2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[SilviuAgo]

"A total of 14 drivers will race today with a new ICE: George Russell, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.

While the change sees the majority of drivers race with their third ICE, Perez, Ricciardo and Tsunoda have started to use their last unit of their allocation for the 2024 F1 season.

Perez, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Stroll, Alonso, Gasly, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen and Hulkenberg have also received a new turbocharger, MGU-K and MGU-H for the Silverstone round.

The cars of Verstappen, Perez, Piastri, Norris, Stroll, Alonso, Gasly, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Bottas, Magnussen and Hulkenberg have been equipped with a new exhaust system."

Source: F1Technical.net

[mclaren111]

I guess it would be unfair to judge it halfway, but given the performance of the car, this has been one of the weakest seasons for Lando since 2019 from a personal perspective.

Several mistakes on critical moments, slightly off pace on two tracks he could have gotten a win had he been on pole (Imola & Monaco). Starts in general have been poor, especially when he has started P1 (China sprint & Barcelona).

And I could keep going.

If that safety car had not come for him in Miami, we would be looking at an extremely agitated Lando by now, with at least 2 (arguably more) wins gone mostly by his own doing.

When you look at it that way, definitely good that he got that win out of the way. I haven't considered that.

We can look at this like a good learning season for him and the team. Hopefully they can keep up this development and start 2025 with a car capable of wins. I am very concerned about new rules, I think someone will get it very right and we'll get a boring couple of seasons.

If we get it very right I don't mind...

[SilviuAgo]

This was the view at T6 during Piastri's 2nd run of Q3 (Sainz is the car ahead). Just to underline how compromised his 2nd lap was. It was a write off lap.

https://i.postimg.cc/VLxkk2Dm/image.png

I am happy that Piastri wants McLaren to make things better and to raise the game from operational pov.

Piastri urges McLaren F1 to review compromised Silverstone Q3
https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/ ... rstone-q3/

[taperoo2k]

I guess it would be unfair to judge it halfway, but given the performance of the car, this has been one of the weakest seasons for Lando since 2019 from a personal perspective.

Several mistakes on critical moments, slightly off pace on two tracks he could have gotten a win had he been on pole (Imola & Monaco). Starts in general have been poor, especially when he has started P1 (China sprint & Barcelona).

And I could keep going.

If that safety car had not come for him in Miami, we would be looking at an extremely agitated Lando by now, with at least 2 (arguably more) wins gone mostly by his own doing.

When you look at it that way, definitely good that he got that win out of the way. I haven't considered that.

We can look at this like a good learning season for him and the team. Hopefully they can keep up this development and start 2025 with a car capable of wins. I am very concerned about new rules, I think someone will get it very right and we'll get a boring couple of seasons.

There are two elements to 2026.
1. Power Units - Which manufacturers will get the regulations right and which ones will get them wrong.
2. Active Aero - Either teams will hit the sweet spot with the active aero or they won't.

It could well be that a team gets the aero regulations right, but are let down by a PU that is behind
the rest. McLaren signed a new deal with Mercedes for the PU's as that's on paper a safe bet.

McLaren have built a capable engineering team, so I do believe they'll figure out the regulations for 2026 fairly
well. They can't technically start work on the '26 cars until January 2025. But what the FIA can't police are engineers looking at the rules and thinking about how to interpret them, without putting pen to paper as it were.

[LionsHeart]

I guess it would be unfair to judge it halfway, but given the performance of the car, this has been one of the weakest seasons for Lando since 2019 from a personal perspective.

Several mistakes on critical moments, slightly off pace on two tracks he could have gotten a win had he been on pole (Imola & Monaco). Starts in general have been poor, especially when he has started P1 (China sprint & Barcelona).

And I could keep going.

If that safety car had not come for him in Miami, we would be looking at an extremely agitated Lando by now, with at least 2 (arguably more) wins gone mostly by his own doing.

Well, you're a pessimist. To say such a thing, comparing it to 2019. Wow. And this is taking into account that Lando has been driving well and consistently since the beginning of the season. But only the lack of victories and some kind of mistakes reminds one of 2019?

