Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
McLaren is taking it on the chin for Norris’s engine failure and Zandvoort.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-says-norris-failure-was-its-fault-not-mercedes/
They claim the oil leak wasn’t Merc’s fault but the fault of their chassis, and the computer shut down the engine when it saw the indications of an oil leak.
Which reminds me of the Porsche 917. Instead of running oil lines from the mid-engine to the oil cooler in the nose, they ran the oil through the space frame’s tubing. Which not only saved a few ounces in weight, engine oil pressure then also served as a warning that the frame might have failed. Which would be a good thing to know, considering its top speed was 30 kph higher than anything that had ever been raced at LeMans* to that point.
*1969, 4.5 liters, normally aspirated, 520 bhp & 211 mph down the old 3.7-mile-long Mulsanne straight
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