2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Dafnalina]

When I see those charts and someone is faster on the straight after the start finish and the other is faster on the entrance before the start finish, it makes it look like it is just an outlier better entrance from the previous lap from Oscar. In another perspective, assuming Norris continued doing a fast lap his next start finish straight would have been faster than Piastris. So I think Norris would on setup alone be faster than Piastri on the straight too.

But. Setup and approach would have a lot to do with it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gpblog ... -prix.html

It seems Oscar has a new engine. Could that make a difference?

Could be. Or he might have been taking it easy, testing setups... I don't read too much into Friday Times. That advantage to Lando looks so dominant that it makes me suspect it isn't representative. But it may be.

No, I also think he's taking it easy. He also had the disadvantage of having to test new tyres during his first time on the track, so fp1 was pretty much wasted. But he always finds time in fp3 and quali.

[SmallSoldier]

When I see those charts and someone is faster on the straight after the start finish and the other is faster on the entrance before the start finish, it makes it look like it is just an outlier better entrance from the previous lap from Oscar. In another perspective, assuming Norris continued doing a fast lap his next start finish straight would have been faster than Piastris. So I think Norris would on setup alone be faster than Piastri on the straight too.

But. Setup and approach would have a lot to do with it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gpblog ... -prix.html

It seems Oscar has a new engine. Could that make a difference?

Could be. Or he might have been taking it easy, testing setups... I don't read too much into Friday Times. That advantage to Lando looks so dominant that it makes me suspect it isn't representative. But it may be.

Friday times should be taken with a grain of salt, but a couple of things caught my attention… Drag has been reduced considerably, to the point that it matches both RBR and Ferrari in the most drag dependent part of the lap between Spoon and 130R, this is also noticeable against Aston Martin, who used to have better drag than McLaren and now apparently the trend has changed… The RBR seems faster, specially in the “S” complex and through the hairpin, were most of the time is lost.

Qualifying will be interesting

[PikeStance]

I'm reading about a future Mclaren test driver backed by Toyota,now corroborated this with the using of Toyota's wind tunnel and when that ended,the guys from Toyota Germany said they look forward to colaborate with Mclaren in the future makes me speculate of a posible Toyota return in F1 in 2027-2028 with Mclaren.

In the article about Piastri's extension, they mentioned the fact that they have not decided on a PU. Toyota is at the forefront of alternative engine developments (Hydrogen, hybrid etc...) So F1 would be on their radar (you would think).

[MrGapes]

car looked incredibly well balanced on first fp3 run.. could be the track finally gripping up, but also car looked way better in the slow corners

[organic]

Car looks very quick in esses but seems they've got close in the slow speed as well. Nice stuff!

[geogate]

Piastri doing what Piastri does - methodically building up pace throughout the weekend - very impressive pace from both cars

[FittingMechanics]

Car looks quick, they were on top each time they went out.

Not sure of track evolution but Max did his lap after McLaren so the difference might be smaller. Perez did his later so I would hope we can get on the front row with one car.

Team says they will have 3 sets of new softs for qualifying and one new hard for the race.

I still think Max will take pole as this seems a track where you need to manage tyres in a qualy run and this is where Red Bull and Max are masters.

[LionsHeart]

Well done all three practices. McLaren secured in the top 3. The balance is better, but I saw small minor errors from the onboard Lando in the Spoon corner. Oscar is expected to improve.
The team put both drivers on Silverstone spec rear wing. Finally.

[f1rules]

What piastri is delivering Is pretty incredible i have to admit, like you mention, great they extended already
Main credit though for the tech team. Mindblowing what they managed to do to this car, incredible

Piastri doing what Piastri does - methodically building up pace throughout the weekend - very impressive pace from both cars

[LionsHeart]

Car looks quick, they were on top each time they went out.

Not sure of track evolution but Max did his lap after McLaren so the difference might be smaller. Perez did his later so I would hope we can get on the front row with one car.

Team says they will have 3 sets of new softs for qualifying and one new hard for the race.

I still think Max will take pole as this seems a track where you need to manage tyres in a qualy run and this is where Red Bull and Max are masters.

It's hard to disagree. Considering where the team was at the beginning of the year, I'm more than happy with the progress we've made.

[djos]

Car looks quick, they were on top each time they went out.

Not sure of track evolution but Max did his lap after McLaren so the difference might be smaller. Perez did his later so I would hope we can get on the front row with one car.

Team says they will have 3 sets of new softs for qualifying and one new hard for the race.

I still think Max will take pole as this seems a track where you need to manage tyres in a qualy run and this is where Red Bull and Max are masters.

It's hard to disagree. Considering where the team was at the beginning of the year, I'm more than happy with the progress we've made.

It's amazing what happens when you have the right ppl in the right jobs! Kudo's to Stella for getting it so very right!

[elldizzle]

It really does seem that the tech team have been vindicated by switching to the redbull style philosophy. That pain in the early season was worth it. Every update had worked well which means the team have locked in some great correlation. Only have to look at Aston Martin to see how much we have gained in relative terms. With Mclaren switching to this design path this early we have a big jump on our understanding relative to others who are switching now or next season.

[BMMR61]

[/quote]

It's amazing what happens when you have the right ppl in the right jobs! Kudo's to Stella for getting it so very right!
[/quote]

It's what we used to teach in corporate media - never, ever lie. And never promise what you can't realistically deliver. I was so heartened when I saw Andrea's statement to that effect on announcing the Oscar contract extension. He has proven to be like predecessor Seidl but with stronger teeth, his teeth are in engineering and fluid dynamics - the heart of modern F1. I was wondering if I was getting too optimistic about Suzuka but here we find ourselves. Still have to navigate qualifying, hopefully saving a new set of softs for Q3.

[Tomsky]

Team says they will have 3 sets of new softs for qualifying and one new hard for the race.

I still think Max will take pole as this seems a track where you need to manage tyres in a qualy run and this is where Red Bull and Max are masters.

Max has 2+1 soft tires left, we have 3+1

[Tomsky]

Federico Albano: