Students get a Rare Tour of the McLaren Factory as Part of UK Government Initiative

A group of local students and teachers received the opportunity to visit the state-of-the-artMcLaren Technology Center at Woking and take a glimpse at its MP4-12C manufacturing operations.

The McLaren Automotive factory tour is a part of the British government's “See Inside Manufacturing” campaign and was organized in cooperation with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

The initiative hopes to make students, who were selected through a competition to design their own vehicle that would transport an object as quickly as possible over a distance of 10 m, to see the inside workings of engineering firms. The government wants to attract some of these youngsters to this field, turning their “boring” outlook on its head and boost UK’s technical expertise.

Ron Dennis, McLaren Automotive executive chairman, is highly supportive of the initiative: “Education sits at the very heart of Britain’s opportunity to lead the world in advanced engineering. It is up to all of us, as employers, as parents and as the Government, to reignite in young people a sense of passion in studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, in order to open up more employment opportunities in those areas.”

The first part of the tour consisted of the young visitors and their teachers walking past the “boulevard” displaying McLaren’s racecars.

They were then allowed to enter the -normally restricted- areas of the wind tunnel and the workshop where the racing department’s Formula 1 cars are manufactured.

Brad Fincham, one of the carmaker’s dynamic test engineers, explained to them both what inspired him to choose his profession and what it is like to be an automotive and racing engineer.

McLaren’s head of design, Frank Stephenson, subsequently gave them a rare insight on the newMP4-12C supercar.

“The McLaren Manufacturing Challenge is a great way to get students engaged with engineering and design”, said Stephenson. “I’ve been hugely impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication with which the students have approached their vehicles. They’ve obviously worked very hard and I applaud their efforts.”

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Rumors: McLaren Planning to Launch Iconic F1 Successor as Early as 2012

Since the launch of the MP4-12C, McLaren has made it pretty much clear that it plans to establish itself as a serious sports carmaker and gain a full range of models that will cover the entire supercar spectrum.
Now it seems that the British car manufacturer is moving up its schedule, as according to a report from British magazine Autocar, it will launch a successor to the iconic F1 of the 1990s in 2012 – that’s one year earlier than expected. Perhaps the reason is to coincide with the original F1's 20-year anniversary.
We’ve already covered the issue extensively, laying out McLaren’s plans for its future cars thatwill require a $1 billion investment. They will all be based on the MP4-12C’s carbonfiber chassis, which has been thoroughly developed to underpin various models, but will be quite different in character.
The top-of-the-line F1 successor is code-named P12 and has quite a reputation to live up to. Its Gordon Murray-designed ancestor set new design, weight and performance standards not only for its time but also for many years after: the Bugatti Veyron managed to beat its top speed record many years later.
The P12 will use the MP4-12C’s carbonfiber chassis featuring a mid-engine layout. No details have emerged about the engine yet, but its output will be near the 800HP mark to outshine rivals like the Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari’s 2012 Enzo successor.
Despite being more powerful, the P12 will weigh about the same as the MP4-12C thanks to the extensive use of carbonfiber and other exotic materials in its construction. Customers will also be asked to shell out more than the €200,000 McLaren asks in Europe for the MP4-12C.
Company insiders have described the car as “revolutionary”. They also claim that, contrary to the MP4-12C that hasn't received glowing reviews about its uninspired design, McLaren’s flagship will make quite an impact style-wise.
The same sources state that certain elements of the 1992 F1 will be retained, although at this point it is not known whether the distinct center driving position will be one of them. Also, unlike the original that sold only 72 road cars, the modern-day F1 will enter regular production, but will be more exclusive than the MP4-12C.

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Formula 1: Korean Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Well, it was bound to happen at some point: Sebastian Vettel lost the pole position to another driver at the Korean Grand Prix qualifier. For the first time after five races, Vettel won’t be starting Sunday’s F1 GP from the first place on the grid.
This weekend also marks this season's first pole position for Lewis Hamilton who beat Vettel. Nevertheless, the 24-year old German has already won this year's drivers' world championship, and as he pointed out, he "didn't expect to be so close to the McLarens" in this particular track.
Therefore, it’s little consolation to the British driver who along with his team-mate Jenson Button, will try to give McLaren a chance to at least fight until the end of the season with Red Bull for the constructors’ title.

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Formula 1: Korean Grand Prix Race Results

With the drivers’ title already decided, the only question before the red lights went off to signal the start of the Korean Grand Prix was whether Red Bull would manage to snag the constructors’ championship as well or if McLaren, the only team with a shot at the title, could keep its (admittedly slim) chances alive for yet another race.

