mwillems wrote: ↑05 May 2024, 17:08
LionsHeart wrote: ↑05 May 2024, 16:57
mwillems wrote: ↑05 May 2024, 16:48
This year to last year is not relevant to this car, nor the comparison of the track surface, the only thing important is what is happening this weekend. The Mclaren puts too much heat into the tyres, meaning it struggled more on the softs than others. This disability will not be with us in the race. But there is no point arguing it, we have different opinions, we will see in 5 hours.
What's the point? In the race we will not see soft tires on McLaren cars. Did I say somewhere that McLaren will be slow on harder tires?
I am giving you my reasons as to why this car can be competitive in the race. The mediums did not drop off from Friday to Saturday in pace. We have good deg at a competitive pace in the sprint race on the slower car with the slower race driver.
I expect Lando to be good today since the only tyre that has seen the car struggle is the soft and we still see the medium looks good for us on Friday and Saturday. For those reasons, I think we can have a positive race. That has been the only point I have been making, we only look slower on the softs and that pain is over for us now.
However, several posts ago you disagreed with my assessment that we still look decent here saying "Nothing like that" and now you seem confused that I explained why I think we are decent here.
LionsHeart wrote: ↑05 May 2024, 13:20
mwillems wrote: ↑05 May 2024, 10:00
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.
Of course, we are yet to see if we struggle on full fuel, and on this point and I am carrying some optimism.
I realized from your earlier answer that you misunderstood me. I just meant that the track itself did not become faster. It’s not that the medium drove slower a day later, no, it’s just that the car didn’t even drive faster towards the medium. The track itself seems to have stable characteristics and does not get faster day by day. This is what I brought to two times.
If I build on your previous message, where you wrote that it is not entirely correct to compare 2023 and 2024, good. So be it. But even between Friday and Saturday there was no evolution of the track. Lando drove slower in Q3 than he did in SQ2 on Friday. What is the reason? Has the track become slow? Incorrect settings? Did Lando drive his fastest lap more carefully? I don't know the answers. But I see the times of circles and draw conclusions.
My disagreement was not in the non-functioning soft tires, but in the track, which behaves atypically for Formula 1.
Other drivers were also unable to work properly. This is not a specific problem for McLaren. As for the racing pace on medium and hard tires, I have no questions. I never said anything that they would be slow in the race.
For even greater clarity, I’ll add that my response was to your second message, and not to the first, where you said about a possible podium and all that. Thank you for your understanding.