2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Sieper]

I do find it interesting that Horner is talking about us, and how they mentioned Miami during the race at safety car.

I feel that the team are a but in their head. This is a different Red Bull than last years.

That might be true, but Horner is always doing this, building upon these catchy statements that are bound to live in people’s heads.

[CjC]

Yea I’m assuming the same, however was the ‘24 Miami update the ‘23 Austria update?
Or was Miami just the finishing off of the launch car and we can still expect 2 ‘major’ upgrades this season?

Miami was around the same date as Baku last year.

Stella has said 2 or 3 big upgrades this year, so I guess we will wait and see.

Yea Baku crossed my mind too but Baku ‘23 was just a minor floor update or a change in philosophy worth only a tenth if I recall, so I didn’t compare it to the massive Miami update.

If only there was a contributor who chatted to some of the McLaren guys…, oh yea, there was and they were chased off by some members who I’ve never seen post on this thread again. Thank you

[CjC]

I do find it interesting that Horner is talking about us, and how they mentioned Miami during the race at safety car.

I feel that the team are a but in their head. This is a different Red Bull than last years.

That might be true, but Horner is always doing this, building upon these catchy statements that are bound to live in people’s heads.

It’s nice that he’s talking about Mclaren again, he might struggle though when Stella stone walls him after all he’s been used to Toto biting at all of horners bitching

[mwillems]

Yea I’m assuming the same, however was the ‘24 Miami update the ‘23 Austria update?
Or was Miami just the finishing off of the launch car and we can still expect 2 ‘major’ upgrades this season?

Miami was around the same date as Baku last year.

Stella has said 2 or 3 big upgrades this year, so I guess we will wait and see.

Yea Baku crossed my mind too but Baku ‘23 was just a minor floor update or a change in philosophy worth only a tenth if I recall, so I didn’t compare it to the massive Miami update.

If only there was a contributor who chatted to some of the McLaren guys…, oh yea, there was and they were chased off by some members who I’ve never seen post on this thread again. Thank you

No but it's a different team now and we know each big upgrade took about 2 months last year, so it fits. I think whether they do 2 or 3 upgrades might depend on wether they think they can keep upgrading this car into next year if the underlying changes are bigger and would require separate workstreams that aren't compatible with this years car.

[CjC]

Ok, well remembered so if we work on every 2 months then that’s Silverstone and Baku again or Singapore.
Least that is something we can keep in the back of our minds when Reb Bull, Merc and no doubt Aston reveal big upgrades in Spain

[Mostlyeels]

Curious Lando was saying in the post race interviews they did all they could, but the SC and slick pace were the reason for not winning.
However, later during the press conference he changed attitude and mentioned they could have won if the decision making and communication was better/faster.

The race was so complicated to unravel, I think they're going to be slowly changing the narrative as they pick it apart.

I agree though, great race! Lots of uncertainty due to changing conditions, but not too wet to race on, and then the final blast on slicks, plus several teams were competitive. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[ringo]

Norris will pass Leclerc for P2 in a race or 2.

[genarro]

Do we know when will the next batch of upgrades arrive? The Miami spec was supposed to be the start.. or?

[Harisudhan]

Anyone notice the high-pitched whistle sound on lando's car whenever he passed by the cameras at full throttle? None of the other cars had that sound.

[NiyolHuayra]

Are there any updates for Spain/Austria planned/known?

[bauc]

Are there any updates for Spain/Austria planned/known?

If memory serves me well, next batch of upgrades will come at Silverstone.

[FittingMechanics]

I am liking Oscar's defense. He does not let people pass easily. Regarding driver preference. At one point towards the end, Tom even asked him if he could challenge VER, but Oscar only said he needs to focus on RUS behind. So it seems the team was willing to give him a go if he felt up for it.

I like his attitude very much. Not only did he keep his elbows out in a hard situation, he was also not the typical race car driver that always think he is faster than his teammate. Good job.

I know it’s easy for me in my arm chair to say but for me they need to change their procedure slightly, this is the second time umming and arrring has cost the shot at a win.
Perhaps there should be a new understanding where the team have a default option always made for the end of the current lap.
In this case ‘if there is a SC and our driver can dive into the pit lane we fit inter’.
Same procedure in a dry race, ‘if we pit this lap we fit the hards’ or in the late safety car scenario ‘if we pit now it’s for a soft’
I know it can’t be so automated all the time and decisions have to be made on the fly but yesterday it was pretty clear they were hanging on to the first set of inters to fit a new set once it started to rain- they had multiple lads to make the ‘default’ selection as I’m suggesting.