Alright then, humor me this.

Objectively speaking, which one from 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 do you think was worse than 2024 for Lando?

And answer based on relative performances of the car he had under him on that respective season, not purely on results.

I wasn't joking. I just said you were a pessimist. Every season Lando made mistakes and every time he admitted them. Every season, be it qualifying or a race, Lando did it here and there. It's normal for a human. We're not watching robots. This year Lando makes fewer mistakes and these mistakes are not as big. But Lando's consistency has only increased.

[Emag]

Well, you're a pessimist. To say such a thing, comparing it to 2019. Wow. And this is taking into account that Lando has been driving well and consistently since the beginning of the season. But only the lack of victories and some kind of mistakes reminds one of 2019?

Alright then, humor me this.

Objectively speaking, which one from 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 do you think was worse than 2024 for Lando?

And answer based on relative performances of the car he had under him on that respective season, not purely on results.

I wasn't joking. I just said you were a pessimist. Every season Lando made mistakes and every time he admitted them. Every season, be it qualifying or a race, Lando did it here and there. It's normal for a human. We're not watching robots. This year Lando makes fewer mistakes and these mistakes are not as big. But Lando's consistency has only increased.

You did not answer the question though. Since my take was so outrageous, where is your counterargument?

[Tomsky]

[mwillems]

Max and Landos yellow S1 were due to both of them being undecided if they wanted their front tyres or their rear tyres to hit the apex first

There were many drivers though, so it feels like there was more to it. The mistakes can always be a consequence of poor grip.

Russell explained during post qualy conference that wind picked up at end of session. Specifically that T3 and T4 developed a tail wind while other sections of track developed a headwind. It would account for Lando losing the rear in both corners and Verstappen losing the rear in T4. Sainz also lost the rear in T4. Russells’s S1 was yellow.

Thanks, that confirms what I'm saying, but it was wind not tyre temps. I didn't think it was necessarily just down to driver mistakes due to how widespread the issue was, was the point I was making. But I didn't consider wind as a factor even though I now recall it being mentioned.

Seems like either the Merc dealt with it better, or it didn't gust as much for them, or both.

[mwillems]

Brilliant, and that's fine. Stewards have not been giving flags for moving under breaking for ages, not even when Max was fighting over the past 5 years. And this is why I said previously that I do not blame the stewards. It is the FIA that need to set the precedent now and change the way the rules have been interpreted and applied, and it seems they have just started that. Let's hope there was some guidance sent to the stewards to ensure this is applied consistently and to all drivers, including front runners.

[LionsHeart]

Alright then, humor me this.

Objectively speaking, which one from 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 do you think was worse than 2024 for Lando?

And answer based on relative performances of the car he had under him on that respective season, not purely on results.

I wasn't joking. I just said you were a pessimist. Every season Lando made mistakes and every time he admitted them. Every season, be it qualifying or a race, Lando did it here and there. It's normal for a human. We're not watching robots. This year Lando makes fewer mistakes and these mistakes are not as big. But Lando's consistency has only increased.

You did not answer the question though. Since my take was so outrageous, where is your counterargument?

Do you really need a counterargument? I remember that Lando makes mistakes every year. And this season is no different from the previous ones. You should be the one giving a full explanation of why Lando is so pathetic even compared to 2019. I am happy with Lando's performance, unlike you. So don't shift the blame.

The only difference in Lando's performances can be whether each mistake affects the final result or not. That's all. If even Max has started making mistakes under pressure, and in recent years he has been super stable. What's surprising? Go ahead, give your arguments fully and thoroughly.

[mwillems]

Ahahaha I love watching you two argue

It's a very difficult and subjective answer though. It might be better posed as, should Lando, in his 6th year of racing in F1, be sufficiently be prepared to take a championship level car and get the maximum out of it consistently. And the answer this year is probably Yes. Is he quite there? Probably not.

