2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[LionsHeart]

It would be funny if nobody guessed and McLaren was second.

Funny would be Lando and Oscar locking out the front row. Not that I expect that to happen of course.
I just think people have gotten a bit carried away with testing. Of course if say the RB20 isn't as good as the RB19 you'd see the media going into "What went wrong" frenzy.

I think McLaren went about their testing programme quietly and haven't shown the true pace of the
car yet. There is a lot of expectation management going on with McLaren, and I can't say that I blame them.

I think it's going pretty well. Probably a lot of excessive expectations from the fans rather than the team. That's why "we" often react harshly when the team didn't do great in the tests. Why it did so few laps. When you sit and watch tests all day, see why the car is taking so long to get on the track, then look for news on the team's official Twitter and there's silence there too, then look for news about it here on the forum, it's a bit worrying. Personally, it's even a bit stressful for me. After all, we always hope that the new season will start much better than the previous one.

I have to admit, I myself am prepared for any eventuality and even for the 4th strongest car at the start of the season. But I feel that the team will appear on the podium very often this year and maybe McLaren will be the fastest among Mercedes engines.

Mercedes and Ferrari said their new car is a very big step up from last year. Maybe it really is. That's why their managers and drivers look more confident in the media. And McLaren are more reserved, as if something has gone wrong. Although I haven't yet seen what could have gone wrong there. The stability of the rear end is better, the exit from the corners is more predictable.

I like to watch and follow the tests because really nobody knows exactly who will be where on the starting grid. If the team solves most of last year's problems, it's already a big step forward. Lando himself said that the car has improved in all areas, maybe a little bit, but still. The direction is set right. We just have to wait for the technical updates and hope that the team will make a big step again.

[PapayaFan481]

Ted Kravitz has McLaren in 4th.

His order is :-

Redbull
Ferrari
Mercedes
McLaren
Aston Martin
RB
Williams
Alpine
Haas

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/s ... king-order

That gives me some comfort, he's one of the least credible pundits, if you could even call him that. I'd call him a would be comedian in a tag team with Croft.

The only people who call Ted a "pundit" are the people who don't like him. SkyF1 call him a Pitlane Reporter, which is what he is.

[101FlyingDutchman]

If we were to look at the very general view of say Allison/Lando/lap times/sector performance/Zak B/Andrea you’d probably have to say with some certainty that we are in the mix from pos3-10 at the moment. Depending on circuit. Retained position but haven’t leapt ahead, if anything others caught up or leapt slightly ahead. I’m okay with that. Development cycle looks good. Let’s go team

[MCLvamos]

Looks like new front wing already!

[mwillems]

Looks like new front wing already!

I'm sure it is the same wing my friend.

[scuderiabrandon]

Looks like new front wing already!

I'm sure it is the same wing my friend.

They removed the paint

[MCLvamos]

Ah I thought the first and second elements looked a little different. Might just the angles doing trickery ig.

[willmesquita]

I'll wait to see how we'll perform at a circuit with less slow corners to see our car versus Ferrari.

The worst case scenario without it being genuinely concerning is 0.5s+ delta to Red Bull, and 0.2-0.3s max delta to Ferrari. Whilst it would still signal a disappointing winter where a team changing concept has leapfrogged us, it is a decent position to develop from and we can fight for P2 in the constructors from there, which should be the goal this year. If it's any more than that of a gap to Ferrari in Bahrain, it will be a slam dunk at most circuits in terms of the pecking order and we will struggle to out develop them in any meaningful way. I doubt any steps we take with upgrades will give us the same *relative* jump as Austria last year given we should already be pretty close to the front as a baseline. Not sure about you guys, but I'm really nervous for next week.

[CjC]

Looks like new front wing already!

I'm sure it is the same wing my friend.

They removed the paint

That’s a performance upgrade in itself these days

[MTudor]

If Ferrari are significantly ahead of us, it will be pretty disappointing and a little concerning. You'd think we had a more stable base to evolve from last year, so if we aren't close to leading the chasing pack that will dent my confidence in the team to challenge for championships in the next 2-3 years. I still wonder why Lando signed that long term deal once again before cars were even on track, it just seems more prudent to wait it out a bit longer and see how the performance picture is. It's not like his old deal was expiring any time soon.

I swear I'm going to shoot a crow reading the commentsfrom Macca fans

[CjC]

If Ferrari are significantly ahead of us, it will be pretty disappointing and a little concerning. You'd think we had a more stable base to evolve from last year, so if we aren't close to leading the chasing pack that will dent my confidence in the team to challenge for championships in the next 2-3 years. I still wonder why Lando signed that long term deal once again before cars were even on track, it just seems more prudent to wait it out a bit longer and see how the performance picture is. It's not like his old deal was expiring any time soon.

I swear I'm going to shoot a crow reading the commentsfrom Macca fans

Wait till you read mind of they are the 5th fastest team in quali

[LionsHeart]

Does anyone think that in the 2024 season McLaren will be able to replicate or at least come close to the competitive performance of 2011-2012?

[swifteddie1]

All indications are the team is behind at least Redbull and Ferrari in one lap pace and race pace. You could even argue they are behind Mercedes as well.

To out develop Ferrari, Merc, Aston for two years in a row is going to be a tall order. Repeating 2011 is unrealistic in my opinion. Would love to be wrong....

[elldizzle]

Looks like new front wing already!

Looks quite a bit different to me 2nd element looks bigger and more set back from the main and the 4th element curve and angle to the end plate looks steeper. Maybe its just the angles..

[LionsHeart]

Looks like new front wing already!

Looks quite a bit different to me 2nd element looks bigger and more set back from the main and the 4th element curve and angle to the end plate looks steeper. Maybe its just the angles..
https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/upl ... _HiRes.jpg

The upper fourth flap, which is attached to the nose cone. One has the Guerney flap, the other does not, no other differences.