2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[BMMR61]

Everyone ignore this until next Sunday, but I’m guessing it now: Oscar’s going to win in Monaco

Now you've got that one off your chest BigBoy......
I'm of a mind that Oscar is in a sweet spot. Also he virtually matched Lando on debut at Monaco - qualified 11th in THAT rubbish car. The streets won't be an obstacle to him. If the car can be brought into a suitable window and he nails qualifying he will be a contender, but let's be blunt, if you don't qualify first or at least on the front row, pray for rain. Rain and it will be for Lando!

[MrGapes]

My short insight on Monaco…

It’s a bit harder to know who will be stronger between Ferrari, Redbull, and Mclaren going into Monaco with recent upgrades etc, Ferrari Kerb riding, Mclaren at high downforce spec, Redbull slow speed performance... Its such a unique circuit you run a unique setup that it’s hard to quantify and compare performance between sections of other tracks we have visited due to a combination of downforce levels and mechanical requirements. Obviously, the race will 95% be defined by pole, thus the question is who can run the car the lowest, but also maintain a suspension stiffness that allows the drivers to attack kerbs in Nouvelle and Swimming Pool while running peak downforce. Historically Mclaren has lost its majority in the very tight section of 5-8, so if you want to a sneak peek into how we may perform coming into the weekend keep your eye on sector 2 times.

I honestly think car performance wise all three cars will be close, and ultimately it will come to driver performance in Q3, that’s why driver comfort is so important, you want to run the car low, but you don’t want the car bouncing off the kerbs in swimming pool and destabilizing the platform.

[Mostlyeels]

Mcl38 was the fastest car two race weekends in a row. Should be aiming for victories every race going forward imo

Fastest at certain points, for sure. Not fastest across the whole of two weekends. We are without a doubt the fastest on harder tyres I'd say.

Apologies if this is repeating something; I'm just catching up on the thread.

Lando mentioned in the last stint that he had a lot of trouble getting the hards into the window, then he played with a lot of settings to get them to work.

https://www.racefans.net/2024/05/20/nor ... erstappen/

However Norris was able to find a configuration which improved his handling balance. “I basically changed all my switches on the steering wheel to try and help the rear tyres and try to kill the fronts, because I just had too much front at that point,” he said.

“Maybe five, 10 laps later, things started to come back to me. So making all these changes and changing the differential and the brake balance and all of those things really allowed me to bring the tyres back into a good window. As soon as I got there, I felt confident enough to push and as soon as I felt like I could push, it kind of spiralled in the right direction.”

[MrGapes]

Interestingly when Oscar was testing the High DF rear-wing in fp3, he was given a reminder to take a alternative line they had planned for T7 hairpin... much tighter, don't know if they were trying to replicate a tighter lower kph they will see in Monaco.

[Macklaren]

I think THIS is key. I don't think the team would have wasted time at the Imola weekend testing Monaco parts if they didn't think they would be legitimate contenders there

[f1Follower]

I believe that Oscar is faster driver than Norris with the new upgrades. You can refute the same but he outqualified him in Imola and even in Miami he had bad luck with Sainz collision.

[FittingMechanics]

EJ: The people who have helped put this together, and I'm including the crown prince himself because it was a big task to take that...

DC: ...he was there, at the weekend.

EJ: ...he was there, I have a good idea why he was there. But that is a separate issue

EJ is massively teasing it

And then goes to try and explain it away like crown prince is a big motorsport fan so he was in Miami because Monaco is next. Huh. I want to know how good of a poker player EJ is.

At the end of the video he says that Jonathan McEvoy of Daily Mail is wrong to report that any type of contract has been signed (McEvoy said Newey is joining Ferrari). EJ also mentioned that Newey needs to think about a fifth team - himself.

So I guess all is open, four teams are probably Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams?

[bauc]

I believe that Oscar is faster driver than Norris with the new upgrades. You can refute the same but he outqualified him in Imola and even in Miami he had bad luck with Sainz collision.

Nobody cares about this as long as Mclaren is on the front.

[LionsHeart]

Speaking about fundamentals of the McLaren and have they shifted. Oscar as reported on Pit Debrief:
https://pitdebrief.com/post/piastri-say ... -imola-gp/
The drivers’ performance is a testament to the effort of the wider McLaren team, who have been fine-tuning the MCL38 during the upgrade process, making the car “nicer to drive.”

