2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Macafangrskg]

I do not buy a theory you can't catch up in am age of cost cap. Sure you can't outspend to catch up but you have level playing field.

With the reduced rnd time for better teams it should lead to reduced field spread. It is just that Red Bull nailed it and may have unfair advantage with their second team being able to explore ideas for them.

I think the ideas of cost cap and rnd reduction are sound but maybe they need more rnd penalties if a team is dominant several years in a row. First year 25%, second 50, ...

This is a McLaren thread and I feel that the team is on right trajectory and seem very optimistic for the season. I think they earned our trust.

It isnt that simple about other teams catching up. Williams had almost double the rnd time of RB but they are still at the back. The biggest problem for other teams is the cap ex where even infrastructure spending is forbidden. That is the reason why wovles (of williams) was so vocal because they cant compete with outdated infrastructure. Thats why stella, brown and seidl were pushing for the new wind tunnel and simulator (and other things) and thank god for that.

However i think f1 and fia should push red bull to sell the other team. I give them credit that they saved the team by buying them but if they would sell thm now they would be more than compensated with their return of investment.

Anyways i for one am not seeing us as regresing backwards to 4th because we simply cannot compare to last year because the car was soooo bad in bahrain. If the later spec of mcl60 would race it would probably be 4th fastest on this track. Bring on the other races!

Lets go McLaren

It isn't a simple as that.Carb which is a clone of last year RB was struggling in the race.Lets take Perez q3 1:29.846 last year and compare it to tsunoda this year 1:30.129. last year he did 1:31.400 .So in similar car without refinement he gain 1.2 sec.And we gained 1.8

RB did their math and they concluded that even if they brought upgrades to the old philosophy they would gain 0.5 and by mid season due the budget cap the other 3 teams they would overtake them.

Our last races 23 spec car probably would end 14.

I think what McLaren did is build what was our old philosophy in the 2000. A solid base that we can build upon

[thestig84]

Anyone got an explanation as to why the last corner in particular was our nemesis on this track?

Norris said that it felt like the car was on 1 wheel in T14 during the post race F1 TV interview so I think the car is too stiff.

I think that was more an exaggeration based on taking about even a reliant robin three wheeler being quicker.... He was just going 1 better by saying it felt like 1 wheel! Pretty sure it wasn't based on any actual technical description.

[AR3-GP]

Anyone got an explanation as to why the last corner in particular was our nemesis on this track?

Norris said that it felt like the car was on 1 wheel in T14 during the post race F1 TV interview so I think the car is too stiff.

I think that was more an exaggeration based on taking about even a reliant robin three wheeler being quicker.... He was just going 1 better by saying it felt like 1 wheel! Pretty sure it wasn't based on any actual technical description.

Bahrain from T13 to pitlane is downhill. In addition, the apex of T14 has an extra dip. So you have two effects. The road falls away from the front wheels, and also the inside rear wheel. This is what Lando is saying when he describes the car as being on 1 wheel (the outside rear wheel). If the car is very stiff or not compliant, this sensation is increased. It also explains why he mentions the reliant robin, which is a car that is also prone to only riding on one wheel if you corner too quickly.

[CjC]

It’s a tough life for Mclaren and to be one of their fans….

Pre-season most of the media talked about the ‘top 3 big teams’ and Aston.
With the race finished, McLaren come home basically the 4th fastest team split in and around the Mercs yet they are deemed to be ‘losers’??

You get the feelings could only be classed as a ‘winner’ if they took the grand slam 1-2 by 30 seconds

[thestig84]

Norris said that it felt like the car was on 1 wheel in T14 during the post race F1 TV interview so I think the car is too stiff.

I think that was more an exaggeration based on taking about even a reliant robin three wheeler being quicker.... He was just going 1 better by saying it felt like 1 wheel! Pretty sure it wasn't based on any actual technical description.

