocharged MP4-29 will be piloted by former world champion Jenson Button and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen. The 2014 F1 season is set to be a challenging one for McLaren, as it attempts to bounce back from its first winless season since 2006 and its first season without a podium since 1980.

"I think we can bounce back, yes. I think last year was tough for all of us, but it was definitely a good learning year," McLaren driver Jenson Button said during a Twitter session earlier today. 2014 might be an even bigger learning year, though.

The new MP4-29 sports some interesting changes as part of the new technical regulations for this season. Of course, we've written at length about the addition of turbocharged, 1.6-liter V6 engines for this season, but we haven't discussed many of the other changes. Eight-speed transmissions replace last season's seven-speed cogswappers, while cars now have a maximum rate of fuel flow for 2014. The KERS system is more powerful as well, up from 80 horsepower to 160 hp, while the aerodynamics have also seen some tweaks (ahem, the nose).

"We've never had such significant new regulations before; reacting to them, and managing those changes, while still pushing the performance limits, has been an extremely tough job," said Jonathan Neale, McLaren's managing director. The drivers are aware of the effect the changes will have, as well.

When asked whether it would be reliability or speed that was going to win championships, Button highlighted just how radically different this year will be. "Yes - particularly in the first few races, where I think you'll be able to gain a lot of points if you have a reliable car. F1 over the last few years has become very reliable - I think we're going back to early 2000s now in terms of reliability levels," Button said.

We have a small gallery of images of the new MP4-29 up top - get a good look at that strange nose - and we've included a press release from McLaren below. You can also head over to the McLaren F1 Twitter page to get a recap of the question/answer session with Jenson Button. As always, we'd like to know what you think about McLaren's entry for this season's championship. Have your say in Comments.Continue reading McLaren reveals nostrilled MP4-29 F1 car for 2014 season

McLaren reveals nostrilled MP4-29 F1 car for 2014 season originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Jan 2014 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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01-24-2014 02:28 PM