As it turned out, McLaren couldn't. Despite Lewis Hamilton securing pole position on Saturday and Jenson Button taking third place on the grid, it took two-times world champion Sebastian Vettel less than half a lap into the race before overtaking Hamilton on the fourth corner.

From this point on, it was business as usual for the young German who built a comfortable lead and crossed the finish line first, with a 12-seconds difference from Hamilton.

The McLaren pilot raced side-by-side with the second Red Bull of Mark Webber, thankfully without the two cars coming into contact. Further back, Button squandered his good starting position by falling behind the Ferraris at the start of the race. He managed to overtake them during the first round of pit stops, and came very close to Webber and Hamilton, but was never fast enough to pass either.

Fernando Alonso didn’t have an easy race as for its most part he couldn’t get past his team mate, Felipe Massa. He did it in his final pit stop and then picked up his pace by 0.5 seconds a lap.

But the Spaniard found overtaking Button’s McLaren impossible, and after the race admitted defeat by saying “I just give up”.

As a reminder of who is the boss this year, despite having already secured his 10th win of the season, Vettel posted the fastest time of the race during the last lap…

Therefore, Red Bull bagged the constructor’s title, too, three races before the end of the season. “It’s phenomenal” was team’s boss Christian Horner comment on his team walking away with all the silverware for the second year in a row. "Phenomenal for the team, phenomenal for every single member of the Red Bull Racing / Red Bull Technology Group and for everyone working for Red Bull."

Still, for the rest of the drivers and teams the championship is far from over, as they will fight for the best results in the three remaining races starting from India on October 30.

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Ferrari Boss Dismisses McLaren’s Carbonfiber Chassis, Says Maranello will focus on Hybrid Tech

In an interview with CAR magazine, Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s CEO who is pictured above with F1 driver Felipe Massa, talked about many things – from rivals to the press, and of course, Maranello’s future plans.

When asked about recent tests conducted between Ferrari’s own 458 Italia and its new rival, the McLaren MP4-12C, Felisa said that he was more than pleased, since the 458 came out on top.
What made him happier is the fact that the test were performed by British car journalists who tend to favor their home products as, in his own words, “only you British can find a certain level of performance at Aston Martin!”.





The Ferrari boss also said that McLaren's decision to use a carbonfiber chassis is not practical for models that are produced in relatively big numbers as it increases the cost and reduces production rate. Felisa added that Ferrari could produce an aluminum chassis that is as light as a carbonfiber, but will only use the latter in top-of-the-line exotics like the Enzo’s replacement.
Felisa revealed that the “family look” adopted by most carmakers is a no-no for Ferrari: “All the other brands have a way in which they use in a different shape, stretching or enlarging. Our rule is not to use that. You can have some iconic touches from previews models, but we don’t like to have a family feel.”





Having already presented a hybrid project in the form of the 599 HY-KERS concept, Ferrari’s CEO admits that strict emissions regulations force the carmaker to invest heavily in hybrid technology, drawing from its F1 experience but not relying solely on it.
Moreover, hybrid technology will allow Ferrari to continue developing V12 engines as, according to Felisa, even a V12’s CO2 emissions can drop to 200 g/km: “The California emits 299 g/km. If you do the hybrid 12m you can go lower than the V8”, he concluded.
Story reference: CAR Magazine

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Vettel Wins Back-to-Back Formula 1 Titles, Lauda says “He Can Surpass Schumacher”

If you have two Formula 1 world championships under your belt by the age of 24, then you surely must be special. Sebastian Vettel, who last year became the youngest world champion ever in the history of the sport, didn’t have anything to prove .
Nor did anyone doubt after the first races of the season, that the 2011 driver’s title would be his. Mathematically, at least, only McLaren's Jenson Button had a –very long- shot at stealing the title after Singapore. At last Sunday’s race in Suzuka, he did his best: Button crossed the finish line first.





Vettel, however, was content with third place since he secured the title four races before the end of the season. Niki Lauda, who himself has won three world championships, believes that the young German can even surpass Michael Schumacher’s incredible record of seven titles.
“He has all the circumstances to do it”, Lauda told Reuters. “If you choose the wrong car, then you can’t win because it’s always the combination of the two. But if he sits at the right time in the right car, he himself is certainly capable of winning more than Schumacher.”
The champion was certainly jubilant, but he didn’t forget that this isn’t a one man’s game: “I want to thank all the guys and girls in the factory at Milton Keynes, as it’s not just us here pushing very hard. It’s them as well, from the post office to the design office to the engineering office here at the track, their effort is just incredible.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner points out that they have accomplished only one-half of their work, since they are also aiming for the constructors’ title.





With 172 points available in the four remaining races and the distance from the second McLarencurrently at 130 points, no one is willing to bet against Red Bull.
Story References: ESPN

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