McLaren have made yet another step forward in their bid to match the speed of the Red Bull team as they plan to scrap their titanium diffuser ahead of the Malaysian Grand-Prix.
The British team, who suffered a dire pre-season testing period, stunned the world of F1 as their pace was almost a second quicker than expected when they took to the track in Australia last week after ditching their complicated “octopus diffuser” design.
The new diffuser is expected to resemble that of the Red Bull team, which has shown phenomenal pace, and should be lighter than the diffuser used by the team in Australia.
Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, team-boss Martin Whitmarsh confirmed, “We had to manufacture the parts for the new exhaust in a very short time.”
“So we had to build the diffuser entirely of titanium which, of course, cost us some extra weight,” he added. This would explain the unique colour of the diffuser used at Albert Park.
The re-designed diffuser expected to be on the MP4-26 in just under two-weeks time will be made of carbon-fibre and will feature Pyrosic heat to boot.