Bahrain from T13 to pitlane is downhill. In addition, the apex of T14 has an extra dip. So you have two effects. The road falls away from the front wheels, and also the inside rear wheel. This is what Lando is saying when he describes the car as being on 1 wheel (the outside rear wheel). If the car is very stiff or not compliant, this sensation is increased. It also explains why he mentions the reliant robin, which is a car that is also prone to only riding on one wheel if you corner too quickly.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XYvWB4X/image.png

Not going to disagree but you are reading a lot into a comment I watched live and thought was just inane 'banter' with sky pundits. To give it context Lando began with claiming he could drive any road car in the world faster around that corner (clearly joking!!).... Even a Reliant Robin!

[CjC]

Anyone got an explanation as to why the last corner in particular was our nemesis on this track?

Lando said the wind changed direction for the race. That corner hadn’t been too much of a problem for them on Thursday and Friday

[AR3-GP]

I think that was more an exaggeration based on taking about even a reliant robin three wheeler being quicker.... He was just going 1 better by saying it felt like 1 wheel! Pretty sure it wasn't based on any actual technical description.

Bahrain from T13 to pitlane is downhill. In addition, the apex of T14 has an extra dip. So you have two effects. The road falls away from the front wheels, and also the inside rear wheel. This is what Lando is saying when he describes the car as being on 1 wheel (the outside rear wheel). If the car is very stiff or not compliant, this sensation is increased. It also explains why he mentions the reliant robin, which is a car that is also prone to only riding on one wheel if you corner too quickly.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XYvWB4X/image.png

Not going to disagree but you are reading a lot into a comment I watched live and thought was just inane 'banter' with sky pundits. To give it context Lando began with claiming he could drive any road car in the world faster around that corner (clearly joking!!).... Even a Reliant Robin!

Okay I see. I remember it, but not too closely. It could be nothing.

[BMMR61]

It’s a tough life for Mclaren and to be one of their fans….

Pre-season most of the media talked about the ‘top 3 big teams’ and Aston.
With the race finished, McLaren come home basically the 4th fastest team split in and around the Mercs yet they are deemed to be ‘losers’??

You get the feelings could only be classed as a ‘winner’ if they took the grand slam 1-2 by 30 seconds

Yeah, I've seen this develop over the off season, McLaren didn't exactly finish 2023 on a high after a sequence of podiums. Maybe the media just think it's the old McLaren trick of falling backwards again, I disagree, but we will find out. We all as fans see the current scenario as a top 4 teams pecking order with AM back a little. I would have thought the closeness between Merc and McLaren and even to a lesser extent Ferrari, would have been apparent to everybody. Apparently not, I don't particularly care as it is likely to be all change next weekend and the media will have to make their reactionary pronouncements.

The change of wind direction spoken of by Max after the race probably did have a detrimental effect on McLaren at the final turn. It hadn't been great through practice but our drivers were suddenly losing a lot. Without the 0.5+ lost there the picture would have been a lot closer, I still maintain that we are closer than was apparent at a glance.

[AR3-GP]

deleted.

[Mansell89]

It’s a tough life for Mclaren and to be one of their fans….

Pre-season most of the media talked about the ‘top 3 big teams’ and Aston.
With the race finished, McLaren come home basically the 4th fastest team split in and around the Mercs yet they are deemed to be ‘losers’??

You get the feelings could only be classed as a ‘winner’ if they took the grand slam 1-2 by 30 seconds

Yeah, I've seen this develop over the off season, McLaren didn't exactly finish 2023 on a high after a sequence of podiums. Maybe the media just think it's the old McLaren trick of falling backwards again, I disagree, but we will find out. We all as fans see the current scenario as a top 4 teams pecking order with AM back a little. I would have thought the closeness between Merc and McLaren and even to a lesser extent Ferrari, would have been apparent to everybody. Apparently not, I don't particularly care as it is likely to be all change next weekend and the media will have to make their reactionary pronouncements.

The change of wind direction spoken of by Max after the race probably did have a detrimental effect on McLaren at the final turn. It hadn't been great through practice but our drivers were suddenly losing a lot. Without the 0.5+ lost there the picture would have been a lot closer, I still maintain that we are closer than was apparent at a glance.

I agree- I can’t help but have a gut feel that we’ve got a much better car platform than the pace so far shows. Quali was very promising - race was steady- but just this quiet, methodical confidence almost in the way we are operating and seem to know exactly where we are.

