2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Marc.W]

While maybe the team downplayed the upgrades, I have not seen any indication from them that this suddenly takes the team to the top. So, for fans to think that, based on a decent part of qualifying is a bit mad.

They've said, 2 more main upgrades to come, so, its all just part of the plan.

The sprint qualifying 3 was clearly horrendous, they had to do sonething.

Top speed seems improved, only 2kph down on the Red Bull in Qualifying

[Marc.W]

In the UK? How is that?

Get yourself a VPN that blocks websites seeing your original IP (Surfshark), buy your F1TV Pro subscription from the Google Play store (with your VPN turned on to Spain) and you'll be able to watch so long as you use the VPN.

2 Year VPN subscription: £60
F1 TV Pro 2 for 2 years: £167.76

Sky with F1 channel: £49 a month minimum

F1 TV didn't show a whole lot of McLaren either though, completely ignored Lando's final lap and just mentioned the time

I've got Sky, it's just that after Q1 they barely showed Mclaren. They have the onboards but I don't use them, I probably should but I tend to stick to the main feed.

F1 TV is worth it for the alternative commentary alone, don't have Crofty shouting incorrect information at you

[mwillems]

Top speed is very similar to most of the top ten. Even then it's a snapshot of one part of the lap and the rise to that speed is a curved gradient.

Meaning you can be as fast for most of the straight and those charts will misrepresent everything if for 2 seconds you lose 3pkh.

It's not even that we have much more wing than others, it's just that we haven't fixed DRS efficiency yet.

[mwillems]

We actually look decent here. It's possible we could get a podium.

But I think Sprint Qualifying gave off some unrealistic expectations.

[Seanspeed]

Proper fluffed up the weekend.
Sorry I’m so ‘demanding’.

Well, sh*t happens bro. Go be a Ferrari fan since you hold them to such high regard. I am sure you would have enjoyed 2019 a lot, then 2020, then 2021, then 2022, then 2023 ...

Been a McLaren fan for 21 years bro. I ain’t changing now.
I don’t get what your problem is?
I don’t appreciate your assumption that I’m demanding a pole today nor your suggestion that I change alliance to Ferrari.
The fact is Mclaren have poorly executed the weekend so far and I’m just voicing my opinion, don’t like it- don’t reply to me surely? Hell even block me for all I care.

This weekend could may well be the only race of the season where Lando was the genuine fastest package and he didn’t get sprint pole, he started P9, doesn’t make it to the exit of T1 in the sprint, changes his set up which he now regrets. Facts I’m sure you are aware of. Sorry if I’m annoying you up there on your perch

There's always some F1 fans who for whatever reason seem to have this idea that being a fan of a team/driver means being blindly positive about them no matter what.

[mclaren111]

What has happend since yesterday, we were on top of the world and now it’s just same old same old.

According to yesterday this was a race winning car and now we can barely outqualify the divebomber in his Mercedes

Perhaps focused on race setup...

[LionsHeart]

We actually look decent here. It's possible we could get a podium.

But I think Sprint Qualifying gave off some unrealistic expectations.

Nothing like this. The point is completely different, Lando completed a lap on the Medium in 1:27.597. A day later, Soft set the tires to 1:27.594. Either the track doesn't evolve, or Lando is right that they made a mistake with the settings.

The increase in speed between Friday and Saturday is very small. Moreover, it is even smaller between Q1 and Q3.

[De Wet]

Top cars were all slower than last year though, so track conditions were pretty poor this time around. Global warming doing its thing in F1 as well

[mclaren111]

I will have to agree with CJC here. Those who grew up with the good Mclaren simply feel livid seeing a team underperforming on their best chance. As Emag said above Miami was their best chance and if they couldnt win with a B Spec car what do they expect to do when both Ferrari and Red Bull bring their upgrades at Imola? The difference between Zak Brown and Ron Dennis is that Ron Dennis is a racer not a manager and I clearly dont see racing winning attitude on the team. Not when they are screwing fundamental things like tyre temperature, dismissing the best aerodynamisist of the last 40 years, not trying to pursue a works status, screwing pit stops,not having the upgrades in time from the first race, forced to chase each time and promising each time that we are getting there for more than a decade now. I had high hopes from Q1 and Q2 yesterday but all I feel now is the frustration I had in Bahrain last year and I dont hear Hakinnen anymore telling about a Red Bull challenger.

Ron Dennis is the main reason McLaren fell off for the good part of the last decade ...
The moment Mercedes split from them, he should have started what Zak started in 2018 in terms of investments. But Ron and his "racing attitude" was busy pointing fingers internally for the lack of performance instead of actually doing something about it. It's because of Ron Dennis that McLaren fell into midfield levels of both operations and resources. Of course it will take a long time to repair the damage.

You're again taking things for face value with Newey and have been making the same comments over and over again. Zak is relatively close with Adrian and obviously Adrian has made it pretty clear in private with him that he is not interested in joining McLaren at this stage of his career. For PR reasons, Zak will obviously say that he is happy with the technical team they have, and that they don't need Adrian Newey. It's also a boost of morale for the team working back at the factory so it's a no-brainer statement.

"Works" status can't happen because there are no good options available. Do you want another rushed McHonda period? There is no engine manufacturer that has the resources or the expertise in such complicated Power Units to deliver immediately in 2026. Mercedes is their best bet, and they're doing just fine as their customer team.

