2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

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

Ahahahahaha

To be fair it looks from these comments that it is a view shared by many so I don't feel too bad and being like a dog with a bone again!

Edit: Just realised you meant the Ricciardo debate. Don't worry, djos has Oscar now and he can actually drive the damn car!

[SmallSoldier]

Should we mention that final corner mistake from Lando??

Amazing job by Oscar, he just keeps getting the single lap performances in. As soon as he gets on top of the tyres he's going to be unbeatable.

Yes… Although, Hamilton and Verstappen also need to grow and develop… Both getting laps deleted, they need more consistency.

Just saying good morning buddy

Great qualifying, need to check the telemetry when available to see how Lando’s lap was looking before his mistake in the last corner… Moving the direction away from drivers, the fact that McLaren had the fastest car today is beyond impressive considering where they started and even though I usually avoid raising my expectations (no expectations, no disappointments)… If they can build upon this base for 2024, we may be in for “the season” for us.

[mwillems]

Should we mention that final corner mistake from Lando??

Amazing job by Oscar, he just keeps getting the single lap performances in. As soon as he gets on top of the tyres he's going to be unbeatable.

Yes… Although, Hamilton and Verstappen also need to grow and develop… Both getting laps deleted, they need more consistency.

Just saying good morning buddy

Great qualifying, need to check the telemetry when available to see how Lando’s lap was looking before his mistake in the last corner… Moving the direction away from drivers, the fact that McLaren had the fastest car today is beyond impressive considering where they started and even though I usually avoid raising my expectations (no expectations, no disappointments)… If they can build upon this base for 2024, we may be in for “the season” for us.

Hamilton and Max don't do it quite as often though... He made one of the two poles he could have got

Ahahahahaha Morning my friend!

Lando was purple and green in S1 and S2 before he binned it, was looking mighty.

[SmallSoldier]

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.

I don’t think the pressure comes from Oscar… The pressure is with himself… He wants that pole, he wants that win… That’s what may be placing a bit of pressure on him.

But none of us is his confidant, so no one knows

[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, 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.

I don’t think the pressure comes from Oscar… The pressure is with himself… He wants that pole, he wants that win… That’s what may be placing a bit of pressure on him.

But none of us is his confidant, so no one knows

Pressure comes from within, but there is often a driver, if you'll forgive the pun. But this a topic for a totally different site.

[LionsHeart]

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.

I don’t think the pressure comes from Oscar… The pressure is with himself… He wants that pole, he wants that win… That’s what may be placing a bit of pressure on him.

But none of us is his confidant, so no one knows

I'm thinking the same thing.

[SmallSoldier]

Should we mention that final corner mistake from Lando??

Amazing job by Oscar, he just keeps getting the single lap performances in. As soon as he gets on top of the tyres he's going to be unbeatable.

Yes… Although, Hamilton and Verstappen also need to grow and develop… Both getting laps deleted, they need more consistency.

Just saying good morning buddy

Great qualifying, need to check the telemetry when available to see how Lando’s lap was looking before his mistake in the last corner… Moving the direction away from drivers, the fact that McLaren had the fastest car today is beyond impressive considering where they started and even though I usually avoid raising my expectations (no expectations, no disappointments)… If they can build upon this base for 2024, we may be in for “the season” for us.

Hamilton and Max don't do it quite as often though... He made one of the two poles he could have got

Ahahahahaha Morning my friend!

Lando was purple and green in S1 and S2 before he binned it, was looking mighty.

It’s definitely impressive… So happy right now for the Team… This was on merit… a 1-2 and consolidating themselves as a team that is edging at the front of the field.

[LionsHeart]

Was it just me or did Max go off the track like that on the second fast lap? Logically, they should have rescored the time.

[mwillems]

Yes… Although, Hamilton and Verstappen also need to grow and develop… Both getting laps deleted, they need more consistency.

Just saying good morning buddy

Great qualifying, need to check the telemetry when available to see how Lando’s lap was looking before his mistake in the last corner… Moving the direction away from drivers, the fact that McLaren had the fastest car today is beyond impressive considering where they started and even though I usually avoid raising my expectations (no expectations, no disappointments)… If they can build upon this base for 2024, we may be in for “the season” for us.

Hamilton and Max don't do it quite as often though... He made one of the two poles he could have got

Ahahahahaha Morning my friend!

