Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24

[timbo]

both brawn and mclaren set their fastest laps more or less the same period...brawn lap 18, mclaren lap 17.
the mclaren had nearly 30kg more fuel

Remember that Ross cames from endurance racing and he never pushes his drivers 100% if 95% is enough. I'm sure Brawn could run faster if needed.
If you compare fastest times from qualifying there's about 1 second between both teams, but Brawn seems to be able to maintain race pace better than anybody.

[nudger]

sorry, but thats not a great argument...i agree with it over a race distance, but not over the last two laps before he pitted...he was giving it all he had at the time he made his fastest lap...whereas hamilton was chuggin around in a fuel tanker when he made his.
about 1 second behind sounds about right to me...but i agree probably the brawn may be able to hold its pace longer. but thats all a bit subjective

[De Jokke]

I thing mcl will reduce the gap to 0,6-0,8 sec in china, bahrein hopefully 0.4 and in Spain we should be able to bridge the rest of the gap.

[De Jokke]

sorry, but thats not a great argument...i agree with it over a race distance, but not over the last two laps before he pitted...he was giving it all he had at the time he made his fastest lap...whereas hamilton was chuggin around in a fuel tanker when he made his.
about 1 second behind sounds about right to me...but i agree probably the brawn may be able to hold its pace longer. but thats all a bit subjective

I totally agree.

Fuel tanker =D>

[shotzski]

Will Heikki have an advantage of managing his engines more, since he went out of the race twice on the first lap?

[nudger]

at the rate hes going, the one should last the season

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Being fair to him though, he has been quite impresive in quali so far...not too far off Lewis' times. In the race however Lewis has been mighty, and Heikki, well he's been unlucky, but I hope it doesn't cause a negative physcological effect for him.

[meves]

He's been ok, not spectacular but then it's difficult to be in the car. The races have been less impressive, both the accidents have been his fault and I hope he pulls it together and puts some decent runs in for his own sake.

Maybe some directions may help him...

[De Jokke]

at the rate hes going, the one should last the season

hilarious =D>

[donskar]

I thing mcl will reduce the gap to 0,6-0,8 sec in china, bahrein hopefully 0.4 and in Spain we should be able to bridge the rest of the gap.

Are you assuming that Brawn makes no improvement? I do not think Brawn will stand still and wait for McL to catch up.

[De Jokke]

I thing mcl will reduce the gap to 0,6-0,8 sec in china, bahrein hopefully 0.4 and in Spain we should be able to bridge the rest of the gap.

Are you assuming that Brawn makes no improvement? I do not think Brawn will stand still and wait for McL to catch up.

They too will improve but not by so much, only small bits. + they haven't got the money to develop as much as the top teams + they have got less personnel too.

[PNSD]

There is one major major fact people are forgetting imo

When testing was allowed, teasm would take EVERYTHING with them, even the smallest of bits to test.

Now, with no testing the gain comes from finding the parts with the most development opportunities. Is this not where once again Brawns genious comes in?

Rather than waste time with the bits that may or may not bring improvment, I suspect he is developing into the bits which will overall bring the most scope for development, and time.

They apparently have a new sidepod design coming for Spain, and I imagine aswell as a few other things, the sidepods are said to be worth 0.3/lap.

[nudger]

nope, havnt forgotten that...actually, its not entirely true in the first place.
Im not sure exactly how many days they get, but think its 8, where they can perform aero testing...straight line and i believe constant radius.
Its not the old 50km either. they can clock up as many miles as they want during each of the days allowed.
mclaren are testing monday or tuesday next week i am led to believe.

[KJM3]

nope, havnt forgotten that...actually, its not entirely true in the first place.
Im not sure exactly how many days they get, but think its 8, where they can perform aero testing...straight line and i believe constant radius.
Its not the old 50km either. they can clock up as many miles as they want during each of the days allowed.
mclaren are testing monday or tuesday next week i am led to believe.

Straight line and constant radius is like comparing drag racing + skidpad exercises to driving on a Grand Prix circuit.

It is testing, but the information gathered from it will be MUCH MUCH MUCH less useful than in the past.

- KJ

[vasia]

There is one major major fact people are forgetting imo

When testing was allowed, teasm would take EVERYTHING with them, even the smallest of bits to test.

Now, with no testing the gain comes from finding the parts with the most development opportunities. Is this not where once again Brawns genious comes in?

Rather than waste time with the bits that may or may not bring improvment, I suspect he is developing into the bits which will overall bring the most scope for development, and time.

They apparently have a new sidepod design coming for Spain, and I imagine aswell as a few other things, the sidepods are said to be worth 0.3/lap.

Agreed. In the past, top teams would improve and progress through a season due to a huge budget, huge number of personnel, and some experienced staff. Some of the top teams would use a "shotgun" approach and test as many bits on the car as they could, no matter how insignificant. Now, with testing mostly banned during the season teams have to be much more clever and strategic about what updates they introduce on the car and what direction they take in car development. This season will require some real smart thinking, and thinkers like Brawn will excel in these conditions.