2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[CjC]

How close could Norris have gotten to Verstappen?
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gps-a ... /10512146/

Norris and fans are always saying "I could have been faster". Way more than he ever says he was fast. He needs those fast laps consistently as I've said before, before he can put himself up there with the best. Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso have the talent to put in perfect lap after perfect lap.

Lando is fantastic and can be very fast, but IMO the next level for him is to be consistently putting in the best laps, especially when it counts in Qualy. He might have found more time, and he didn't, and it was down to nothing but his own talents, great as they are, they aren't consistently high enough to be considered elite.

Before anyone's back gets riled up, remember how long it took Max to find consistency, longer than many (But started younger), and like Lando that was his big step to reach his potential.

I agree, it’s nearly every other weekend you hear ‘I made a mistake on my last run, I lost a tenth or I could have been a position higher’
I nearly mention this yesterday after quali but decided against because there was no way he’d could have been on pole even with a perfect lap. I would have just been beating him with a stick in a situation where he couldn’t improve anyway.

My 2 thoughts are:
1)As we know Lando is a very honest guy so he tells us he’s made the mistake. Do all the drivers make mistakes in qualifying but just don’t tell the media?
So the fact Lando has these stellar performances in qualifying means he is actually a really fast qualifier.

2) Lando has hardly ever been exposed to the pressure that has a car capable for pole and people talking about him Friday night/ Saturday morning as a pole candidate. Even Horner was yesterday!
He’s only had a car that can every now and then fight for an unexpected pole or front row position.
You made a comparison to Verstappen- as you know he’s been at Red Bull for years now who are a front running team and he’s gotten used to the pressure of fighting for a pole, he’s so used to it now that he expects to be on pole every weekend. He’s also a race winner and ticked that milestone off incredible early in his Red Bull career where as Lando hasn’t gotten his first win yet and I don’t think we can under estimate what that can do for a drivers confidence.

[FittingMechanics]

Potentially it was beneficial to test the new end plates to see what kind of performance they offered for drag and effeciency this weekend but obviously can't test a full Monza spec wing?

This seems most logical to me. Would explain why Norris said they are not running the new wing. With the gap between Monza and Singapore being two weeks I find it unlikely they can't manufacture enough wings by then. The wing they tested will probably be used in Monza, probably with slimmed down horizontal part of the wing.

This bodes well for the rest of the season as Lando managed P2 without the new wing.

[mwillems]

Yeah he says either future weekend or weekends, hard to tell.

I still think they will use it for Monza, Singapore is 20 days away. Maybe wing flaps can be replaced for smaller ones? They are obviously not one piece.

Stella did say in a previous interview that this low hanging fruit "parallel development" was specifically to improve the straight line, so my belief is this will be at Monza, but we will see.

Could the low hanging fruit be the new rear wing we saw this weekend? And they saw its potential as they were developing a low DF wing for Monza

He suggested it would arrive at Zandvoort I think, but on this point I'd have to go back a review the interviews. It's just an opinion but IMO they will bring something like this to Monza as I don't remember them having anything but Barn Doors at any race like at Spa. They don't have a low DF wing and they have been explicit in saying they won't develop one this year, but Im totally open to being mistaken of course.

[mwillems]

Potentially it was beneficial to test the new end plates to see what kind of performance they offered for drag and effeciency this weekend but obviously can't test a full Monza spec wing?

Lando is on record as saying that on Saturday they would have to make a decision on the wings, whether to look after the race or go for Qualy performance. So I think they definitely evaluated the wing but were considering running it, but as Lando later said (And I missed) that decision was taken out of their hands by Oscars crash - and now to keep parts for a race where it's benefit is more pronounced, which we are speculating may or may not be Monza. Lando simply said "later races".

[mwillems]

How close could Norris have gotten to Verstappen?
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gps-a ... /10512146/

Norris and fans are always saying "I could have been faster". Way more than he ever says he was fast. He needs those fast laps consistently as I've said before, before he can put himself up there with the best. Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso have the talent to put in perfect lap after perfect lap.

Lando is fantastic and can be very fast, but IMO the next level for him is to be consistently putting in the best laps, especially when it counts in Qualy. He might have found more time, and he didn't, and it was down to nothing but his own talents, great as they are, they aren't consistently high enough to be considered elite.

Before anyone's back gets riled up, remember how long it took Max to find consistency, longer than many (But started younger), and like Lando that was his big step to reach his potential.

I agree, it’s nearly every other weekend you hear ‘I made a mistake on my last run, I lost a tenth or I could have been a position higher’
I nearly mention this yesterday after quali but decided against because there was no way he’d could have been on pole even with a perfect lap. I would have just been beating him with a stick in a situation where he couldn’t improve anyway.

