2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

It did bring them forwards. The Aston Martin was barely faster than Williams before Barcelona

Copying a championship car doesn't put you on championship performance levels though. In these regs the team have to make the package work, no 3D photos for the design team.

[mwillems]

Last season we had a copy of the Championship car and just copying their bodywork and even the Tunnel entrance, fences, etc… And it didn’t propelled them to the front of the grid (not even the front of the midfield).

So yes, it is more than just a sidepod shape that brings performance to these cars.

I do believe that the cars will be close to each other (in within a few tenths), if that’s the case, it is the drivers that will make the biggest difference in ultimate position (at least in qualifying, the car could have more of an impact on a race distance)… It will make the season really interesting.

It's all just opinion of course, but I think a few tenths is a bit much, I expect the front to the back of the grid to be separated by at least 1.5 seconds. As far as the top ten? I can't see it being much closer than seven tenths but I think it will be more.

A few tenths would be great as driver mistakes/hero performances can become so much more crucial. It has to be the dream really, all of the cars within a second of each other at least.

Re: Last years copy, how did we have a copy? We were middle of the road at the start and moved towards what was largely (But not entirely) the RB route and we missed several key points like the skidblocks to allow some rake.

I meant a few tenths between the midfield (McLaren, AM, Alpine, maybe Alfa?)… Not with the leaders, which I also expect the top 3 to be out in the distance… If the midfield can be in within one second, that would be fantastic.

In regards to the copy, I meant Aston Martin… They more or less copied RBR from a bodywork perspective and even the Tunnel entrance and fences (hard to tell how the bottom of their floor was, but I would be surprised if they didn’t copy that also)… And just copying them didn’t bring them forward or even allowed them to lead the midfield.

I understand now

[haza]

Have been rewatching last years season and one thing stood out to me, McLarens race pace in the last 4-5 races was actually very very good in at least 2 of the final races particularly Abu Dhabi the pace was matching the ferraris and Perez for most of the race an this was the case for a few races at the end of the season though they tended to be a sitting duck on the straights . They seem to have progressed a lot in terms of race pace over last season which I think was McLaren Achilles heel over the years if they can progress on this it could well help them hold the lead midfield until said wind tunnel is ready for the 2024 car

[_cerber1]

Soon

[mclaren111]

Have they announced a repacement for Stella as Racing Director ?

[Lucky]

[f1rules]

[the EDGE]

I wondering if their race 4 upgrade is a move to water slides now

[mclaren111]

RaceFans:

Stella:
“Assessing our performance last year and looking at competitors, we identified multiple areas of opportunities. The good news is that pretty much all of them have been addressed.

“I wouldn’t want to be too specific, but they have to do predominantly with aerodynamics. Aerodynamics is the name of the game in F1 so no mystery. But there’s some more areas, for instance, in terms of interaction with the tyres, there’s some work that we needed to do and this was done over the weekend.

Sounds Good to me...

[Emag]

Its kinda disappointing that no media has spy journalist on the track to take some secret pictures.

It's just 2 days before testing. Surely some media outlet has put some people on location by now

[Lucky]

[the EDGE]

Its kinda disappointing that no media has spy journalist on the track to take some secret pictures.

It's just 2 days before testing. Surely some media outlet has put some people on location by now

Given every team has personnel at the track, it is a bit disappointing that McLaren haven’t really released any decent shots so far… Maybe they’ll put something together for later this evening, or first thing tomorrow morning. It is a filming day after all

[Lucky]

[diffuser]

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….

Hmm let's see. Last year Lando Norris 122 Points. Daniel Ricciardo 37. Do you see where this is going? Last year Lando Norris beat the Alpines alone for 4/5th of the championship. Also let's not forget that Mercedes also had problems with his own engine. Let's assume that Alpine wouldn't have these pump problems last year. By that account Mercedes would have brought a better engine and Daniel Ricciardo would have scored 3 times his points and Mclaren would have finished in front. Depending on circuit the Qualifying's between Alonso and Norris the fastest drivers were 50-50 but on race pace Mclaren was better and would have finished in front if we had a normal second driver.

As for 2023 there is a Greek saying that basically says Sometimes it's better to chew than talk. Let's leave the predictions to the fortune tellers.

Yeah, it really hard to predict what happens if McLaren had a clone of Norris driving last year. You got to believe that the team would have ended up with more points. Likely the original Norris would have finished with fewer points just because the Clone would have finished ahead of him on some occasions. They might have taken each other out....It's also hard to predict that Saint's get taken out by Danny, LeClerc spins and I forget what happened to Hamilton at a track where Norris was pretty strong and finishes on the podium. What are the chances of that happening again? That stuff happens every year but it isn't always your team that is in a position to take advantage of that. If you trade a Clone of Norris for Alpine having fewer PU unit issues does Alonso finish on the Podium in Australia and Canada? There were many races last year where Alonso had PU problems, lost places but finished the race. So even though there are 5 or 6 races he had DNFs, there was at least 2 more race where he slow down cause of PU issues.

You can say with confidence that McLaren had a competitive car last year.

[the EDGE]

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….

Hmm let's see. Last year Lando Norris 122 Points. Daniel Ricciardo 37. Do you see where this is going? Last year Lando Norris beat the Alpines alone for 4/5th of the championship. Also let's not forget that Mercedes also had problems with his own engine. Let's assume that Alpine wouldn't have these pump problems last year. By that account Mercedes would have brought a better engine and Daniel Ricciardo would have scored 3 times his points and Mclaren would have finished in front. Depending on circuit the Qualifying's between Alonso and Norris the fastest drivers were 50-50 but on race pace Mclaren was better and would have finished in front if we had a normal second driver.

As for 2023 there is a Greek saying that basically says Sometimes it's better to chew than talk. Let's leave the predictions to the fortune tellers.

Yeah, it really hard to predict what happens if McLaren had a clone of Norris driving last year. You got to believe that the team would have ended up with more points. Likely the original Norris would have finished with fewer points just because the Clone would have finished ahead of him on some occasions. They might have taken each other out....It's also hard to predict that Saint's get taken out by Danny, LeClerc spins and I forget what happened to Hamilton at a track where Norris was pretty strong and finishes on the podium. What are the chances of that happening again? That stuff happens every year but it isn't always your team that is in a position to take advantage of that. If you trade a Clone of Norris for Alpine having fewer PU unit issues does Alonso finish on the Podium in Australia and Canada? There were many races last year where Alonso had PU problems, lost places but finished the race. So even though there are 5 or 6 races he had DNFs, there was at least 2 more race where he slow down cause of PU issues.

You can say with confidence that McLaren had a competitive car last year.

Yes, Lando V Lando definitely would’ve took points from Lando

It would’ve also taken points away from Alpine too