2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

No, I don't think so
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... chiest-q3/
"But McLaren was taken out of the Q3 reckoning by getting out too late - eighth and ninth - and therefore finding the rain which had begun to fall lightly at Turn 1, which Leclerc immediately ahead had just missed."
"It’s an ill-wind which does no-one any good. This one didn’t help Perez or McLaren, but for Leclerc and Aston it was a great boon. Verstappen, you sense, would have been first regardless."
I think Lando could've put the lap of his life and still it wouldn't have changed much in those conditions

Turn 1? At the end of S2 Lando was up on Leclerc.

[Mansell89]

What is the tyre situation for us in sprint quali tomorrow? I quite fancy our two to have a chance of winning the sprint based on todays pace

[Harisudhan]

Lando has 2 new softs and 3 New mediums. Oscar has no new softs and 4 new mediums.

[Dafnalina]

No, I don't think so
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... chiest-q3/
"But McLaren was taken out of the Q3 reckoning by getting out too late - eighth and ninth - and therefore finding the rain which had begun to fall lightly at Turn 1, which Leclerc immediately ahead had just missed."
"It’s an ill-wind which does no-one any good. This one didn’t help Perez or McLaren, but for Leclerc and Aston it was a great boon. Verstappen, you sense, would have been first regardless."
I think Lando could've put the lap of his life and still it wouldn't have changed much in those conditions

Turn 1? At the end of S2 Lando was up on Leclerc.

He was matching him with rain until S3.

What is the tyre situation for us in sprint quali tomorrow? I quite fancy our two to have a chance of winning the sprint based on todays pace

[Darth-Piekus]

After the penalties does anyone know where our drivers start?

[organic]

After the penalties does anyone know where our drivers start?

P6 for Lando, P10 for Piastri - both on the dirty side of the grid. Piastri lines up alongside Perez and Norris alongside Hamilton

[mwillems]

Lando was right behind Leclerc on the road. He braked way too late into 12, both Max and Leclerc braked significantly earlier there. I think it was driving mistake, rather than weather.
Also, due to dissapointment from his mistake, Lando forgot to open DRS in time, which costed him another 0.2-0.3s

You are right, looking at his telemetry, he braked later and harder than he did on his Q2 fast lap when conditions were better. Doesn't mean he couldn't have made it if the wind hadn't blown a moment later though and fast changing conditions could easily have still been the reason for the issue. I think Lando is right, if we'd have gone straight away there was a shout at getting pole. But there we go. I predict good things for Saturday and Sunday, however.

[Mostlyeels]

I kind of enjoy weekends like this. Of course, I'd rather that we were qualifying on the front row.

The car is quick, not too temperamental, and the team showed they can get it set up well in just one session.

Race weekend execution needs work -- a key difference -- but that can be improved.

Piastri did well to get up to speed, never having driven here before.

[mwillems]

Good point, Oscars lap (before going off) was at worst on a par with Lando, just occasionally dipping below Landos time by a fraction, it would have been extremely tight between them.

[MCLvamos]

Once again poor decision making from the team in changeable weather conditions. Sochi 21, Zandvoort and now Brazil this year. More than happy to credit the team when things go right, but this seemed like another oversight in what is becoming a bit of a weakness for the team. We are well ahead of RB, Ferrari and Mercedes in the pit boxes, there is absolutely no excuse for sending our drivers out so far back in the queue. Something needs to be fixed because this cannot continue if we are to challenge a slick and mostly error-free Red Bull outfit.

[runningmanz]

Well that was a stuffup. Should have got out their earlier in Q3. Yet again what might have been. A least we know the car is quick though here.

Look at the aftermath though. Wow no wonder they were not going to restart. Lucky noone was hurt in that storm!

[geogate]

I will always support the team if hindsight errors were made in the name of an aggressive approach.
The grandstand could be a bit of a problem - not sure how you can run Saturday's program with a mangled grandstand like that

[BMMR61]

I say without hindsight - I was screaming in my comfortable chair watching the blackness and was wondering why the McLarens had stayed in their garages. We had the pace today to easily challenge for rows 2 and 3. Put it on the team not the drivers - when a cold front like that arrives (as it often does at Interlagos) the wind is the first thing to hit and it's spectacular. Lando has to wear the loss of the win at Sochi 2021 for overruling his team, this time the drivers didn't have a chance to set representative times rolling out late. Well it does look like they have a very quick car round here - I don't know why there's awful pessimism almost every race weekend since Turkey about the track being problematic. It looks like the team are week by week getting a handle on the car. When it trundles out in FP1 it's usually pretty close to a good set-up. Maybe we can see Lando and Oscar redeem themselves with great performances tomorrow and find a way to pass half a dozen fast cars!

[Ben1980]

I say without hindsight - I was screaming in my comfortable chair watching the blackness and was wondering why the McLarens had stayed in their garages. We had the pace today to easily challenge for rows 2 and 3. Put it on the team not the drivers - when a cold front like that arrives (as it often does at Interlagos) the wind is the first thing to hit and it's spectacular. Lando has to wear the loss of the win at Sochi 2021 for overruling his team, this time the drivers didn't have a chance to set representative times rolling out late. Well it does look like they have a very quick car round here - I don't know why there's awful pessimism almost every race weekend since Turkey about the track being problematic. It looks like the team are week by week getting a handle on the car. When it trundles out in FP1 it's usually pretty close to a good set-up. Maybe we can see Lando and Oscar redeem themselves with great performances tomorrow and find a way to pass half a dozen fast cars!

Sochi, he didn't overrule anything?

[mwillems]

Once again poor decision making from the team in changeable weather conditions. Sochi 21, Zandvoort and now Brazil this year. More than happy to credit the team when things go right, but this seemed like another oversight in what is becoming a bit of a weakness for the team. We are well ahead of RB, Ferrari and Mercedes in the pit boxes, there is absolutely no excuse for sending our drivers out so far back in the queue. Something needs to be fixed because this cannot continue if we are to challenge a slick and mostly error-free Red Bull outfit.

Sochi 21 Lando overruled the team, that was not a pit wall error.

As far as I recall the team have made 2 strategic mistakes this season (Im sure there will be some little niggles, but cant think of anything big). Not great but not bad really. And personally I don't think that the heavy rain suggested the wind would do what it did yesterday, at least that quick.