They usually have these procedures, in most races the drivers are informed when they are in an SC window or VSC window, meaning automatic pit if there is a SC or VSC.

Situation in Canada was super complicated as there was expectation of rain coming and which tires would work best so the pitstop couldn't be automatic. Another aspect is that it is possible Lando was not far enough ahead to be definitely ahead of VER/RUS. Hard decision to make in a couple of seconds before Lando passed the pit entry.

But I do think the team should have been aware that the crash will likely turn into a SC and they should have been ready when SC was shown. That was an operational mistake.

[Moving Chicane]

But I do think the team should have been aware that the crash will likely turn into a SC and they should have been ready when SC was shown. That was an operational mistake.

This!

I usually don't comment here, because others have far more knowledge than me, BUT I feel sometimes the Team should have a bit more common sense when making split-second decisions. For example: Crash from Sergant happened in a spot with difficult access. Sure, nobody knew if he was able to continue, but that should be an automatic trigger for the guys in the garage to get ready for a pit stop. Lando still had more than 1/2 of the lap to discuss the situation with the team.


I still have some resentment how the Team managed some of these 50/50 situations last year - Mexico red flag (KM crash), Brazil Q3, rain in Dutch GP, etc. Like the Team relies too much on data instead of looking in the sky/at the main TV feed/etc.

I agree with others that the win was unlikely even with the perfect pit stop. Weak pace in dry conditions and strong DRS on the "back" straight would make it easy for Max. I would like to see some more sharpness in the future.

Rant over

[FittingMechanics]

But I do think the team should have been aware that the crash will likely turn into a SC and they should have been ready when SC was shown. That was an operational mistake.

This!

I usually don't comment here, because others have far more knowledge than me, BUT I feel sometimes the Team should have a bit more common sense when making split-second decisions. For example: Crash from Sergant happened in a spot with difficult access. Sure, nobody knew if he was able to continue, but that should be an automatic trigger for the guys in the garage to get ready for a pit stop. Lando still had more than 1/2 of the lap to discuss the situation with the team.
https://ibb.co/9cTp3d8

I still have some resentment how the Team managed some of these 50/50 situations last year - Mexico red flag (KM crash), Brazil Q3, rain in Dutch GP, etc. Like the Team relies too much on data instead of looking in the sky/at the main TV feed/etc.

Completely agreed. In previous years I felt that they need to take more risk - for example gamble that it will become a safety car as it looks like it will. Right now they probably don't need to do that as they have enough pace to win on merit but in Canada they had half a lap of time to come up with a plan between Sargeant crash and SC being deployed. That should be enough for a top tier team.

But, I just rewatched it on F1TV on Lando's onboard. Two things are obvious:
1. Timing of SC was just as Lando was about to break for the last corner - it is possible/likely he didn't see it in time to go into pits.
2. If the radio is synced to the onboard, Lando was already past pit entry when they talked whether to pit.
3. Team didn't instruct him what to do if it turns SC - that should have been done.
4. Even if they informed him, it is likely Lando wouldn't have been able to pit due to the timing of the SC.

This is extremely unfortunate. I thought SC was thrown middle of the last straight and that he could have slowed down and got info from the team. To be fair - even if he had an instruction to box it is possible he would have been unable to as SC appeared just as he was about to brake.

How frustrating that in two races Norris was caught with these SC being shown just as he is passing - luckily in Miami he wasn't picked up by SC and could win the race.

[Macafangrskg]

Are there any updates for Spain/Austria planned/known?

If memory serves me well, next batch of upgrades will come at Silverstone.

The original timetable for the first update was for Imola and brought forward by 2 weeks and Piastri got only half the upgrade.

I think the original plan was for Silverstone but if they can bring it forward in Austria even with sprint race just for correlation work will be great.I don't thing the team have enough manufacturing and validation time for Barcelona.

It would be ideal as it is triple header Barcelona Austria and Silverstone and you have the time to fine tune setup especially in high speed tracks