My 2 thoughts are:
1)As we know Lando is a very honest guy so he tells us he’s made the mistake. Do all the drivers make mistakes in qualifying but just don’t tell the media?
So the fact Lando has these stellar performances in qualifying means he is actually a really fast qualifier.

2) Lando has hardly ever been exposed to the pressure that has a car capable for pole and people talking about him Friday night/ Saturday morning as a pole candidate. Even Horner was yesterday!
He’s only had a car that can every now and then fight for an unexpected pole or front row position.
You made a comparison to Verstappen- as you know he’s been at Red Bull for years now who are a front running team and he’s gotten used to the pressure of fighting for a pole, he’s so used to it now that he expects to be on pole every weekend. He’s also a race winner and ticked that milestone off incredible early in his Red Bull career where as Lando hasn’t gotten his first win yet and I don’t think we can under estimate what that can do for a drivers confidence.

What's worse is the implicit assumption that Verstappen couldn't have ever gone faster, it's only about Lando's "Destiny" lol

Neither the car nor Lando are as fast as RB and Max. Yet. We should accept it and enjoy this run and if we finish top 6 today then celebrate it like we should as it is a massive turnaround this season And realistically we will stay in 5th in the constructors with a passing chance of taking 4th. but do we need it? I think we need the Tunnel and CFD time, the brand is doing fine now, we won't be short of sponsors if we keep this up and we have all the money we need anyway.

Anyway, I'm going to log off for a bit as I'm on one this morning! lol

[LionsHeart]

You never cease to amaze me.

[Ground Effect]

How close could Norris have gotten to Verstappen?
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gps-a ... /10512146/

Norris and fans are always saying "I could have been faster". Way more than he ever says he was fast. He needs those fast laps consistently as I've said before, before he can put himself up there with the best. Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso have the talent to put in perfect lap after perfect lap.

Lando is fantastic and can be very fast, but IMO the next level for him is to be consistently putting in the best laps, especially when it counts in Qualy. He might have found more time, and he didn't, and it was down to nothing but his own talents, great as they are, they aren't consistently high enough to be considered elite.

Before anyone's back gets riled up, remember how long it took Max to find consistency, longer than many (But started younger), and like Lando that was his big step to reach his potential.

I agree, it’s nearly every other weekend you hear ‘I made a mistake on my last run, I lost a tenth or I could have been a position higher’
I nearly mention this yesterday after quali but decided against because there was no way he’d could have been on pole even with a perfect lap. I would have just been beating him with a stick in a situation where he couldn’t improve anyway.

My 2 thoughts are:
1)As we know Lando is a very honest guy so he tells us he’s made the mistake. Do all the drivers make mistakes in qualifying but just don’t tell the media?
So the fact Lando has these stellar performances in qualifying means he is actually a really fast qualifier.

2) Lando has hardly ever been exposed to the pressure that has a car capable for pole and people talking about him Friday night/ Saturday morning as a pole candidate. Even Horner was yesterday!
He’s only had a car that can every now and then fight for an unexpected pole or front row position.
You made a comparison to Verstappen- as you know he’s been at Red Bull for years now who are a front running team and he’s gotten used to the pressure of fighting for a pole, he’s so used to it now that he expects to be on pole every weekend. He’s also a race winner and ticked that milestone off incredible early in his Red Bull career where as Lando hasn’t gotten his first win yet and I don’t think we can under estimate what that can do for a drivers confidence.

I think we need to bear in mind that Lando has always said this car is tricky, difficult and sometimes terrible to drive, as supported by Carlos and Ricciardo. I feel it’s probably easier to make those small mistakes when on the limit or knife edge, hence Q3 second run errors seem to be more common. He’s a pretty smooth driver overall, so perhaps once the car is a bit more to his liking or favours his driving style, those errors will be reduced. Oscar made errors and ended up 8th, we know there’s very little between them, so I’d say it bodes well for Lando when the car’s handling improves.

[mwillems]

Norris and fans are always saying "I could have been faster". Way more than he ever says he was fast. He needs those fast laps consistently as I've said before, before he can put himself up there with the best. Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso have the talent to put in perfect lap after perfect lap.

Lando is fantastic and can be very fast, but IMO the next level for him is to be consistently putting in the best laps, especially when it counts in Qualy. He might have found more time, and he didn't, and it was down to nothing but his own talents, great as they are, they aren't consistently high enough to be considered elite.

Before anyone's back gets riled up, remember how long it took Max to find consistency, longer than many (But started younger), and like Lando that was his big step to reach his potential.

