2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Ben1980]

How many laps is the sprint?

19 (I think, or 17?)

[MCLvamos]

How many laps is the sprint?

19 laps

Ok not bad, I might be a bit optimistic but I think P3 can be the target, assuming Perez and Max shoot off into the distance. If everything isn't perfect, will probably end up being P4-6. Still need to see our race pace relative to the Ferrari though I guess.

[CjC]

It wasn’t on here but I remember reading a comment on an article about Mclaren where the poster said Mclaren are just a midfield team they’ll regress into the pack (I think they were a disgruntled Merc fan) anyway, it’s stuff like today when I feel the same, we had a chance to DOMINATE a quali session and fluffed it

[mwillems]

How many laps is the sprint?

19 laps

Ok not bad, I might be a bit optimistic but I think P3 can be the target, assuming Perez and Max shoot off into the distance. If everything isn't perfect, will probably end up being P4-6. Still need to see our race pace relative to the Ferrari though I guess.

Anything can happen. Everything can be upside down after turn 1. I guess as fans we turn up and enjoy the racing.

Plus we get to see how the car behaves when trying to make progress.

[LionsHeart]

I fundamentally disagree above with those who say the tires were overheated. No and again no. You just have to find the optimal settings for the tires soft. What does overheating have to do with it? If you overheat the tires all at once, you can't cool them down quickly on a fast lap. It doesn't work like that. The problem lies in the fine-tuning of the differential and things like that. Don't forget, the chassis has been updated and maybe the car isn't prone to understeer now. Perhaps there is a lot of grip at the front and less at the rear in terms of percentage. In one practice and one lap on soft tires it is impossible to optimally adjust the chassis. Just give time. Already now we can see that the car is capable of taking pole. It remains a little patience.

After the sprint race, the mechanics will definitely adjust the settings. It remains to be seen how many race weekends it will take to unlock the full potential of the updates, and drivers will need time to adapt. I'm sure this is the case. Soft C4 tires are quite durable on this track, the race here is stable with one pit stop, so it is impossible for C4 tires to overheat on smooth asphalt. I don't believe in that. This is not Suzuka, where it is easy to overheat the tires. Moreover, there is little downforce, which means less load on the tires.

[Ben1980]

It wasn’t on here but I remember reading a comment on an article about Mclaren where the poster said Mclaren are just a midfield team they’ll regress into the pack (I think they were a disgruntled Merc fan) anyway, it’s stuff like today when I feel the same, we had a chance to DOMINATE a quali session and fluffed it

Guess they had a chance, but also pretty much working blind. On something new without having had a chance to work out the impact of certain changes.

If 3 practice sessions, your point would stand better.

[Emag]

Yikes that's bad. Oscar did well to manage that.

[mwillems]

It wasn’t on here but I remember reading a comment on an article about Mclaren where the poster said Mclaren are just a midfield team they’ll regress into the pack (I think they were a disgruntled Merc fan) anyway, it’s stuff like today when I feel the same, we had a chance to DOMINATE a quali session and fluffed it

We made mistakes. But we also see progress and the team continuing to move to the front. Plenty to be happy about. This track was tricky for everyone.

In China the conditions helped, here it went the other way. C'est la vie.

[mwillems]

Yikes that's bad. Oscar did well to manage that.

Yeah, either could have binned it.

[Emag]

I fundamentally disagree above with those who say the tires were overheated. No and again no. You just have to find the optimal settings for the tires soft. What does overheating have to do with it? If you overheat the tires all at once, you can't cool them down quickly on a fast lap. It doesn't work like that. The problem lies in the fine-tuning of the differential and things like that. Don't forget, the chassis has been updated and maybe the car isn't prone to understeer now. Perhaps there is a lot of grip at the front and less at the rear in terms of percentage. In one practice and one lap on soft tires it is impossible to optimally adjust the chassis. Just give time. Already now we can see that the car is capable of taking pole. It remains a little patience.

After the sprint race, the mechanics will definitely adjust the settings. It remains to be seen how many race weekends it will take to unlock the full potential of the updates, and drivers will need time to adapt. I'm sure this is the case. Soft C4 tires are quite durable on this track, the race here is stable with one pit stop, so it is impossible for C4 tires to overheat on smooth asphalt. I don't believe in that. This is not Suzuka, where it is easy to overheat the tires. Moreover, there is little downforce, which means less load on the tires.

