iRacing: McLaren Honda MP4-30 Teasers Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing have released some impressive images of the soon to be released digital version of McLaren Honda's current Formula One race car, the MP4-30.

Piloted by former World Champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button and powered by the first Honda engine to grace a Formula One grid since the Japanese marque withdrew from the Grand Prix scene at the end of 2008, this soon to be released car will surely make a welcome addition to fans of high performance open wheel machinery. Unlike the 2009 Williams Toyota FW31 in game since 2010, this latest car will feature all the modern goodies currently employed in the current era of Formula One.

iRacing's Steve Myers had this to say about the development of this impressive looking content,

"Nobody in this industry goes further to try and accurately replicate a race car than we do and I quote Jonathan Neale when I write that “McLaren has never given anyone the amount of data on a car than what they gave us". And then we went back and asked for more.

"Just to give you an idea of the new technology we have developed for this car (by the way we received updated CAD for the MP4-30 as recently as three weeks ago), we are integrating all the technology you would expect in a currently competing F1 car. This work has required us to redesign our engine model to support the F1 Energy Recovery System (ERS) which allows us to harvest thermal energy from the turbo and braking system. We are then propelling the car with a Motor Generator Unit (MGU) that provides a bank of extra electrical power that you will be able to use for overtaking. Because you will not be able to harvest enough energy to fully recharge the system, you will need to manage this extra power over the course of a race. You will also need to manage your fuel to ensure that you have enough to run the full race distance.We will also be implementing a Drag Reduction System (DRS)"​

The car is scheduled to hit the sim before Christmas. iRacing also plan to implement DRS zones at all of the primary tracks used with the F1 cars and aim to roll-out additional tracks as time allows. Although not the most impressive car ever produced by the boys and girls in Woking, this virtual edition promises to be an experience not to be missed for sim racing fans.

 

[LEDzZzEPP]

Everything can happens in a simulator, even this car can be fast & fiable

 

[Wedge]

GP2 engine, GP2 engine... Arrrgghh!!

This comment nailed it.

Everything can happens in a simulator, even this car can be fast & fiable

But that wouldn't be realistic.

The excitement for the worst F1 McLaren car ever only shows how much desperate iRacing players are for F1 cars.

I would be more excited about the updated version of the Mazda MX-5 =)

 

[Chris]

What if its faster than the real one?

Wouldn't surprise me. High performance / racing car teams generally tend to force game developers to give their cars slightly better performance than real life.

But let's see. I'm not one for iRacing but I'll be very interested to see how it is

 

[LEDzZzEPP]

This comment nailed it.


But that wouldn't be realistic.

The excitement for the worst F1 McLaren car ever only shows how much desperate iRacing players are for F1 cars.

I would be more excited about the updated version of the Mazda MX-5 =)

Well...my comment was ironic

In fact the speed here is a bit irrelevant, all in the grid have the same toaster...I mean car

 

[muscimol]

The excitement for the worst F1 McLaren car ever only shows how much desperate iRacing players are for F1 cars.

Show me a simracing game with better F1 simulated car?

It's a bit different to make a car model based on pictures and implement technical specification from the official FIA regulations and tune it out to achieve comparable speed on a few tracks and name it Mercedes, or even make a "fantasy" F1 car and name it Formula A or Lotus Exos Stage One.

McLaren is the second oldest team in F1 and have professional team, it's just the Honda engine that isn't as powerful and reliable as Mercedes and Ferrari who had 2 years more to built it's own. But it is still F1 car - the pinnacle of motorsports - and one of the most technically advanced cars that has ever been built.

In iRacing reliability isn't a problem, the same as competitiveness - there won't be any Mercedes on the grid, but they "have been provided access to a current Formula One car in order to integrate into their sim at a level nobody else has ever seen".

Edit. New video of the car.

 

[SnappyDEe]

People will have fun simracing this car against other people. That's all that matters.

 

[muscimol]

 

[Andreas Forslund]

Tonight we get to drive it! Can't wait.

 

[S6I6X]

I am super excited for this. The drivers claim it's a fun car to drive and that McLaren really have a nice chassis/aero package. If the in game version is well balanced and fun to drive then we'll be happy since it's the only car in the series! I do hope this breathes new life into F1 series since a lot of people seem to have driving the Williams. Remember, that car didn't do spectacularly well either.