Tech insight - McLaren’s engine cover camera

McLaren have been running a new rear diffuser in Austin this weekend, with four vertical splitters in the side channels. But perhaps the most important changes on the MP4-31 were elsewhere…

On the back of the car were various monitors (yellow) to measure deflection. Highlighted here is a small camera (red arrow) mounted on top of the rear suspension upright and pointed at the engine cover, to allow the team see how the cover is affected by deformation and heat. To make the images from the camera clearer and easier to analyse, a thin mesh skin (silver area) was also applied to the cover. This work is unlikely to lead to major changes on this year’s car, but could provide data invaluable to the development of next year’s.