2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

I just think it's very tenuous ground for a race team to be standing on.......nobody in more serious "green" direction will look at this without severe criticism.

There's too much promoting a push in self congratulatory "achievement" while carrying out, arguably, something that doesn't need to happen. I'm always of a racing interest disposition, it feels uncomfortable and hypocritical to fanfare this sort of, let's face it minor shift, that doesn't achieve much but publicity.

They need to concentrate on their core activities and be proud of that.

To be fair I don't think they are the type of team that would foolishly waste performance, I think they probably understand there is a benefit to them.

[thestig84]

I believe wind turbine blades are hard to dispose of. Last I knew they were chucking them into a massive pit in America

Spot on...

Wind Turbine Blades Can’t Be Recycled, So They’re Piling Up in Landfills

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... #xj4y7vzkg

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqj ... 0x1499.jpg


Tax Payer Money...

They've been looking into recycling the blades for a while now. One approach is to shred the blades into smaller pieces and then use the materials in concrete, whilst recycling the metals etc. https://cen.acs.org/environment/recycli ... es/100/i27

Quite right. Along with Siemens that have launched a recylable blade https://www.siemensgamesa.com/en-int/ne ... bine-blade

I really dislike it when people state it as 'fact' that something isn't being or cant be recycled. A simple google would stop them spreading more disinformation. Well done Mclaren for pioneering recycling cf. It is very important, not just money. Every industry has to look at reducing its impact. F1 has enough obvious issues to address and appease its distractors. All gains in this area, no matter how small are important. Pleased to see Mclaren leading the field.

[mwillems]

I expect Marshall and Sanchez will have an impact on the in season development of the 2024 car, as a lot of the parts will likely carry over into the 2025 car. The focus will be on the 2026 cars given the budget cap.

Possibly, I'm just not sure how much. As for what will carry over into the 25 car, I'm not sure how much we know will be carried over. it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that given the reg change that the 25 car may not develop as much so we can focus on '26... but since we have targeted '25 as the title challenge year, I don't think the team will be thinking like that.

Sanchez and Marshall are going to need to integrate, learn the car etc so they may have some input, particularly as Sanchez works out what is the right direction and concept of the 25 car, this might affect the direction of the 24 car. But to do that they need to run the 24 car in anger and learn from the winter so again... this brings them neatly up to the point that the 25 car would start development so I expect Sanchez focus would be here.

Marshall, if the chassis and development budget allows, might be able to help with some of the integrations in the chassis and the suspension I guess but how tied down this is by the team he can have meaningful input, I don't know.

It's about resource management, they still have to work within the cost cap including designing the 2026 cars once the FIA have finalised the aerodynamic rules (active aero etc). As for Marshall and Sanchez? They won't be able to change the core design of the '24 car, but they will have an effect on the in season development. It's how they'll integrate with the team. I think Marshall will probably help McLaren get the best out of the suspension on the '24 car and how they can improve it for '25.

The other thing with teams carrying over parts from '24 over into '25 is that it saves money. Money that can be spent on the 2026 car. I see no point in McLaren chucking the kitchen sink at '25 possibly winning a title, only to find themselves on the back foot in '26.

The decisions of the 25 car will be made on performance and budget, if it makes sense to not be able to carry parts over then they won't.

A great example is how Stella explained that the parts on the 23 and 24 car are not interchangeable, they are very sensitive on the aero side so it will be an entirely new package. And you can see that the rear wing generally comes with the beam wing, the floor with the sidepods.. So just carrying this stuff over isn't as simple any more, unfortunately.
It's not to say they won't carry some stuff, but I'd imagine the internals will change, the layout, CoG, crash structures etc


But we can review this next year when they talk about the car, maybe I'm wrong.

Re Sanchez and Marshall, I'm just saying we can't assume what they can achieve on the 24 car. What your saying is just one possibility.

[SmallSoldier]

I just think it's very tenuous ground for a race team to be standing on.......nobody in more serious "green" direction will look at this without severe criticism.

There's too much promoting a push in self congratulatory "achievement" while carrying out, arguably, something that doesn't need to happen. I'm always of a racing interest disposition, it feels uncomfortable and hypocritical to fanfare this sort of, let's face it minor shift, that doesn't achieve much but publicity.

They need to concentrate on their core activities and be proud of that.

If it’s something that the sponsors find to be appealing (who ultimately fund the team), good for them to push that direction.

[djos]

I just think it's very tenuous ground for a race team to be standing on.......nobody in more serious "green" direction will look at this without severe criticism.

There's too much promoting a push in self congratulatory "achievement" while carrying out, arguably, something that doesn't need to happen. I'm always of a racing interest disposition, it feels uncomfortable and hypocritical to fanfare this sort of, let's face it minor shift, that doesn't achieve much but publicity.

They need to concentrate on their core activities and be proud of that.