Bodes well for the ongoing development of setup, as opposed to bolting on incredible updates - which we all obsess over!

The more experienced an F1 driver is, the more he is able to make changes around the difficult parts of a car's performance. At Austria 2023 Oscar was nowhere and Lando with updates was 4th. Here at Imola with upgrades Oscar came alive and was able to drive the car with greater confidence - where the comment "nice to drive" comes in.

It's not unrealistic to imagine the team grabbing Monaco by the scruff of the neck as the car seems less troublesome of late than it's direct competitors. Still, as I've said "two weekends is a small sample size" we should expect weekends where we may be third fastest car, so as not to be too disappointed. At the other end of the scale it's not unreasonable to hope for a continuing upward graph. Here's why;

The balance of the car seems to be improved
The downforce appears to be generated by the underbody more allowing lower drag - "efficiency"
Top speed is right up there
Tyre deg in races is vastly improved
The drivers are more confident and less accepting of deltas from crew
The team is energised
Red Bull are challenged and it shows as they are making setup errors
And most importantly - the correlation appears to be the best of all teams, proven by putting the updated car in winner's circle on it's debut, and untroubled by it being a Sprint weekend.

At the very beginning you mentioned that Lando was 4 in Austria 2023, and Oscar was nowhere to be found. Then you immediately jumped to 2024. Well, I’ll just remind you that after Austria there was the British Grand Prix, and there Oscar received a full package of updates, like Lando, and performed excellently in qualifying and the race. If it weren't for Haas's retirement, Oscar would have made it to the podium. Oscar knows how to squeeze speed out of a car, that's a fact. He's a fast racer.

Oscar knows how to adapt to any car, and this is an important quality. When a car suits your preferences, it's easier to get the most out of the car. It always works like that. The team is confidently moving forward step by step, bringing major updates at once. Amen, let it continue to be so.

[Ground Effect]

I believe that Oscar is faster driver than Norris with the new upgrades. You can refute the same but he outqualified him in Imola and even in Miami he had bad luck with Sainz collision.

Can we not bring this Lando is quicker than Oscar or Oscar is quicker than Lando nonsense from other forums? They're team mates, that are both fast, which is good for McLaren.

[LionsHeart]

Interestingly when Oscar was testing the High DF rear-wing in fp3, he was given a reminder to take a alternative line they had planned for T7 hairpin... much tighter, don't know if they were trying to replicate a tighter lower kph they will see in Monaco.

Well noted. I also noticed this. True, he drove 1 or 2 laps with this rear wing. They were definitely able to collect some data on the eve of Monaco.

[LionsHeart]

I believe that Oscar is faster driver than Norris with the new upgrades. You can refute the same but he outqualified him in Imola and even in Miami he had bad luck with Sainz collision.

If Lando had not lost part of the time in the second sector, then Lando would have qualified first, even taking into account the slipstream for Max. So no, not faster yet.

[Macklaren]

Can we not bring this Lando is quicker than Oscar or Oscar is quicker than Lando nonsense from other forums? They're team mates, that are both fast, which is good for McLaren.

AGREE! I think individual driver fans should feel free to start another thread instead of bringing down the team thread

[LionsHeart]

Can we not bring this Lando is quicker than Oscar or Oscar is quicker than Lando nonsense from other forums? They're team mates, that are both fast, which is good for McLaren.

AGREE! I think individual driver fans should feel free to start another thread instead of bringing down the team thread

I support.

[taperoo2k]

EJ is massively teasing it

Yeah but why. Newey can have a blank cheque and write his own contract. So if not for business,then for pleasure...?

It's F1 business is often mixed with pleasure. Newey loves a challenge so that's probably was being discussed (could be Lemans or a new McLaren F1 supercar, designed with no restrictions), while Jordan will be doing the wheeling and dealing over a contract in terms of cash.

I tend to think McLaren might well appeal to Newey, especially as it's much changed since Ron Dennis got the boot.

Anyone care to share their opinion as to how much Andreas Seidl is responsible for the current car? I believe that there is lead time necessary for any success at any team. Is the current form the reasonable outcome of an amazing plan/system? And if so, should I put $500 on Audi winning the WCC for 2026?

Seeing as McLaren changed the technical structure, James Key left etc McLaren have been on an upwards trajectory. If anyone is responsible for McLaren's success? It's Zak Brown. If you want to take a punt on Audi winning WCC in 2026, maybe put $10 on rather than $500.