2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[McFAN]

Not sure what is the problem? Should we say good work, it is really good to sit for 2 hours in the box with the glue gun trying to make the car work?

It is a mistake, it should not happen.

No, just don't hit the panic button.

Personally I did not hit the panic button. But I was unhappy the team could not hit the ground running for a second year in a row. Both times it seems it is a problem with understanding airflow around the brake ducts - last year overheating the brakes and this year apparently damaging parts around the brake. At least that is my casual understanding of it.

These things add up. They had to fix this today, lost 2 hours of running. They probably have to keep an eye on it, they will need to test fixes tomorrow or day after. And so on. With such limited testing every little thing counts.

I expect and hope this team will return to the top. Top teams usually avoid these type of issues. This is why I think I have full right to say that I am disappointed by this and that the team needs to get down to the bottom of these issues. Maybe it is because the wind tunnel is not good enough - maybe. Hopefully that is resolved and the team can achieve high level of running like the top teams usually do.

You seem adamant that today's issues were brakes related
I don't understand how you're so certain it seems incredibly unlikely to me.

[PhillipM]

It was nothing to do with the brakes or brake airflow, the joint between the FIA wheel spat and the hub cracked.

[McFAN]

It was nothing to do with the brakes or brake airflow, the joint between the FIA wheel spat and the hub cracked.

Thanks for the update phillipM

Did you speak to your source ?
Any sense of how they're feeling after today's running ?

[PhillipM]

They're not out their as they're factory based, too far compared to Spain.

[mwillems]

Not sure what is the problem? Should we say good work, it is really good to sit for 2 hours in the box with the glue gun trying to make the car work?

It is a mistake, it should not happen.

No, just don't hit the panic button.

Personally I did not hit the panic button. But I was unhappy the team could not hit the ground running for a second year in a row. Both times it seems it is a problem with understanding airflow around the brake ducts - last year overheating the brakes and this year apparently damaging parts around the brake. At least that is my casual understanding of it.

These things add up. They had to fix this today, lost 2 hours of running. They probably have to keep an eye on it, they will need to test fixes tomorrow or day after. And so on. With such limited testing every little thing counts.

I expect and hope this team will return to the top. Top teams usually avoid these type of issues. This is why I think I have full right to say that I am disappointed by this and that the team needs to get down to the bottom of these issues. Maybe it is because the wind tunnel is not good enough - maybe. Hopefully that is resolved and the team can achieve high level of running like the top teams usually do.

Jumping to conclusions and pairing it up to a months-long brake issue from last year and hammering the team without an actual idea of anything, except that you couldn't see the lap count going up the way you want.

Some heat reflective tape near the brakes and you're all over it like they forgot to put the fuel in. And the team still got the laps in, not much short of a decent amount.

[Ben1980]

In general though, it seemed to be as expected, bar the issue. Enough to show the car seems fine, enough to show its not all doom and gloom ( assuming you are being realistic)

[mwillems]

Well exactly, performance showed no issues, car looked balanced and it is clearly a step from last year.
We passed the first stage and we have seen nothing to make us worry about the cars performance yet.

[Ground Effect]

The team sound quite relaxed about today, seems they believed they covered a lot and referred to the issue as very minor. Let's see how Day 2 goes.

[SmallSoldier]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

[organic]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

Yeah this seems very promising. Having such a large drag deficit again would be awful in midfield fight. And lando's run in the evening also gives me hope..

[SmallSoldier]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

Yeah this seems very promising. Having such a large drag deficit again would be awful in midfield fight. And lando's run in the evening also gives me hope..

Goal number 1 for the team had to be to attack the weaknesses of last year’s car, drag was one of those so it’s positive if that is getting better… Goal 2 has to be the understeer nature of the MCL36 (although, the new generation of cars have a tendency to understeer, so I don’t expect it to be gone completely)… And hopefully maintain more balance during the different phases while cornering.

If they can improve on those 3, even if they don’t have the outright speed to lead the midfield, they will be going on the right direction.

[organic]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

Yeah this seems very promising. Having such a large drag deficit again would be awful in midfield fight. And lando's run in the evening also gives me hope..

Goal number 1 for the team had to be to attack the weaknesses of last year’s car, drag was one of those so it’s positive if that is getting better… Goal 2 has to be the understeer nature of the MCL36 (although, the new generation of cars have a tendency to understeer, so I don’t expect it to be gone completely)… And hopefully maintain more balance during the different phases while cornering.

If they can improve on those 3, even if they don’t have the outright speed to lead the midfield, they will be going on the right direction.

Today I saw most cars struggle with oversteer more than understeer. Isola also suggested with the various changes for '23 and the lighter cars from development it will tend away from understeer which should help McLaren.

Williams seemed car with most understeer remaining

Is there an onboard that shows where McLaren is particularly struggling ATM? Still mid-corner understeer?

[Ground Effect]

ANDREA STELLA, Team Principal
"A productive day in Bahrain which went largely to plan. Despite a few very minor issues, which are common at testing, we’ve got a lot of information and were able to complete a lot of test items. There were some short delays caused by the team wanting to reinforce the body work in some places in order to prevent a failure. These were preventative measures, but we thought they were useful to make so we could run safely and reliably for the remainder of the day. Overall, a positive day. We hope to continue like this for day two and three so we’re ready for the first race of the season."

[mwillems]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

Last year the Mercs were detuned in the qualifying session that those numbers come from.

But we are 1kph short of last years fastest qualy speed trap so it is definately a step forward.

[SmallSoldier]

Another little encouraging detail… Last year during Qualifying, maximum speed for McLaren was Norris at 315km/h and Dani with 311km/h… Piastri achieved 322km/h during the morning session… Hopefully signs that the car has shed some of the drag it had last season.

Last year the Mercs were detuned in the qualifying session that those numbers come from.

But we are 1kph short of last years fastest qualy speed trap so it is definately a step forward.

But it was still Qualy mode, as little fuel as possible, on the edge… Would be surprised if Piastri was running the engine too hard been his first day and first morning of testing.

Still a good development I think


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