Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24

[hulmerist]

Is this a desperate maneuver?

not really since they've done it before, the car didn't look too bad today, better than turkey anyway

[ringo]

I think they are doing it for their big updates for Germany. Might as well they get in some testing time for the next race.
The data they get from the flowvis they put on can't be of any instant insight for this weekend; concerning the diffuser.

[Richard]

Hamilton to run without KERS on Friday.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76286

good move on this track, test it out and see, they have to totally rebuild the car after friday practice anyway so it wont be too hard to refit it if they decide it would decrease lap times.

bad move because they now have no boost button to overtake

[ISLAMATRON]

Hamilton to run without KERS on Friday.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76286

good move on this track, test it out and see, they have to totally rebuild the car after friday practice anyway so it wont be too hard to refit it if they decide it would decrease lap times.

bad move because they now have no boost button to overtake

Even with the boost they werent close enough to overtake much o anybody this weekend... I expect them to be better in Germany on a much slower track... I expect the KERS back too.

I hate how the teams castrated KERS with all the restrictions on it.

[dave34m]

Wow have Mclaren been going backwards quickly. They didnt start the season on the pace but at least LH was towards the front of the pack early on and they could actually score some points.

Now they are right at the back of the grid, well away from any hope of getting even a single point, it is very hard to watch to be honest. I really hope that they can pull something out of the bag to gain something from this season but it is not looking like its possible at all currently.

Really hoping for some good results for the team to pick them up.

Good Luck

[ISLAMATRON]

The reality is that every track is different, and different cars have different characteristics. While the McLaren overall is a poor car, it is not that they are going backwards, it just so happens that the last 2 tracks especially do not suit the car.

McLaren was pretty good at Monaco(a rather unique track for F1), but horrible in Turkey & Silverstone, relative to the field. I actually expect the next 3 tracks to be much more forgiving to the Mp4/24 and possible get points in 2 of the 3. They will be poor again at Spa and then probably show well in Singapore. It is just the nature of the car, same reason RBR wasnt that good in Monaco, and Brawn wasnt that good at a cold Silverstone.

[Hangaku]

The reality is that every track is different, and different cars have different characteristics. While the McLaren overall is a poor car, it is not that they are going backwards, it just so happens that the last 2 tracks especially do not suit the car.

McLaren was pretty good at Monaco(a rather unique track for F1), but horrible in Turkey & Silverstone, relative to the field. I actually expect the next 3 tracks to be much more forgiving to the Mp4/24 and possible get points in 2 of the 3. They will be poor again at Spa and then probably show well in Singapore. It is just the nature of the car, same reason RBR wasnt that good in Monaco, and Brawn wasnt that good at a cold Silverstone.

If RBR are able to deliver some awesome changes to their aero package at this point in the season, there is no reason why McLaren aren't able to do the same thing. Sure, they haven't got Newey drawing for them any more, but they do have a good design team still. That in mind, you can't really say "this will happen in 6 races, and that will happen in 8 races", because like the weather, nobody knows what is going to really happen.

I imagine that McLaren are feeling like they dropped the ball big time this season, but because they haven't really done much to the track car so far, I expect that when they do, it will look and drive totally differently.

[Vasco]

Is it not because they are having issues with wind tunnel calibration hence the use of flow-viz to make the correlations between wind tunnel data. Only after they have sorted these issues out, will they be able to make changes as substantial as RBR did in Silverstone.

[djos]

MacMerc dont know what is wrong with their car and when you dont know what the problem is you are groping around in the dark making it virtually impossible to fix!

[tk421]

ah when will mclaren just give it up....did honda/brawn a world of good....

[ringo]

The car is making out to be the clown car of the season. Lewis seems to be the most entertaining guy to watch every race even though he is not getting points.
The battle with alonso and the BMWs was good.
The car should off ran with the KERS still, they are still slow without it, even though the car seems more stable in the turns.

I still say the exhaust chimneys should be chopped off. A new duck bill nose should be in order also.

[Shaddock]

This is an interesting delevelopment:-

I wonder which team he will end up in

Brawn's deputy technical director Joerg Zander has left the team.

The German joined the outfit, when it was Honda, in July 2007, having had spells at BAR, Williams and BMW-Sauber.

Zander helped play a role in creating Brawn's successful BGP 001, which has won six of the first eight races of the season.

A Brawn GP spokeswoman confirmed Zander had left last Friday.

"Joerg contributed significantly to our success so far this season for which we thank him and wish him all the best for the future," she said.

[BreezyRacer]

The heart of the problem for McLaren is in the packaging. That hunchback in the engine cover area was a massive mistake, made only much worse by the DD diffuser rules clarification. It's never been more important to get the max out of the rear wings and diffuser area and that hump just kills the airflow there.

I have no clear idea how they can revise the packaging issue. That's much harder than what RB did.

RB didn't need to do a lot of mechanical repackaging. Newey has always been a packaging fanatic and this year packaging has been the most important aero consideration there is, as it gives you more flexibility to make aero changes.

[ISLAMATRON]

Seems like they think Heikki will be going thru several front wings this race

[imightbewrong]

that is one massive diffuser..