Lando was purple and green in S1 and S2 before he binned it, was looking mighty.

It’s definitely impressive… So happy right now for the Team… This was on merit… a 1-2 and consolidating themselves as a team that is edging at the front of the field.

I'm on a bit of a high right now. I know it is a sprint shootout but nonetheless. From the start of the season we had to here. Absolutely bloody amazing. Great result for a 1-2. One of the few 1-2s this year I think.

[SmallSoldier]

Hamilton and Max don't do it quite as often though... He made one of the two poles he could have got

Ahahahahaha Morning my friend!

Lando was purple and green in S1 and S2 before he binned it, was looking mighty.

It’s definitely impressive… So happy right now for the Team… This was on merit… a 1-2 and consolidating themselves as a team that is edging at the front of the field.

I'm on a bit of a high right now. I know it is a sprint shootout but nonetheless. From the start of the season we had to here. Absolutely bloody amazing. Great result for a 1-2. One of the few 1-2s this year I think.

Same here! If it wouldn’t be so freaking early in the morning, I would already be drinking… Although, I may add something to my coffee, hahaha.

But the performance is there, the car is getting there, the drivers are there… We have all the ingredients now to start dreaming of a good season

[mwillems]

Oddly, Piastri is not showing on F1Tempo, but all other 19 drivers are. So her is Max vs Lando's fastest lap.

He loses time to Max on the lead up to turn 12 and we gain it back in those high speed sections. Has that corner change actually brought the track towards us a little bit and away from RB? It looks like those changes might well have done us a favour.

[organic]

Oddly, Piastri is not showing on F1Tempo, but all other 19 drivers are. So her is Max vs Lando's fastest lap.

He loses time to Max on the lead up to turn 12 and we gain it back in those high speed sections. Has that corner change actually brought the track towards us a little bit and away from RB? It looks like those changes might well have done us a favour.

https://i.ibb.co/LpWX3hH/MaxvLan.png

yeah I expected and predicted it when it became clear that the minimum speeds would lower quite a lot through T12-T13 as that's where RB in particular has been strongest all weekend relative to McLaren. At the medium speed corners McLaren were gaining time over RB. RB made it back and more on the higher speed stuff, but that was rather curtailed by the track changes

I think also Max did not have a clean qualifying lap according to what he's said post-shootout

[mwillems]

Oddly, Piastri is not showing on F1Tempo, but all other 19 drivers are. So her is Max vs Lando's fastest lap.

He loses time to Max on the lead up to turn 12 and we gain it back in those high speed sections. Has that corner change actually brought the track towards us a little bit and away from RB? It looks like those changes might well have done us a favour.

https://i.ibb.co/LpWX3hH/MaxvLan.png

yeah I expected and predicted it when it became clear that the minimum speeds would lower quite a lot through T12-T13 as that's where RB in particular has been strongest all weekend relative to McLaren. At the medium speed corners McLaren were gaining time over RB. RB made it back and more on the higher speed stuff, but that was rather curtailed by the track changes

I think also Max did not have a clean qualifying lap according to what he's said post-shootout

You can argue that Lando also could have put in a great lap, so personally I'm happy to hold on to the idea we have the fastest car in this circuit config

it wasn't a huge loss in speed though and they were still over 250kph through those corners, so it is a pretty dramatic shift given the less than dramatic shift, don't you think? It's interesting that a corner profile of 250kph+ swings towards us more than a corner of 270kph plus.

[mwillems]

That said, looking at the telemetry, even on this lap it looks like Max actually screws up turn 14, it looks like a 13-15kph difference in apex speed. Seems more like a mistake, no?

Just looking in detail, turn 12 he lost 10kph on Qualy yesterday, turn 13, 14 kph but a whopping 21kph on turn 14 which wasn't altered. I wonder how much the entry to this turn was compromised and came towards mclaren, or is it just a genuine mistake.

[organic]

That said, looking at the telemetry, even on this lap it looks like Max actually screws up turn 14, it looks like a 13-15kph difference in apex speed. Seems more like a mistake, no?

Just looking in detail, turn 12 he lost 10kph on Qualy yesterday, turn 13, 14 kph but a whopping 21kph on turn 14 which wasn't altered. I wonder how much the entry to this turn was compromised and came towards mclaren, or is it just a genuine mistake.

I think he made mistakes yeah