McLaren and Mercedes could also fit front exhausts

Contrary to rumors circulating in recent days, the new McLaren MP4-26 presented today in Berlin does not have Renault-style front exhausts. But key management figures of the Woking team have not ruled out that the new McLaren could sooner or later fit the new solution created by the Enstone team.

A more careful examination of the car presented in Berlin highlights some details of the bottom were made of raw plastic.

“It's no secret that the exhaust solution you see on today's car is not the one we intend to test or race,” said McLaren engineering director Tim Goss.

“Some innovative solutions” will appear on the McLaren MP4-26 before Bahrain and perhaps also on competing cars.

“Be careful, you haven't seen everything yet,” warned Martin Whitmarsh.

“Some details and components of the new MP4-26 have been hidden from you and the competition,” he added.

Even for the Mercedes W02 there is talk of the possible adoption of front exhausts: "Before going to Bahrain you will probably see many teams with different solutions to benefit from the energy of the exhausts" admitted team boss Ross Brawn at the Valencia tests.

“I saw that Ferrari has several options,” added Brawn.