McLaren Has Successfully Integrated Renault’s Power Unit Into 2018 F1 Car

McLaren Racing has succeeded in overcoming initial packaging headaches caused by Renault’s fundamentally different engine architecture.

According to the British team’s technical director Tim Goss, McLaren managed to integrate the new engine architecture into the new car without compromising the chassis design.

“The Renault architecture is very different,” said Goss in an interview with Autosport. “You have to fundamental engine architectures out there. You have the Mercedes/Honda approach, and you have got the Ferrari/Renault approach.”

The difference between the two comes down to the positioning of the turbocharger, where Mercedes and Honda engines have the compressor out in front, the turbo in the back and the MGU-H in the middle, while Ferrari and Renault position the compressor in the back, the MGU-H behind it and the turbo behind that.

“We had to reconfigure the chassis, change the cooling system and reconfigure the gearbox to make it fit,” added Goss, before explaining that the Renault engine will sit further forward in the chassis.

“With the Honda you had the air intake that had to come down into the front of the engine, and that volume came out of your fuel cell. So as a result, the chassis was longer. But then what you hadn’t got was a turbocharger sat off the back of the engine, which then gets in the way of your inboard suspension.”

“When you move to a Renault, suddenly the front of the engine becomes a lot simpler and as a result we win back a substantial amount of fuel volume. You can push the engine forwards and the aerodynamic blockage of the engine and exhaust is considerably better, because that has moved forwards behind the chassis.”

Having all these issues sorted is most definitely a huge positive for McLaren, who will be looking to challenge the likes of Red Bull and Force India this year.