2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Ground Effect]

There's the belief that Red Bull started their 2024 car early and will likely make big gains on the RB19, but I wonder if, at least internally, there's the belief that McLaren can catch them next year.

Yeah i suggested that also, that the current gap flatters us.

But if we start next season 2nd fastest, we can be happy?

Definitely!

[Dafnalina]

Back to our conversation about Lando making dumb mistakes at the last moment. He had pole right in the bag and lost it in the last corner. Good for Oscar though.

It's not a "dumb" mistake, just a mistake.

I say dumb cause it cost him pole, but yeah. He learned from yesterday and had no lap times deleted except for the last one, which was the one that counted.

[Macklaren]

What a surreal result after the struggles of the last decade even if it is "just" a sprint race

I fully expect Lando to be faster in the Sprint which means his mistake has given the team an unnecessary headache on whether to switch cars around

[mwillems]

There's the belief that Red Bull started their 2024 car early and will likely make big gains on the RB19, but I wonder if, at least internally, there's the belief that McLaren can catch them next year.

Yeah i suggested that also, that the current gap flatters us.

But if we start next season 2nd fastest, we can be happy?

Definitely!

Obviously the time gap is more important than anything but we don't know what that will look like until next year.

But for this year those folks at base developing the car have been magnificent. The cost savings to allow us to develop the car have been magnificent, the management of the team to allow this has been magnificent. And the drivers haven't been too bad either

[McL-H]

Excellent, excellent, excellent work from the whole team! Lando very quick throughout the whole session. Piastri playing it safe and striking when it mattered most. I think we are in a very lucky position to have two drivers now that the team can depend on. So when one has an off-day the other can still win it. Last seasons with DR this was not the case.

Too bad we didn’t get it yesterday as the car was quick enough for pole. But we’ll take this. Can’t wait for the sprint race. Oscar for the win!!!

[mwillems]

Back to our conversation about Lando making dumb mistakes at the last moment. He had pole right in the bag and lost it in the last corner. Good for Oscar though.

It's not a "dumb" mistake, just a mistake.

I say dumb cause it cost him pole, but yeah. He learned from yesterday and had no lap times deleted except for the last one, which was the one that counted.

It's just a mistake, nothing dumb about it, he was on for pole and was clearly wringing every last ounce and it cost him pole, which is what I have been talking about. Fine margins make the difference at the very front of the grid and you can't make the mistakes an average driver will do, and that is what marks the difference at the very top.

And it's not just down to being ruffled , although the pressure might be forcing him to push more than he has had to before. As I evidenced yesterday, the mistakes have been happening all year. People can choose to overlook that and attribute it to other things if they want but for me it is clear as day that this whole season he has not had a great Qualifying.

[geogate]

Mclaren have the best driver pairing on the grid, by some way IMO - Two young kids that are exceptional...there really isnt any need to slag either them off - a mclaren supporter should be thrilled with what they have right now

[FittingMechanics]

Lando once again during the interview said he should have had pole yesterday - he clearly thinks the car had that time in it.

A shame really - but let's get a win today and then fight to a podium tomorrow.

[mwillems]

Mclaren have the best driver pairing on the grid, by some way IMO - Two young kids that are exceptional...there really isnt any need to slag either them off - a mclaren supporter should be thrilled with what they have right now

No one is slagging anyone, but there's no point having this place if we can't have honest discourse.

[Ground Effect]

It's not a "dumb" mistake, just a mistake.

I say dumb cause it cost him pole, but yeah. He learned from yesterday and had no lap times deleted except for the last one, which was the one that counted.

It's just a mistake, he was on for pole and was clearly wringing every last ounce and it cost him pole, which is what I have been talking about. Fine margins make the difference at the very front of the grid.

Let's hope if they work on the car in the area of making it "easier" to drive, he'll make less mistakes when there's a lot on the line. But at the end of the day, I'm glad it's a front row lockout, who would have thunk it?

[mwillems]

I say dumb cause it cost him pole, but yeah. He learned from yesterday and had no lap times deleted except for the last one, which was the one that counted.

It's just a mistake, he was on for pole and was clearly wringing every last ounce and it cost him pole, which is what I have been talking about. Fine margins make the difference at the very front of the grid.

Let's hope if they work on the car in the area of making it "easier" to drive, he'll make less mistakes when there's a lot on the line. But at the end of the day, I'm glad it's a front row lockout, who would have thunk it?

It just makes me think of when Daniel Ricciardo defenders blamed the car! Ahahaha We have to apply the rules fairly, we can't be like the FIA

[Ground Effect]

It's just a mistake, he was on for pole and was clearly wringing every last ounce and it cost him pole, which is what I have been talking about. Fine margins make the difference at the very front of the grid.

Let's hope if they work on the car in the area of making it "easier" to drive, he'll make less mistakes when there's a lot on the line. But at the end of the day, I'm glad it's a front row lockout, who would have thunk it?

It just makes me think of when Daniel Ricciardo defenders blamed the car! Ahahaha We have to apply the rules fairly, we can't be like the FIA

I've been bitting my tongue, (or fingers) trying not to bring that up, was hoping someone else would have the courage to. I can always count on mwillems to call it as it is....

[LionsHeart]

Lando and Oscar rehabilitated themselves after yesterday. Good speed. Oscar is to be congratulated! And Lando needs to learn not to dump laps in the urn. Again, just like yesterday, McLaren did a phenomenal job. The performance of the car is impressive. And yes, this track suits the car well, and the engineers managed to find the optimal settings in one practice.

I hope there will be enough race pace in the sprint, which will allow us to score a lot of points in the race tomorrow as well. The main thing is to be able to overtake on the main straight.

[mwillems]

Let's hope if they work on the car in the area of making it "easier" to drive, he'll make less mistakes when there's a lot on the line. But at the end of the day, I'm glad it's a front row lockout, who would have thunk it?

It just makes me think of when Daniel Ricciardo defenders blamed the car! Ahahaha We have to apply the rules fairly, we can't be like the FIA

I've been bitting my tongue, (or fingers) trying not to bring that up, was hoping someone else would have the courage to. I can always count on mwillems to call it as it is....

Ahahahaha I have to caveat now for the more sensitive dispositions that I do not put Lando in the same category as Daniel, or even close. He's a great driver wth a few very important aspects to fix to be world champion, and the time to show it is getting very close.

[AR3-GP]

Let's hope if they work on the car in the area of making it "easier" to drive, he'll make less mistakes when there's a lot on the line. But at the end of the day, I'm glad it's a front row lockout, who would have thunk it?

It just makes me think of when Daniel Ricciardo defenders blamed the car! Ahahaha We have to apply the rules fairly, we can't be like the FIA

I've been bitting my tongue, (or fingers) trying not to bring that up, was hoping someone else would have the courage to. I can always count on mwillems to call it as it is....

keep biting it. We don't want to start that debate again. We were doing so well