It's interesting you point out the false promises from last decade. Who made those false promises? Wasn't the guy you praised for being a racer? Zak made the decision to ditch Honda because 2017 was absolutely horrid in both performance and reliability. The moment they get a slap back into reality in 2018 (which made it obvious McLaren was no longer the team they used to be), he started working on the background to try and bring it back to how it used to be.

Even a behemoth like Ferrari couldn't get themselves out of a slump within 2 years from 2020-2021 when they got a slap by the FIA for PU tricks of questionable legality. McLaren obviously needs more, since they actually had to rebuild things.

I am all from demanding good results from McLaren. I am very critical of them myself. But to do it in such blind manner really stirs the pot for me. It's so easy to just ignore the big picture. How difficult it is to make things work in this sport. Mercedes can't figure out sh*t in this regulation set for the third year running. Ferrari was lost for a long time after TD39 and it took them a long time (plus internal restructuring) to get to where they are right now.

The upgrade wasn't even a remedy to their major weaknesses, a fact said multiple times by both Andrea and Lando, yet people apparently thought it would be enough to overcome a 0.6s+ deficit on an unfavorable track.

Snap out of it. Yesterday was good, and with better temperature management and a higher starting position, Lando might have been in the mix with Max and Charles. But that's about it. There was no lost victory.

[mclaren111]

Get yourself a VPN that blocks websites seeing your original IP (Surfshark), buy your F1TV Pro subscription from the Google Play store (with your VPN turned on to Spain) and you'll be able to watch so long as you use the VPN.

2 Year VPN subscription: £60
F1 TV Pro 2 for 2 years: £167.76

Sky with F1 channel: £49 a month minimum

F1 TV didn't show a whole lot of McLaren either though, completely ignored Lando's final lap and just mentioned the time

I've got Sky, it's just that after Q1 they barely showed Mclaren. They have the onboards but I don't use them, I probably should but I tend to stick to the main feed.

F1 TV is worth it for the alternative commentary alone, don't have Crofty shouting incorrect information at you

[willmesquita]

We actually look decent here. It's possible we could get a podium.

But I think Sprint Qualifying gave off some unrealistic expectations.

Nothing like this. The point is completely different, Lando completed a lap on the Medium in 1:27.597. A day later, Soft set the tires to 1:27.594. Either the track doesn't evolve, or Lando is right that they made a mistake with the settings.

The increase in speed between Friday and Saturday is very small. Moreover, it is even smaller between Q1 and Q3.

To me is an obvious setup issue (ou option), track evolved a little (other teams improved).

[LionsHeart]

We actually look decent here. It's possible we could get a podium.

But I think Sprint Qualifying gave off some unrealistic expectations.

Nothing like this. The point is completely different, Lando completed a lap on the Medium in 1:27.597. A day later, Soft set the tires to 1:27.594. Either the track doesn't evolve, or Lando is right that they made a mistake with the settings.

The increase in speed between Friday and Saturday is very small. Moreover, it is even smaller between Q1 and Q3.

To me is an obvious setup issue (ou option), track evolved a little (other teams improved).

To be honest, I'm sure the opposite is true. On the contrary, the track became slower. The fact that the others added only speaks of a more successful selection of settings, including Max. He himself confirmed that the changes were beneficial. Lando, on the contrary, was not too pleased with the behavior of the chassis. I don't see anything wrong with this. It's all part of learning. This is the first weekend where specification B was actually delivered.

I'm just used to seeing the following picture. On Friday there is a qualifying simulation, then the next day in Q1 they usually go 5-6 tens faster, and in Q3 they add another second relative to Q1. Everything is different here. I admit that I was wrong on Friday because I did not know that the asphalt was heated to 50 degrees. From other sources I found information up to 55 degrees Celsius. That's a lot.

Taking these factors into account, it is not surprising that the tires are having a hard time here in one fast lap. The race should be easier, since one pitstop is the most advantageous option here.

I just forgot that the weather in Vice City is usually hot.

To be precise, the city is located at a tropical latitude.

Below is a visual demonstration. Time difference between 2023 and 2024 in Miami. Most of the teams went slower, although in the previous quali weekends it was usually the other way around. The track became slower. McLaren stands out a lot just because they themselves were slow last year.

[LionsHeart]

In the DRS train, the maximum speed between Carlos and Oscar is comparable. This means that McLaren still has maximum speed. No matter what anyone says, McLaren was able to improve on this component and it makes me happy!

[Vanja #66]

I've said it here already, McLaren had very decent Top Speed with DRS on and on top of the charts with DRS off. This was even with launch spec bodywork, while now they are matching RB and Ferrari on Top Speed with DRS on. The wing is designed with lower flap angle, thus generating less drag when the flap is down. This is also a more efficient aero design for a rear wing. The fact that DRS delta is small is not a bad thing per se. Mercedes has lowish DRS delta like McLaren, but their base drag is higher - making their compromise poor overall.

In racing terms, McLaren is hard to overtake as we've seen many times already. However, they don't have any more problems to overtake others than usual. Again, this is opposite of Mercedes at the moment

[LionsHeart]

Just looking at these two photos makes me inspired.