2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[search]

thanks, so this also confirms the tyre sitation. Needs to hope for rain tomorrow

I don't think so. I think he's just saying that he left the pitlane a good 30s after all the other cars so he was out alone on track with no slipstream for his final lap

no, he confirms it in the very end, and the Pirelli update is also already available now. Nothing left:

https://i.imgur.com/mTos6C4.png

[Macklaren]

Yeah you're right. Wonder how the team messed up

[Macklaren]

Yeah you're right. Wonder how the team messed up

EDIT: Looks like it was deliberate but the release time for the final run didn't let him fully capitalize on this gamble
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/land ... /10462036/

[KimiRai]

Not bad at all, and P5 so far. On a track that would have been our weakness pre upgrade.

We are closing in on Aston Martin.

Aston had DRS issues intermittently on both cars all friday so it is not a fair comparison. Still I wont deny the good job by McLaren, well done

[mwillems]

Not bad at all, and P5 so far. On a track that would have been our weakness pre upgrade.

We are closing in on Aston Martin.

Aston had DRS issues intermittently on both cars all friday so it is not a fair comparison. Still I wont deny the good job by McLaren, well done

It wouldn't change the gap to the front, which was not the gulf it would have been without the upgrades.

[Mostlyeels]

https://i.imgur.com/4mdFPI2.jpeg
@f1debrief

So Alonso's DRS didn't work on the straight either? Crazy low drag on that AMR car. Turn 15 is a bit weird though, I'm assuming he brakes early like that to set up better for T16?

Great improvement from the team to make Q3 with some competitive laptimes though. What a relief the package works! Very interested to see how the speed pans out in the sprint race now.

[Mansell89]

[quote=Lucky post_id=<a href="tel:1130318">1130318</a> time=<a href="tel:1682695008">1682695008</a> user_id=22799]
https://i.imgur.com/4mdFPI2.jpeg
@f1debrief

Most people see the AM as Draggy, and with DRS issues I agree that they have done two very fine laps in that context.

I think people tend to think of Baku as a straight line speed extravaganza but over the years it’s rewarded cars with very good mechanical grip. Not at all surprised to see AM and Ferrari looking decent here despite Red Bull smashing them on straight line.

I’m really encouraged by these initial steps for McLaren however and I hope they build on it.

Where were we lap time wise in the tight twisty section versus the competition? I had a feeling we’d do okay there
So Alonso's DRS didn't work on the straight either? Crazy low drag on that AMR car. Turn 15 is a bit weird though, I'm assuming he brakes early like that to set up better for T16?

Great improvement from the team to make Q3 with some competitive laptimes though. What a relief the package works! Very interested to see how the speed pans out in the sprint race now.
[/quote]

[Mostlyeels]

Most people see the AM as Draggy, and with DRS issues I agree that they have done two very fine laps in that context.

Good point, the telemetry really was comparing three high-drag (-ish) cars together. Surprising they have the legs on both cars in that final straight though.

Where were we lap time wise in the tight twisty section versus the competition? I had a feeling we’d do okay there

At the end of Q3:

• HAM 35.702 / 40.678 / 24.767
• ALO 35.526 / 40.645 / 24.769
• NOR 35.461 / 40.710 / 25.006

All best sector times (non-consecutive); in actual Q3 times HAM qualified in front of ALO, even though his best S1 time was considerably worse. So actually McLaren is not bad in the twisties and 90-degree bends, compared to the Aston.

Big surprises to me are Tsunoda, and no Alpine in Q3.

[SmallSoldier]

[quote=Lucky post_id=<a href="tel:1130318">1130318</a> time=<a href="tel:1682695008">1682695008</a> user_id=22799]
https://i.imgur.com/4mdFPI2.jpeg
@f1debrief

Most people see the AM as Draggy, and with DRS issues I agree that they have done two very fine laps in that context.

I think people tend to think of Baku as a straight line speed extravaganza but over the years it’s rewarded cars with very good mechanical grip. Not at all surprised to see AM and Ferrari looking decent here despite Red Bull smashing them on straight line.

I’m really encouraged by these initial steps for McLaren however and I hope they build on it.

Where were we lap time wise in the tight twisty section versus the competition? I had a feeling we’d do okay there
So Alonso's DRS didn't work on the straight either? Crazy low drag on that AMR car. Turn 15 is a bit weird though, I'm assuming he brakes early like that to set up better for T16?

