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I was wondering for quite a while if Merc can estimate McLaren's performance a lot better than e.g. from Ferrari, because they know what engine modes are used. (same for Aston Martin)
Does it even matter for McLaren when a competitor is aware of this information?
I'm still thinking 3rd behind Ferrari and RB, not too sure about Merc but they are right with us I'm sure.
James Allison said redbull are far in front, mercedes faster in race pace than Ferrari, Ferrari better in 1 lap pace
And followed by Aston
Didn't mention mclaren
Yeah not many teams/pundits are talking about mclaren in the ranking at all which is somewhat frustrating. It is RBR, Ferrari, Merc and then straight to AMR, Alpine, RB.
I was wondering for quite a while if Merc can estimate McLaren's performance a lot better than e.g. from Ferrari, because they know what engine modes are used. (same for Aston Martin)
Does it even matter for McLaren when a competitor is aware of this information?
Do Merc know what Mclaren are doing? I'd be surprised if this wasn't shrouded from Merc, but you're right I suppose. But then you'd think it would be the same in the reverse direction and you're still left with two teams contradicting the idea of where they sit.
Last edited by mwillems on 23 Feb 2024, 22:30, edited 2 times in total.
I'm still thinking 3rd behind Ferrari and RB, not too sure about Merc but they are right with us I'm sure.
James Allison said redbull are far in front, mercedes faster in race pace than Ferrari, Ferrari better in 1 lap pace
And followed by Aston
Didn't mention mclaren
Yeah not many teams/pundits are talking about mclaren in the ranking at all which is somewhat frustrating. It is RBR, Ferrari, Merc and then straight to AMR, Alpine, RB.
Is it because the laptimes are so bad they can’t understand it so leave them out of the conversation?
James Allison said redbull are far in front, mercedes faster in race pace than Ferrari, Ferrari better in 1 lap pace
And followed by Aston
Didn't mention mclaren
Yeah not many teams/pundits are talking about mclaren in the ranking at all which is somewhat frustrating. It is RBR, Ferrari, Merc and then straight to AMR, Alpine, RB.
Is it because the laptimes are so bad they can’t understand it so leave them out of the conversation?
Yeah not many teams/pundits are talking about mclaren in the ranking at all which is somewhat frustrating. It is RBR, Ferrari, Merc and then straight to AMR, Alpine, RB.
Is it because the laptimes are so bad they can’t understand it so leave them out of the conversation?
Thinking about it the test, I think we can conclude two things.
The team was slightly hampered by the smaller issues - they just didn't get enough time running race sims to properly tune things. This could be difference between having a Leclerc type stints and Sainz type stints (remember, Sainz had 1s slower times yesterday).
About the pecking order, I think Red Bull is still ahead (no idea of the margin), after that it is possible Ferrari is second. This could be track specific as Bahrain is not really suited to what was a strong suit of McLaren.
So it may be Red Bull, then Ferrari/McLaren depending on track and then the rest. Not sure about Mercedes, they didn't really seem that good to me, but maybe their race pace is much better than their qualy pace.
Aston Martin - while Alonso had a better first stint than Piastri it looked like he was much slower later on. I would say this is just Piastri learning how to do a proper long run on those tyres.
Btw, it is possible James Allison did not mention McLaren as he was interviewed after this session. McLaren unlike other was not able to do a race sim yesterday and thus Mercedes couldn't have crunched the data. Just an idea.
Last edited by FittingMechanics on 23 Feb 2024, 23:30, edited 1 time in total.
I would also just look at the attitude of the car from the onboards. For me the mclaren looked very stable, didn't see much if any off track moments or big corrections, in and out of corners, car looked quite planted from what I saw. Which made me feel quite confident. Either that or they were clearly under driving or staying within the limits. By contrast there were time when the Merc and Ferrari where all over the place. Maybe the wind could explain some of that. Which bodes well for us as it seems we don't have the wind sensitivity, maybe. But also by contrast the red bull looked like it was out for a Sunday drive while it was putting in quick times...
I would also just look at the attitude of the car from the onboards. For me the mclaren looked very stable, didn't see much if any off track moments or big corrections, in and out of corners, car looked quite planted from what I saw. Which made me feel quite confident. Either that or they were clearly under driving or staying within the limits. By contrast there were time when the Merc and Ferrari where all over the place. Maybe the wind could explain some of that. Which bodes well for us as it seems we don't have the wind sensitivity, maybe. But also by contrast the red bull looked like it was out for a Sunday drive while it was putting in quick times...
Indeed. McLaren looked very stable but maybe with some understeer.