I agree, it’s nearly every other weekend you hear ‘I made a mistake on my last run, I lost a tenth or I could have been a position higher’
I nearly mention this yesterday after quali but decided against because there was no way he’d could have been on pole even with a perfect lap. I would have just been beating him with a stick in a situation where he couldn’t improve anyway.

My 2 thoughts are:
1)As we know Lando is a very honest guy so he tells us he’s made the mistake. Do all the drivers make mistakes in qualifying but just don’t tell the media?
So the fact Lando has these stellar performances in qualifying means he is actually a really fast qualifier.

2) Lando has hardly ever been exposed to the pressure that has a car capable for pole and people talking about him Friday night/ Saturday morning as a pole candidate. Even Horner was yesterday!
He’s only had a car that can every now and then fight for an unexpected pole or front row position.
You made a comparison to Verstappen- as you know he’s been at Red Bull for years now who are a front running team and he’s gotten used to the pressure of fighting for a pole, he’s so used to it now that he expects to be on pole every weekend. He’s also a race winner and ticked that milestone off incredible early in his Red Bull career where as Lando hasn’t gotten his first win yet and I don’t think we can under estimate what that can do for a drivers confidence.

I think we need to bear in mind that Lando has always said this car is tricky, difficult and sometimes terrible to drive, as supported by Carlos and Ricciardo. I feel it’s probably easier to make those small mistakes when on the limit or knife edge, hence Q3 second run errors seem to be more common. He’s a pretty smooth driver overall, so perhaps once the car is a bit more to his liking or favours his driving style, those errors will be reduced. Oscar made errors and ended up 8th, we know there’s very little between them, so I’d say it bodes well for Lando when the car’s handling improves.

Yes this could be a factor but IMO he knows enough of the cars behaviour to manage it now, I still think he has some work to do.

[LionsHeart]

Earlier before the start of the race weekend, someone previously asked who had any assumptions about speed capabilities. I wrote here that the McLaren will be quite capable of being the second most powerful car. This was confirmed in qualifying. We'll see in the race. And if it still rains, it will be even more difficult to judge.

[CjC]

Stella did say in a previous interview that this low hanging fruit "parallel development" was specifically to improve the straight line, so my belief is this will be at Monza, but we will see.

Could the low hanging fruit be the new rear wing we saw this weekend? And they saw its potential as they were developing a low DF wing for Monza

He suggested it would arrive at Zandvoort I think, but on this point I'd have to go back a review the interviews. It's just an opinion but IMO they will bring something like this to Monza as I don't remember them having anything but Barn Doors at any race like at Spa. They don't have a low DF wing and they have been explicit in saying they won't develop one this year, but Im totally open to being mistaken of course.

We’ll know on Thursday

[mwillems]

Here Stella states mitigations and trimming for Monza instead of a Low DF wing, but maybe that is language. And those were in dev but not ready for Spa. Seems in line with what turned up one race later.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-m ... /10506224/

"For Monza, we are working on some mitigations that we couldn't deliver in time for here, so we expect to be in better shape for Monza. And then, if there's further trimming to be done for Vegas, we have a little bit more time.

"This is something that was on our to-do list, but we are not there yet."

[mwillems]

Could the low hanging fruit be the new rear wing we saw this weekend? And they saw its potential as they were developing a low DF wing for Monza

He suggested it would arrive at Zandvoort I think, but on this point I'd have to go back a review the interviews. It's just an opinion but IMO they will bring something like this to Monza as I don't remember them having anything but Barn Doors at any race like at Spa. They don't have a low DF wing and they have been explicit in saying they won't develop one this year, but Im totally open to being mistaken of course.

We’ll know on Thursday

We will!

[CjC]

He suggested it would arrive at Zandvoort I think, but on this point I'd have to go back a review the interviews. It's just an opinion but IMO they will bring something like this to Monza as I don't remember them having anything but Barn Doors at any race like at Spa. They don't have a low DF wing and they have been explicit in saying they won't develop one this year, but Im totally open to being mistaken of course.

We’ll know on Thursday

We will!

https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-and ... ng-detail/

It’s like they are watching us

[MrGapes]

Singapore feels quite soon for another 'major' upgrade, one driver will probably get it, and the other in Suzuka, I'd expect Oscar gets it first, then Lando in Suzuka, I think that's quite fair as Lando got it in Austria.

[mwillems]

We’ll know on Thursday

We will!

https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-and ... ng-detail/

It’s like they are watching us

Very much! Lol more "adjustments" for Monza, seems like a derivative of this wing will appear.