Cant wait to see if we can build another strong in season trajectory- really hope so as the sport needs it badly at the moment.

[SmallSoldier]

I continue to be perplexed by the media who stop just short of outright derision of McLaren, following an off season ignoring them as contenders for top three constructors. Even the normally perceptive Mark Hughes seems unimpressed. Okay, on paper the results didn't look amazing but it's clear that they are on Bahrain circuit pretty well level with Mercedes and a few tenths shy of Ferrari. Well journos - we shouldn't need long memories to have the last laugh on you. I'm pretty confident we'll be vying for podiums very soon once we hit some faster tracks. Lando and Oscar were full of fun after the race giving the impression they are confident this was merely a precursor to the real performances of the year.

The reality is that pundits know less than even fans in this site in regards to actual performance of the cars… Didn’t they also said after testing that RB (VCarb) was a dark horse and in the mix with the top 5?

Unluckily, the media is just a business and F1 is entertainment… So, write what will sell and focus on that… That’s the motto.

[SmallSoldier]

Overall McLaren showed decent race pace, if the developments are anything like last season, then we should see another McLaren Rocketship appear.

I'd exercise caution with this kind of expectation, honestly.
Last summer was really the perfect storm for McLaren to make the jump they did: two out of three teams showed up with dodgy cars and we're busy figuring out what to do with concept that was no longer viable, Aston had some of their pace stripped of them (allegedly) due to front wing changes, and RB had no reason to continue developing their car. That won't be the case this year.

MCL did a good job last year by figuring out a few months before the season started what they really needed to do, but their jump wouldn't have been nearly as impressive if it wasn't for the factors I listed.

I'm a long-term McLaren fan, my expectations are set to low. If any team manages to find a massive leap in performance, it'll be labelled as a rocket ship and "Can they challenge Red bull" statements will start up.

It's the same old story in F1. A team finds the most optimal solution for a set of regulations and runs away with both championships. The rest of the teams play catch up. If McLaren are on the right development path, then they have a chance of putting pressure onto RedBull. A shake up in the Power unit and aero regulations should make for a more interesting season in 2026. I still firmly believe McLaren have the ability to produce a championship winning car even as a customer team.

Overall McLaren showed decent race pace, if the developments are anything like last season, then we should see another McLaren Rocketship appear.

I agree but the moment you see a team dominate for so long why keep the rules stable? Change them completely, unfreeze the engines and change the status quo. Why is it nessesary for the rules to stay like this till 2026? It will also be good for the sport to shuffle the deck.

You can't make big regulatory changes without doing the leg work first. Hence the regulation changes for 2026, not even sure they've finalised the aero regulations yet. Could they tighten up the current regulations to even out of the performance? Yes. But Red Bull would kick up a stink about being targeted for being too successful.

The funny thing is that if McLaren would be in Red Bull’s position (dominating for the last couple of years) and changes in regulations would be introduced “for the sake of the sport” those crying for a change in regulation to give McLaren a chance would be crying because F1 / FIA are in a crusade against McLaren and it’s totally unfair to handicap the team that did a better job

[mwillems]

Average pace saw us third fastest car, according to this analysis, .35s from Ferrari

[SmallSoldier]

It’s a tough life for Mclaren and to be one of their fans….

Pre-season most of the media talked about the ‘top 3 big teams’ and Aston.
With the race finished, McLaren come home basically the 4th fastest team split in and around the Mercs yet they are deemed to be ‘losers’??

You get the feelings could only be classed as a ‘winner’ if they took the grand slam 1-2 by 30 seconds

Simple fix, either stop reading the media… Or simply stop letting it bother you… Why is it important what the media says? I care about happens on track, the rest is just noise

[Emag]

Average pace saw us third fastest car, according to this analysis, .35s from Ferrari

Yeah that seems spot on. It's the gap to RedBull that worries me though. Way too big considering they are set to get a rather major upgrade in Imola.

I guess we should wait and see how it's gonna be on the upcoming favorable tracks. Maybe the average gap comes down a little.

But if RedBull pulls even further ahead with the Imola package, I am afraid we will be having another 2023 ...