2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[McG]

The argument against Piastri choosing McLaren over Alpine make no sense whatsoever. Ignoring everything else, common sense dictates that McLaren is the better choice. I need to start putting people on ignore because it's getting tough reading some of these posts. And I have PTSD from last year about the nonsense of Riccardo vs the car (that Lando drove brilliantly to best of the rest)

[Darth-Piekus]

I see people are being delusional regarding Alpine being a better choice and finishing in front despite their engine problems. You all easily forget Mclaren would have finished miles ahead from Alpine if it wasn't for Daniel Ricciardo underperforming at 90% of the championship not even capitalising the races where Alpine had both cars out Alpine wasn't better it was Alonso that overperformed it and Ocon wasn't that far behind while on the other hand Norris gave it it's all and Daniel finished outside the top 10 in most races. As for this year we shal see where everyone stands once all cars start running in Bahrain. Piastri did what he thought best for him during that time and it was Alpine's fault for not giving him a seat somewhere. For now let's not start predictions. If Piastri did wrong or right or if the car is in the right place or not will be shown at Bahrain. Leave the predictions to the Fortune Tellers.

P.S Let's see how high and mighty Alpine will be without Alonso and without Ricciardo dragging Mclaren down.

[CjC]

The argument against Piastri choosing McLaren over Alpine make no sense whatsoever. Ignoring everything else, common sense dictates that McLaren is the better choice. I need to start putting people on ignore because it's getting tough reading some of these posts. And I have PTSD from last year about the nonsense of Riccardo vs the car (that Lando drove brilliantly to best of the rest)

Yup.
It’s either Lando will be driving for another team soon, Seidl has seen the light and jumped ship or Piastri has made the wrong choice

[Mansell89]

I see people are being delusional regarding Alpine being a better choice and finishing in front despite their engine problems. You all easily forget Mclaren would have finished miles ahead from Alpine if it wasn't for Daniel Ricciardo underperforming at 90% of the championship not even capitalising the races where Alpine had both cars out Alpine wasn't better it was Alonso that overperformed it and Ocon wasn't that far behind while on the other hand Norris gave it it's all and Daniel finished outside the top 10 in most races. As for this year we shal see where everyone stands once all cars start running in Bahrain. Piastri did what he thought best for him during that time and it was Alpine's fault for not giving him a seat somewhere. For now let's not start predictions. If Piastri did wrong or right or if the car is in the right place or not will be shown at Bahrain. Leave the predictions to the Fortune Tellers.

P.S Let's see how high and mighty Alpine will be without Alonso and without Ricciardo dragging Mclaren down.

Whilst I would never say Piastri has made an error - I actually think he’s a good fit for modern McLaren- I think this harping on about beating Alpine “easily” is to be very economical with the truth.

That said, the only thing that mattered to either team is that they were frankly miles off the pace and never threatened a race win, and both teams would be well served to focus on that.

Anyway, roll on 2023 and hopefully a car that does not have the horrific drag and consign what was an incredibly dull year into the dustbin.

[KimiRai]

A little off topic, but I believe the whole Piastri-Alonso drama at Alpine came due to giving Ocon a 3 year contract straight away in 2021 because Fernando had steering issues and didn't adapt to the car the first few races, making it seem like Ocon was much better...

Nevertheless I am interested and will watch how Piastri will perform.

[FittingMechanics]

In regards to other teams poaching our drivers. If that happens it's unfortunate but that will be the nature of things if McLaren is unable to produce top tier cars. If you get a race winning/championship contending car you suddenly are quite a good option for all top drivers.

Piastri looks very promising.

[f1rules]

i have to say im a bit anxious about this years car performance, i hope they made a big step, but at the same time it seems Aston might be on the right track, and Alpine seem very confident with many updates... 6th(11+12) will simply be unacceptable in my opinion...

[Mansell89]

I agree that Aston Martin could make a jump- they’ve hired some fantastic personnel and as we know from our own courting of Dan Fallows- he’s a very well respected talent.