You can absolutely have a car + setup combo which overheats the tires through high-energy corners. You can try it yourself on any half-decent simulator (rf2, iRacing or Assetto Corsa) by putting tire pressures way down to exaggerate the effect. Try taking corners at full speed like that and watch the temps sky-rocket. Having a combination of straights + slow corners will help cool it down pretty quickly as well.

[LionsHeart]

On medium C3 tires

[mwillems]

Yes, the rubber will melt underneath you and the car just slide with the tyres over the edge.

I was not aware of the tyres coming back in that quickly but the temp window must be a cliff edge on both sides.

[CjC]

It wasn’t on here but I remember reading a comment on an article about Mclaren where the poster said Mclaren are just a midfield team they’ll regress into the pack (I think they were a disgruntled Merc fan) anyway, it’s stuff like today when I feel the same, we had a chance to DOMINATE a quali session and fluffed it

Guess they had a chance, but also pretty much working blind. On something new without having had a chance to work out the impact of certain changes.

If 3 practice sessions, your point would stand better.

Nah. Just look at Leclerc…..
They all had one practise session, one shot at a soft tyre run in SQ3.
Pains me to say it but Mclaren have a long way to go on their journey to the top.
Ferrari and Red bull schooled them unfortunately for us today

[LionsHeart]

I fundamentally disagree above with those who say the tires were overheated. No and again no. You just have to find the optimal settings for the tires soft. What does overheating have to do with it? If you overheat the tires all at once, you can't cool them down quickly on a fast lap. It doesn't work like that. The problem lies in the fine-tuning of the differential and things like that. Don't forget, the chassis has been updated and maybe the car isn't prone to understeer now. Perhaps there is a lot of grip at the front and less at the rear in terms of percentage. In one practice and one lap on soft tires it is impossible to optimally adjust the chassis. Just give time. Already now we can see that the car is capable of taking pole. It remains a little patience.

After the sprint race, the mechanics will definitely adjust the settings. It remains to be seen how many race weekends it will take to unlock the full potential of the updates, and drivers will need time to adapt. I'm sure this is the case. Soft C4 tires are quite durable on this track, the race here is stable with one pit stop, so it is impossible for C4 tires to overheat on smooth asphalt. I don't believe in that. This is not Suzuka, where it is easy to overheat the tires. Moreover, there is little downforce, which means less load on the tires.

You can absolutely have a car + setup combo which overheats the tires through high-energy corners. You can try it yourself on any half-decent simulator (rf2, iRacing or Assetto Corsa) by putting tire pressures way down to exaggerate the effect. Try taking corners at full speed like that and watch the temps sky-rocket. Having a combination of straights + slow corners will help cool it down pretty quickly as well.

There is no need to compare simulators and real F1 with Pirelli tires. I have never seen a completely realistic model of tire behavior anywhere. All of them are assembled from various pieces of code, trying only to imitate real physics. Experienced drivers say that the physics of tires in the same iRacing is very different depending on whether it is an updated model or not. This is just program code, nothing more.

Downforce is low, the asphalt is smooth. It is impossible to instantly overheat the tires in 2 turns and then continue to skid. There is either underheating, or a gust of wind, or non-optimal machine settings. Both cars skidded. Didn’t you notice that earlier this year this never happened with McLaren?

Why wasn't there anything like this on the fast and tight corners of Jeddah, hmm? Because the aerodynamics were different, that's why. I don't remember the tires overheating from excessive tightness there, where Lando easily got away from Lewis by one second for a couple of corners.

[Ben1980]

It wasn’t on here but I remember reading a comment on an article about Mclaren where the poster said Mclaren are just a midfield team they’ll regress into the pack (I think they were a disgruntled Merc fan) anyway, it’s stuff like today when I feel the same, we had a chance to DOMINATE a quali session and fluffed it

Guess they had a chance, but also pretty much working blind. On something new without having had a chance to work out the impact of certain changes.

If 3 practice sessions, your point would stand better.

Nah. Just look at Leclerc…..
They all had one practise session, one shot at a soft tyre run in SQ3.
Pains me to say it but Mclaren have a long way to go on their journey to the top.
Ferrari and Red bull schooled them unfortunately for us today

Is Leclerc driving a B spec car, as Zak called it. Think it's only realistic to expect such a massive change to need a bit of practice.