2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

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

There's definately plenty to pique the interest especially given conversations around why drag coefficients might have changed, but I'm still being a politician on that subject for now. Engine modes etc.

We will find out more after qualifying… It was interesting that they were not using the new concept rear wing, instead using the old one

It makes sense to use the lower DF wing on face value. There's also how it worked with the Beam Wings they were testing them with. The SS wing is the wing I would have thought they would use until I saw Russell talking about the track falling apart so at that point I wasn't sure what was really the case, otherwise I thought they'd be 1-2 stops.

They've gone with the lower DF wing, I'm still curious to see what happens with strategy, but I'm starting to think nthat Russell miht have been being dramatic.

[MrGapes]

team only has 5 softs for quali.

4

srry yes 4

[mwillems]

Agree, will be very interesting, with new tools and new people arriving, especially marshall, mr mass damper. Even blabla head helmut marko, recognized, that with the path mclaren is on and their understanding of this ruleset, he said it would be interesting what they come up with for next year when all this knowledge is incorporated into a new car,

This is one of those situations when you figure out what works, it becomes a bit easier to find gains… I would argue that we may still be missing a bit in the suspension department… For example, Mercedes seems to be behind from an aero perspective, but may be making the gap on the chassis portion… The addition of the new people for next year will hopefully also helps in the chassis side.

Is Marshall's gardening finish at the end of 2024?

He starts in Jan 24 IIRC?

[SmallSoldier]

There's definately plenty to pique the interest especially given conversations around why drag coefficients might have changed, but I'm still being a politician on that subject for now. Engine modes etc.

We will find out more after qualifying… It was interesting that they were not using the new concept rear wing, instead using the old one

It makes sense to use the lower DF wing on face value. The newer wing looks a bit more efficient but may still create too much drag. The SS wing is the wing I would have thought they would use until I saw Russell talking about the track falling apart so at that point I wasn't sure what was really the case, otherwise I thought they'd be 1-2 stops.

They've gone with the lower DF wing, I'm still curious to see what happens with strategy, but I'm starting to think nthat Russell miht have been being dramatic.

The new rear wing concept (less drag, more efficient) is not in use this weekend… The change in concept is not related to Downforce levels per se, it is how the corners of the wing are configúrated, the old is a linked to the main plain, while the new concept is separated from it.

It seems that they have favored more DF instead of more efficiency, if indeed the new wing is more efficient at the expense of DF

[mwillems]

We will find out more after qualifying… It was interesting that they were not using the new concept rear wing, instead using the old one

It makes sense to use the lower DF wing on face value. The newer wing looks a bit more efficient but may still create too much drag. The SS wing is the wing I would have thought they would use until I saw Russell talking about the track falling apart so at that point I wasn't sure what was really the case, otherwise I thought they'd be 1-2 stops.

They've gone with the lower DF wing, I'm still curious to see what happens with strategy, but I'm starting to think nthat Russell miht have been being dramatic.

The new rear wing concept (less drag, more efficient) is not in use this weekend… The change in concept is not related to Downforce levels per se, it is how the corners of the wing are configúrated, the old is a linked to the main plain, while the new concept is separated from it.

It seems that they have favored more DF instead of more efficiency, if indeed the new wing is more efficient at the expense of DF

You think the new concept is less drag and DF then Silverstone? It was the wing used at Singapore?

The winglets are part of it for sure as the prevent the horizontal and vertical forces from creating those drag inducing structures.

[FittingMechanics]

Good Q1 run by both cars. Impressive pace.

Good luck with the red flag. Both Ferraris were affected - they did only first sector and were about 0.5-0.6s down on Piastri.

[SmallSoldier]

It makes sense to use the lower DF wing on face value. The newer wing looks a bit more efficient but may still create too much drag. The SS wing is the wing I would have thought they would use until I saw Russell talking about the track falling apart so at that point I wasn't sure what was really the case, otherwise I thought they'd be 1-2 stops.

They've gone with the lower DF wing, I'm still curious to see what happens with strategy, but I'm starting to think nthat Russell miht have been being dramatic.

The new rear wing concept (less drag, more efficient) is not in use this weekend… The change in concept is not related to Downforce levels per se, it is how the corners of the wing are configúrated, the old is a linked to the main plain, while the new concept is separated from it.

It seems that they have favored more DF instead of more efficiency, if indeed the new wing is more efficient at the expense of DF

You think the new concept is less drag and DF then Silverstone? It was the wing used at Singapore?

The winglets are part of it for sure as the prevent the horizontal and vertical forces from creating those drag inducing structures.

It’s a matter of concepts… the wings are modular enough to match “DF levels” pretty closely… The new rear wing concept is tout to be more efficient (less drag for a given amount of DF), but have less DF peak potential… I just find interesting that they have decided to use the old concept instead of the new one

[mwillems]

The new rear wing concept (less drag, more efficient) is not in use this weekend… The change in concept is not related to Downforce levels per se, it is how the corners of the wing are configúrated, the old is a linked to the main plain, while the new concept is separated from it.

It seems that they have favored more DF instead of more efficiency, if indeed the new wing is more efficient at the expense of DF

You think the new concept is less drag and DF then Silverstone? It was the wing used at Singapore?

The winglets are part of it for sure as the prevent the horizontal and vertical forces from creating those drag inducing structures.

It’s a matter of concepts… the wings are modular enough to match “DF levels” pretty closely… The new rear wing concept is tout to be more efficient (less drag for a given amount of DF), but have less DF peak potential… I just find interesting that they have decided to use the old concept instead of the new one

Yes and no, I think. There is a lot to be given to the way the expanding air escape from the rear also, and the configuration of track that this wing might work on.

But on the DF levels we are agreed and modularity, for sure
They are close but I suspect the new wing does produce more DF, I think the team have confirmed this.

I'm still curious to see if with this new wing it also brings more adjustability to the AoA since it is no longer fixed at the sides, from what I have read about using this wing at it's lowest settings, this is the case.

[MrGapes]

Do we go out again?

They will need to for Oscar maybe...

I don't know if the tracked has cooled down since the red flag... the margin between p5- and Lando is almost 9 tenths I think it should be fine.

[mwillems]

Seems fast enough to save tyres but the track may rubber fast.

[mwillems]

If Leclerc can just about match Piastri now I think we are safe.

I hope we save tyres.

[MrGapes]

Seems fast enough to save tyres but the track may rubber fast.

yup looks fine. lets hope they don't throw away a set...

[organic]

If Leclerc can just about match Piastri now I think we are safe.

I hope we save tyres.

Hmm Lawson's time makes me think that it isn't safe

[mwillems]

We;re going again.

[mwillems]

If Leclerc can just about match Piastri now I think we are safe.

I hope we save tyres.

Hmm Lawson's time makes me think that it isn't safe

I think that was a super lap from lawson, but still .5s from Piastri. But yeah, with rubbering it could be close later.