They were one of the biggest improvers last season and by end of season were very much a threat to McLaren and Alpine. Giving Dan Fallows a year to plan a full car under his direction of course then brings with it the possibility they step forward significantly. So in other words, this isn’t a surprise and it adds further fierce competition - as it should be! To my untrained eye I’d say McLaren and Alpine so far look similar evolutions on their 2022 cars whereas the Aston may be that little bit more mature in development or ambition - let’s see.

It will be interesting to see where McLaren is - I think they fully realise there are teams stepping up their game around them and as such they have to really begin to push the envelope - which is why they acknowledge that they wish they had discovered some of their development direction in time to get it on the launch car instead of the anticipated race 4.

I think you can hear in Andrea Stella’s words between the lines that he is asking them to push further and so I am interested to see how McLaren develop through the season.

I guess with the new sim tools coming online slowly this season, they will want a reliable base from which to start before they can take advantage of the new depth of information they can glean?

Anyway, super excited to see some shakedown content from Bahrain tomorrow

[PowerandtheGlory]

I see people are being delusional regarding Alpine being a better choice and finishing in front despite their engine problems. You all easily forget Mclaren would have finished miles ahead from Alpine if it wasn't for Daniel Ricciardo underperforming at 90% of the championship not even capitalising the races where Alpine had both cars out Alpine wasn't better it was Alonso that overperformed it and Ocon wasn't that far behind while on the other hand Norris gave it it's all and Daniel finished outside the top 10 in most races. As for this year we shal see where everyone stands once all cars start running in Bahrain. Piastri did what he thought best for him during that time and it was Alpine's fault for not giving him a seat somewhere. For now let's not start predictions. If Piastri did wrong or right or if the car is in the right place or not will be shown at Bahrain. Leave the predictions to the Fortune Tellers.

P.S Let's see how high and mighty Alpine will be without Alonso and without Ricciardo dragging Mclaren down.

Im more positive about their ‘23. The water pump was their achillies heel last year, but the car otherwise quick. Without the brekdowns they would have comfortably beaten mclaren and aston. This year i think gasly abd ocon will push each other on, but i do see a lack of harmonry being an issue trackside. The engine shpuld be able to run a higher state of tune with the pump issue resolved. They are also carrying over a concept they understood from last year, which shpuld help in the early races. Mclaren look a little less prepared the loss of seidl will be felt, and their concept didnt work at all at some tracks. Norris will deliver as long as his head isnt turned away and tempted by other teams. Piastri will be better than Danny, but how much i dont know. First 6 races i see alpine at the front of aston and mclaren. After that- anyone’s guess….

[Emag]

Honestly, if Aston and Alpine beat McLaren this season then they seriously need to reconsider their technical team. Of course both Alpine and Aston Martin have made serious investments in their respective teams, but so have McLaren.

If they fail to beat them, then the problem runs deeper than just lack of infrastructure and they have to try and poach some engineering talent.

[bauc]

Honestly, if Aston and Alpine beat McLaren this season then they seriously need to reconsider their technical team. Of course both Alpine and Aston Martin have made serious investments in their respective teams, but so have McLaren.

If they fail to beat them, then the problem runs deeper than just lack of infrastructure and they have to try and poach some engineering talent.

I agree. This season will most likely determine what will become of Mclaren in the next 2 - 3 years.They must regain upward momentum and claim P4 firmly so they can move towards the main goal and that is going back in the top by 2025.

[the EDGE]

Honestly, if Aston and Alpine beat McLaren this season then they seriously need to reconsider their technical team. Of course both Alpine and Aston Martin have made serious investments in their respective teams, but so have McLaren.

If they fail to beat them, then the problem runs deeper than just lack of infrastructure and they have to try and poach some engineering talent.

