McLaren's MP4/7A

July 7, 2014

Ever since its crushing defeat by Williams in the South African GP, McLaren has been pushing ahead with development of its new MP4/7A.

The new car, gestation of which was overseen by chief designer Neil Oatley and aerodynamicist Henri Durand, is based around a new carbon composite monocoque.

The MP4/7A is not only a departure from McLaren’s previous aerodynamic thinking, it also features a semi-automatic, transverse, six-speed gearbox with ‘fly-by-wire’ operation. In place of the traditional cable, throttle openings are measured by an electronic pedal sensor.

Power comes from Honda’s latest specification V12, the RA122E. In line with current F1 practice, information about its specification remains a closely-guarded secret. A decision on whether or not to race the car in the Brazilian GP on April 5 was due to be made shortly after the Mexican race, which took place while this issue of Motor Sport was being printed.

Comments

Loading Comments

Simon Arron

Editor-at-large

Intrigued by cars almost from birth, Simon was still at school when he persuaded a local newspaper editor that he really, really needed to run race reports from Oulton Park, Aintree and elsewhere. He has since followed the sport all over the planet and edited several titles, including Motoring News, Autocourse and this one (August 1991-October 1996).

More from Simon
×