McLaren Chief Designer Rob Marshall has revealed why teams often copy rival innovations in Formula 1, in the never-ending quest for performance and lap time.
Innovation is a vital part of racing in F1, as teams never cease in exploring avenues to extract more performance from their cars.
While engineers and aerodynamicists can invent a team’s potential ticket to the front of the grid, it is more often a case of reacting to a rival.
Marshall explained the process behind attempting to replicate a rival’s technology, revealing the details McLaren goes to when analysing potential benefits.
“We look at everything; some things are closed off to use quite quickly when you look at the regulations, but others remain open,” Marshall confirmed to media, including Motorsport Week.
“Others are kind of limited by architectural changes you may have made, or what you do with the engine, but ultimately, we analyse everything. Some things go as far as being wind-tunnel, or CFD tested, and others are kind of thought experiments we do to see whether it would be good or bad for us.
“But the bottom line is that we look at pretty much everything the opposition does up and down the grid and try to assess whether those things would work on our car.
“There is a common phrase in F1 that copying stuff doesn’t work, what works on one car won’t work on another, but that’s not necessarily true.”
McLaren quote one of the most famous innovations in history
Marshall quoted the double diffuser innovation by Brawn GP in 2009 as an example of en-masse copying, confirming understanding the technology is as important as copying it.
“The double diffuser worked on one car, and everyone copied it, so copying is just a part of F1,” he said.
“There is one thing in copying others, actually trying to understand what is going on, what the other team is trying to achieve, and that’s where the real trick of it is, because you can copy someone but don’t have their understanding.
“If you research it properly, hopefully, you will develop the same sort of background IP, so it is a nod to the other teams.
“It’s just a part of F1, some things you think of yourself, and you’re proud of those, then the stuff you copy, and other things you just develop or invent in the bath, and no-one wants to copy that.”
Marshall has lifted a lid on an unseen side of F1: the technical battle at factories. Copying technology, while seeming unsporting, is vital for teams to maintain equilibrium with rivals, and more crucially pass them the pecking order.
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