Great improvement from the team to make Q3 with some competitive laptimes though. What a relief the package works! Very interested to see how the speed pans out in the sprint race now.

[/quote]

Interestingly, Lando was faster than Alonso during most of the lap, definitely losing ground on the straights… Maybe a product of McLaren going with an slightly higher downforce configuration (the AMR was setup with a low DF config)… A bit concerning how much time is lost in the main straight… We do have to consider that due to the issues with Lando’s car they didn’t exit at the right time and he didn’t had a tow in his fastest lap… Alonso did had a car in front of him, so may have benefited a bit from that.



Nevertheless there is considerable improvement versus 2022, with the car been 2.1 seconds faster than the MCL36… The improvements can be seeing across the board, from straight line speed to corner speed and continuing the trend from the beginning of the season and showing better braking performance.

[djos]

P6

P7 in the end, when I wrote it was P5.

But we are close to the others now. They are yet to bring their updates but now I believe we can have 4th fastest car by the Sumner break.

I think Alpine brought something considerable as well.

It doesn’t matter how fast your car is, if you have 2 nuts behind the steering wheel you won’t get the results the car deserves.

Great job by Lando and Oscar. Great to see the upgrade they brought is working well. It’s a shame they didn’t fire James Key 2 years ago!

[mwillems]

Lando now suggesting P5 was where we should have been:



Interestingly he says this is a track where the upgrades won't show their full potential and that the performance here was only a "little bit" from the upgrades, that they were unlucky in the first few races but "managed to get the car a little bit better through the [first few] races"


So to read into that, the car wasn't too bad, it would have been OK at this track although not as fast and you'll see more from it on a track that suits it more. He could have gone faster if they'd have had a tow plus saved a set of tyres.

I like his disappointment and the fact the he knows he does have a good car to drive.

[mwillems]

Replying in here to share with the team thread.

Look how much quicker we are throughout the lap until the final straight when we lose what is a 3 tenth advantage over Hamilton.

Two things at play, the first is the lack of a tow on this lap, which is what Norris was bemoaning with his remark about being in "no mans land"
The second is that with that tow the benefit of the downforce would probably outweigh the benefit of less drag, meaning good efficiency, or at least not a bad drag coefficient.

Edit: Also noting that under DRS the AM and the Mclaren have the same Aero efficiency in this setup on this day otherwise the AM is not a particularly draggy car on this lap.

Given how even with DRS open we had a barn door of a car, this is good news. Those Beam Wing changes may not be track specific after all, let's see.

[Ground Effect]

P7 in the end, when I wrote it was P5.

But we are close to the others now. They are yet to bring their updates but now I believe we can have 4th fastest car by the Sumner break.

I think Alpine brought something considerable as well.

It doesn’t matter how fast your car is, if you have 2 nuts behind the steering wheel you won’t get the results the car deserves.

Great job by Lando and Oscar. Great to see the upgrade they brought is working well. It’s a shame they didn’t fire James Key 2 years ago!

True about the drivers, also Oscar apparently hasn't been 100%, says he was a bit under the weather. I hope he can have a starring role today, as he's the one with the new softs. Considering this upgrade was the last under James Key, so in essence he's got to have some credit, I'd say it's a shame he wasn't doing this kind of work 2 years ago. That said, under his leadership, it seems McLaren always took the wrong decision initially, before course correcting, or set targets too low. So perhaps his flaw was resisting when things are put before him and only making corrections after seeing his ideas were wrong?

[mwillems]

I think Alpine brought something considerable as well.

It doesn’t matter how fast your car is, if you have 2 nuts behind the steering wheel you won’t get the results the car deserves.

Great job by Lando and Oscar. Great to see the upgrade they brought is working well. It’s a shame they didn’t fire James Key 2 years ago!

True about the drivers, also Oscar apparently hasn't been 100%, says he was a bit under the weather. I hope he can have a starring role today, as he's the one with the new softs. Considering this upgrade was the last under James Key, so in essence he's got to have some credit, I'd say it's a shame he wasn't doing this kind of work 2 years ago. That said, under his leadership, it seems McLaren always took the wrong decision initially, before course correcting, or set targets too low. So perhaps his flaw was resisting when things are put before him and only making corrections after seeing his ideas were wrong?

The team might say shame he wasn't doing this kind of work 4-6 weeks earlier..

[McL-H]

10th and 11th for the Sprint race is not that bad.