2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Macklaren]

yeah but "teething problems" on Day 1 = BEING DEAD LAST for some people on here, which is dumb

[Ground Effect]

F1 pundits and journalists now peddle and transact on feelings, sounds and vibes. Has anyone come up with any deep delve analysis of the data, which is what they should be working with? Like I said, McLaren may actually be in a bad way, but there's nothing concrete about anything. With "teething" problems, the team did nearly 140 laps today. One day to go, lets see how tomorrow pans out.

They are just quoting Zak you know... no need to pretend otherwise
“We had some teething problems yesterday,” Brown admitted
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/24/mcl ... 023-brown/

That was yesterday, they were talking about teething problems today as someone else quoted, I think it was on F1.com or F1Tv

[McG]

The general feeling, is that this is going to be a tough year for McLaren

It always will be when fighting for 4th. It has been tough for a decade now. Until the new wind tunnel is running it'll be 4th at best. Even then it's not guaranteed that Mclaren will be a top team again.

[SmallSoldier]

F1 pundits and journalists now peddle and transact on feelings, sounds and vibes. Has anyone come up with any deep delve analysis of the data, which is what they should be working with? Like I said, McLaren may actually be in a bad way, but there's nothing concrete about anything. With "teething" problems, the team did nearly 140 laps today. One day to go, lets see how tomorrow pans out.

They are just quoting Zak you know... no need to pretend otherwise
“We had some teething problems yesterday,” Brown admitted
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/24/mcl ... 023-brown/

That was yesterday, they were talking about teething problems today as someone else quoted, I think it was on F1.com or F1Tv

Reminds of 2019… After a bad year in 2018, after 2 weeks of testing the pundits were placing the MCL34 back of the grid (Edd Straw and Co. actually had it as a solid 9th in the grid)… This is actually you posting Sky’s comments back then:

“ Really good news. Sky are reporting that some are claiming McLaren aren't as happy with the car as they would have expected.” viewtopic.php?p=813623#p813623

This was from Autosport:

“ rom autosport Long run snippets: We saw Leclerc's first run of the afternoon start in the 1m23s on C2s before drifting way out to the 1m27s before he made a mistake and came in. Bottas put in a very interesting run that was consistently in the 1m21s on the softer C3s - but crucially we don't know how their fuel loads compared. We've also heard from Daniel Ricciardo that he was happy in the morning with the Renault being able to lap around the low 1m23s and high 1m22s. Meanwhile, right now we have Norris circulating very consistently in the 1m26s, using C2 tyres on the McLaren. It seems unlikely all three of Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault would run lighter than McLaren, so is that bad news for the British team?”

Fabrega was calling it Twitchy.

And that was on the second day of testing
I could probably go on (I’m in an airport, delayed flight lol)… We all know that the MCL34 finished 4th that season.

I don’t know if the MCL60 will be at the back of the grid or fighting for P4 (don’t think it will be fighting the top 3)… But the overreaction and doom and gloom is a bit much in my opinion (not talking about you).

[JRindt]

Some comments from Swedish TV. They talk in length about Mclaren and the feeling in the pit lane is that the team lost confidence in what car they have to work with and Lando Norris looks unhappy.

I loved Laura Winter's comments: she said "I spoke with Lando earlier and he sounded really down but he also told me that he had just woken up so he may have just been sleepy"

[Macklaren]

They are just quoting Zak you know... no need to pretend otherwise
“We had some teething problems yesterday,” Brown admitted
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/24/mcl ... 023-brown/

That was yesterday, they were talking about teething problems today as someone else quoted, I think it was on F1.com or F1Tv

Reminds of 2019… After a bad year in 2018, after 2 weeks of testing the pundits were placing the MCL34 back of the grid (Edd Straw and Co. actually had it as a solid 9th in the grid)… This is actually you posting Sky’s comments back then:

“ Really good news. Sky are reporting that some are claiming McLaren aren't as happy with the car as they would have expected.” viewtopic.php?p=813623#p813623

This was from Autosport:

“ rom autosport Long run snippets: We saw Leclerc's first run of the afternoon start in the 1m23s on C2s before drifting way out to the 1m27s before he made a mistake and came in. Bottas put in a very interesting run that was consistently in the 1m21s on the softer C3s - but crucially we don't know how their fuel loads compared. We've also heard from Daniel Ricciardo that he was happy in the morning with the Renault being able to lap around the low 1m23s and high 1m22s. Meanwhile, right now we have Norris circulating very consistently in the 1m26s, using C2 tyres on the McLaren. It seems unlikely all three of Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault would run lighter than McLaren, so is that bad news for the British team?”

