The influences of Mercedes on McLaren's 2021 challenger

McLaren is the first Formula 1 team to show its hand with a Mercedes-powered iteration of the MCL35 that helped it to finish third in 2020. But its engine isn't the only area where McLaren has taken inspiration from the reigning champions

Jake Boxall-Legge Feb 15, 2021, 7:49 PM

Upd: Feb 15, 2021, 11:50 PM

Orange you glad it's launch season? To kick the 2021 Formula 1 season off, McLaren has pulled the robes off its papaya-draped MCL35M to begin the chain of unveilings due over the coming weeks. With it, the team has yielded the first clues to how each outfit will contend with improving last year's models for a new season.

Fittingly, it's the Woking team that has the most to do over the previous months in preparation for 2021. The second "M" in its chassis designation, of course, refers to the team's remarriage to Mercedes for its powertrain following dalliances with Honda and Renault, and so the chassis has had to be reworked to reflect that change. After all, one does not drop in an F1 powertrain at the last minute; every single component is one with the rest of the package.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.