I agree. This season will most likely determine what will become of Mclaren in the next 2 - 3 years.They must regain upward momentum and claim P4 firmly so they can move towards the main goal and that is going back in the top by 2025.

Well I wouldn’t expect much from the second half of the season, my understanding is McLaren will abandoned development of the MCL 60 to focus on next year‘s car, as soon as the new windtunnel has been signed off as operational

[diffuser]

It's a foregone conclusion anyhow, but i think it would have been better for him to take his time and develop in a less pressuring environment.

Yes like Hamilton going against Alonso right? What a terrible decision he made!

If Piastri is the real deal, you don't have to worry about him. If he's not good enough, then none of this matters.

You seem to just be trying to find excuses to say Piastri did the wrong thing, when he didn't. If he's the talent people say he is, then this is the right move. If he's not, it never mattered. What does it matter being mediocre at Alpine vs Mclaren. Big 3 won't look at him either way if the talent isn't there. History shows that the drivers who are destined for multiple titles have it from day 1. They don't take 3 years in the shadows to "develop it". Verstappen had it. Hamilton had it. Alonso had it. Schumacher had it from the word go.

Max was good as rookies go but he didn't score a ton of points compared to his team mate. Same with Norris and Alonso. They all took a couple of years to get firmly on the edge. Norris is still fresh in my mind, being such short time ago. After his first two years, there were still questions about Norris. Would he be a teir 1 driver? Or would be a teir 2 like Bottas, Ocon, etc.

[diffuser]

I see people are being delusional regarding Alpine being a better choice and finishing in front despite their engine problems. You all easily forget Mclaren would have finished miles ahead from Alpine if it wasn't for Daniel Ricciardo underperforming at 90% of the championship not even capitalising the races where Alpine had both cars out Alpine wasn't better it was Alonso that overperformed it and Ocon wasn't that far behind while on the other hand Norris gave it it's all and Daniel finished outside the top 10 in most races. As for this year we shal see where everyone stands once all cars start running in Bahrain. Piastri did what he thought best for him during that time and it was Alpine's fault for not giving him a seat somewhere. For now let's not start predictions. If Piastri did wrong or right or if the car is in the right place or not will be shown at Bahrain. Leave the predictions to the Fortune Tellers.

P.S Let's see how high and mighty Alpine will be without Alonso and without Ricciardo dragging Mclaren down.

Im more positive about their ‘23. The water pump was their achillies heel last year, but the car otherwise quick. Without the brekdowns they would have comfortably beaten mclaren and aston. This year i think gasly abd ocon will push each other on, but i do see a lack of harmonry being an issue trackside. The engine shpuld be able to run a higher state of tune with the pump issue resolved. They are also carrying over a concept they understood from last year, which shpuld help in the early races. Mclaren look a little less prepared the loss of seidl will be felt, and their concept didnt work at all at some tracks. Norris will deliver as long as his head isnt turned away and tempted by other teams. Piastri will be better than Danny, but how much i dont know. First 6 races i see alpine at the front of aston and mclaren. After that- anyone’s guess….

They got the go ahead from FIA to change the piston rings. That should allow them to run more boost and generate more power. From the pictures, they also seemed to have changed the air to water intercooler and slighty modified the lntake.

However, their biggest challenge will be to overcome the loss of Alonso. The A522 never looked as threatening in Ocon's hands.

[mwillems]

i have to say im a bit anxious about this years car performance, i hope they made a big step, but at the same time it seems Aston might be on the right track, and Alpine seem very confident with many updates... 6th(11+12) will simply be unacceptable in my opinion...

Even 5th is not going to go down well.

Whilst position is very important, what's more important is how we end the season. I can cope with a lower position if the car is clearly closing the gap on the top 3 by seasons end.

As for the car, as you probably don't need telling, we have no idea just how much has happened under the surface and how much time the changes will add on. And whilst we may have taken design cues from other car, the time is found in how all the parts work together not in the fact we have an undercut. Being similar will only get us so far.

Not long to find out!