THE VIRTUAL DRIVER
By Christopher A. Sawyer

(March 15, 2013) At least, that’s what Autosport’s sources are saying. This would reunite two companies that dominated Formula 1 from 1988-1992, a partnership that arose during Grand Prix racing’s last turbo era.

McLaren’s relationship with current engine supplier Mercedes has deteriorated, especially since Mercedes took control of the Brawn team. Poaching long-time McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton can’t have helped the situation.

Some had speculated that McLaren would develop its own F1 engine for the new turbo formula that begins with the start of the 2014 season, based on the fact that it produced its own engine for its MP4-12C and P1 road cars when it easily could have used modified Mercedes units, like Pagani. However, as a competitor to Ferrari on the race track and, it hopes, on the road, McLaren needed a unique motor to carry its name.

Unique it may be, though reports claim it is based on a design Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) created for an aborted Nissan Le Mans project. Working with Ricardo Engineering, McLaren redesigned the powerplant from one to be rebuilt after every race, to one that could rack up thousands of miles between major servicing. Developing a Formula 1 motor, on the other hand, requires cubic money and army-depth engineering talent.

It also requires enough production/rebuild capacity in order to satisfy series rules and provide the same engine to more than one competitor. The last thing McLaren desires is to supply a motor carrying its name to a competitor that potentially could beat it.