Becoming sustainable is a journey, it’s not a switch you can just flick on.

[mwillems]

I just think it's very tenuous ground for a race team to be standing on.......nobody in more serious "green" direction will look at this without severe criticism.

There's too much promoting a push in self congratulatory "achievement" while carrying out, arguably, something that doesn't need to happen. I'm always of a racing interest disposition, it feels uncomfortable and hypocritical to fanfare this sort of, let's face it minor shift, that doesn't achieve much but publicity.

They need to concentrate on their core activities and be proud of that.

Becoming sustainable is a journey, it’s not a switch you can just flick on.

Isn't that a quote from the Exxon-Mobil brochure...?

Jokes!

It's true though, I doubt there will be any flack coming Mclarens way. But F1 is on a (slow) Journey to sustainability and if a team doesn't lead in trying some of these things, it won't happen, or it will happen much slower. So I'm glad we are demonstrating it so that the FIA can incorporate this into their future regulations. And I doubt the team would do anything that would slow the car down or affect its performance in anyway.

As to how much can actually be used in the car without affecting weight or rigidity, I don't know, but it is a start.

What it doesn't say is how much that it weighs. but looking at this, if they don't need much carbon back if it can't be used all that much but have plenty to recycle, perhaps that means we can essentially get some parts free, another clever way to free up some cash in the budget cap, essential carbon trading within the cap.

[CjC]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norr ... /10532525/

I like Lando when he’s in this sort of mood.
I feel that it’d be some achievement to beat Ferrari to P3, as they actually have 2 good racing drivers who can finish in the points unlike Aston Martin. I’d be happy with the P4.

[LionsHeart]

I remember that McLaren a couple of years ago made the seat and other elements from flax instead of carbon fiber. Does anyone know if the team is currently using flax?

[djos]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norr ... /10532525/

I like Lando when he’s in this sort of mood.
I feel that it’d be some achievement to beat Ferrari to P3, as they actually have 2 good racing drivers who can finish in the points unlike Aston Martin. I’d be happy with the P4.

That would be very cool of McLaren can catch Ferrari! Seems doable to me.

[hollus]

We all know that recycling is often hard and difficult.
And that the recycled products are likely not 100% as good as new ones.
And that the economy of it is complex.
And that there are lots of nuances, amounts, degrees, etc.

And that it quickly devolves into politics.
Recycling is hard. Said (once) and stays put.
But still can be done: Said (once) and stays put.
Many posts that crossed the politcs line a bit too much after that... poofed away.

It is hard, it is possible, it is complex, it is imperfect.
And let's leave it a that. No politics, thanks you.

[LionsHeart]

Regarding the competitiveness of the car in Austin: There are a couple of points, taking into account my erroneous assumptions, where I said that McLaren would be 2-3 in strength in Qatar. Apparently, McLaren has a very good simulator that allows you to choose the optimal basic settings quite well.

I think that the car will be 2-3 in strength here too, simply because of the presence of many slow turns, although not all of them are critical, because they are taken quickly. Another problem can be bumps. I don’t know whether the road surface has been renewed or not. I dare to suggest that Red Bull may have problems, since bumpy tracks are not very suitable for them. Usually in such conditions they lose their advantage.

I also don’t know which air package the team will choose, since there are arguments in both directions. Mercedes may have trouble finding basic settings on the simulator. We'll see one practice again on Friday, so there may be some surprises. Ferrari can catch up, for them bumpy tracks seem to be not as critical as for Red Bull.

As if problems with the boundaries of the track would arise again. I'm tired of watching this.

[Emag]

To be honest, I am a bit cautious with my optimism for Austin. Sector 2 is tricky, and I feel like Mercedes and Ferrari can strike back here so a podium (and by extension a double podium) will be much harder to achieve here.

[CjC]

To be honest, I am a bit cautious with my optimism for Austin. Sector 2 is tricky, and I feel like Mercedes and Ferrari can strike back here so a podium (and by extension a double podium) will be much harder to achieve here.

Definitely will be much harder. Especially as Mercedes are taking a new floor to Austin

[mwillems]

The car looks fairly well rounded and did well at three tracks that offer different challenges, including Singapore which also has several low speed corners and a few high speed corners. Like Singapore this is a bumpy track also. I don't see Austin offering anything too challenging for the Mclaren but Mercedes will be an unknown, I expect Ferrari to be fast here and we will see how RB manage these bumps. I'd imagine worst case is we can look at top 6 or 8 and best case we can be in with a chance to take the win.

[organic]

To be honest, I am a bit cautious with my optimism for Austin. Sector 2 is tricky, and I feel like Mercedes and Ferrari can strike back here so a podium (and by extension a double podium) will be much harder to achieve here.

Definitely will be much harder. Especially as Mercedes are taking a new floor to Austin

They claim it's not worth much laptime. More about understanding if their current direction is correct