Fabrega was calling it Twitchy.

And that was on the second day of testing
I could probably go on (I’m in an airport, delayed flight lol)… We all know that the MCL34 finished 4th that season.

I don’t know if the MCL60 will be at the back of the grid or fighting for P4 (don’t think it will be fighting the top 3)… But the overreaction and doom and gloom is a bit much in my opinion (not talking about you).

#RECEIPTS

[Mcl_G10]

I told everybodywhat i knew in late Nov.

"The car is slow" and "the designers are not happy"

Obviously since then they feel as though they have found what and where was lacking and this is what the upgrade pack will seek to do.

James key and co are terrible......imo

[Xero]

F1 pundits and journalists now peddle and transact on feelings, sounds and vibes. Has anyone come up with any deep delve analysis of the data, which is what they should be working with? Like I said, McLaren may actually be in a bad way, but there's nothing concrete about anything. With "teething" problems, the team did nearly 140 laps today. One day to go, lets see how tomorrow pans out.

They are just quoting Zak you know... no need to pretend otherwise
“We had some teething problems yesterday,” Brown admitted
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/24/mcl ... 023-brown/

The issue is "teething problems" being translated as "McLaren set for bad season". The "hasn't met our goals" comment is relative, I read that as mixing it with the front runners (a la 2021). The negative feeling stems from those images of duct taping the cracked bodywork and looking back to last year's issues, because none of the actual testing data backs it.

Even the "McLaren “need to pick up the pace” in 2023" headline is misconstrued. Zak was talking about getting infrastructure in place for competing in the coming years, with other teams (AM, Audi) also doing so. It wasn't about 2023 specifically.

[Ben1980]

Last year they said it did what they expected, or words to that effect. And the consensus was that they had set the bar too low. No it hasn't net their aims, is it becausevthe bar is too high?

Better to not reach the higher level then stay at the lower?

[organic]

Some good news for once..

Stella (TP) went into more detail, speaking of a goal not achieved: that relating to aerodynamic efficiency. On the positive side, there is a very good correlation between the track and factory tools. With the developments they will try to improve the efficiency of the MCL60.

[Macklaren]

for the technically challenged amongst us...what is the net result of poor aero efficiency? last year's drag issue is not sufficiently improved?

[101FlyingDutchman]

for the technically challenged amongst us...what is the net result of poor aero efficiency? last year's drag issue is not sufficiently improved?

Most likely yes. It should normally the relationship between coefficient of lift (inverse in a f1 car as upside down wings) against coefficient of drag (in simplified terms)

[bauc]

Seen enough today to suggest it's not as bad as people try to make it out to be. Car certainly behaves much more on the nose, and with more setup work and into the Baku upgrades it has bags of potential. Might not be the leap we all hoped for, but in time who knows. Excited would be the wrong word to use, but I'm content.

You are talking about the BAKU upgrade as it a certain that it will deliver the needed step, what if it does not? What if that upgrade also fails to meet the targeted gain?

When will someone take responsability?

[Macklaren]

More details on the Stella interview and drag comments here

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10436133/

[101FlyingDutchman]

Seen enough today to suggest it's not as bad as people try to make it out to be. Car certainly behaves much more on the nose, and with more setup work and into the Baku upgrades it has bags of potential. Might not be the leap we all hoped for, but in time who knows. Excited would be the wrong word to use, but I'm content.

You are talking about the BAKU upgrade as it a certain that it will deliver the needed step, what if it does not? What if that upgrade also fails to meet the targeted gain?

When will someone take responsability?

If that time comes it’ll be Brown and Stella that will clearly make a decision if it doesn’t go anywhere. Brown isn’t one to sit still finger up bum. he’s clear on where he wants McLaren. Walking the line between ambition and realism is the harder part