It's very fine margins, and he has improved. But I was making this point consistently last year... Lando is up against one of the very best, and he has to get close to the limits, consistently, and maximise all of his opportunities if he wants to be a world champion. The person who comes back from a position behind the other cars to win anyway, is still Max, sadly. And it isn't just luck.

Lando, for me, could certainly have done more this year. On the one hand, I look at this like a practise year for Lando, to grow into that world champion elect headspace. But should he need that time, should he already be doing more now?

But it is worth mentioning that the team haven't always helped, nor have circumstances. But Lando also needs to up his game against somebody who will be spoken about in the same breath as Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton. We've no right to expect that from him, but if he wants to be WDC and keep being WDC, there's more room for improvement.

As for which year is the worst for Lando, that is honestly a horrible question with no sensible answer, and would likely see many different versions of the truth contested until the end of time! ahahaha

[LionsHeart]

Ahahaha I love watching you two argue

It's a very difficult and subjective answer though. It might be better posed as, should Lando, in his 6th year of racing in F1, be sufficiently be prepared to take a championship level car and get the maximum out of it consistently. And the answer this year is probably Yes. Is he quite there? Probably not.

It's very fine margins, and he has improved. But I was making this point consistently last year... Lando is up against one of the very best, and he has to get close to the limits, consistently, and maximise all of his opportunities if he wants to be a world champion. The person who comes back from a position behind the other cars to win anyway, is still Max, sadly. And it isn't just luck.

Lando, for me, could certainly have done more this year. On the one hand, I look at this like a practise year for Lando, to grow into that world champion elect headspace. But should he need that time, should he already be doing more now?

But it is worth mentioning that the team haven't always helped, nor have circumstances. But Lando also needs to up his game against somebody who will be spoken about in the same breath as Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton. We've no right to expect that from him, but if he wants to be WDC and keep being WDC, there's more room for improvement.

As for which year is the worst for Lando, that is honestly a horrible question with no sensible answer, and would likely see many different versions of the truth contested until the end of time! ahahaha

Reasonable and sensible.

[BMMR61]

Given the circuit's rapid changing variables in qualifying the drivers had a tough job, and to be fair so did the engineers adapting to each change across the circuit. However there's no doubt in my mind that operationally we are not at the same level as RedBull and Merc. Merc made us look stupid. I didn't see Andreas officially comment about the poor deployment in Q3, yes whoever held the pack up (Albon?) leaving pit lane shafted those down the queue. On a 85 second lap time with 10 cars (9 gaps) there was no excuse for Oscar effectively not getting a lap done. At some stage if this sort of driver behaviour continues there will need to be a rule to put paid to preventing some drivers getting a lap as Leclerc got last week. All in all as a McLaren fan this was a very frustrating session after so much promise. You can't keep arriving with the (equal) best car and not coming away with the points.

[mwillems]

Ahahaha I love watching you two argue

It's a very difficult and subjective answer though. It might be better posed as, should Lando, in his 6th year of racing in F1, be sufficiently be prepared to take a championship level car and get the maximum out of it consistently. And the answer this year is probably Yes. Is he quite there? Probably not.

It's very fine margins, and he has improved. But I was making this point consistently last year... Lando is up against one of the very best, and he has to get close to the limits, consistently, and maximise all of his opportunities if he wants to be a world champion. The person who comes back from a position behind the other cars to win anyway, is still Max, sadly. And it isn't just luck.

Lando, for me, could certainly have done more this year. On the one hand, I look at this like a practise year for Lando, to grow into that world champion elect headspace. But should he need that time, should he already be doing more now?

But it is worth mentioning that the team haven't always helped, nor have circumstances. But Lando also needs to up his game against somebody who will be spoken about in the same breath as Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton. We've no right to expect that from him, but if he wants to be WDC and keep being WDC, there's more room for improvement.

As for which year is the worst for Lando, that is honestly a horrible question with no sensible answer, and would likely see many different versions of the truth contested until the end of time! ahahaha

Reasonable and sensible.

The problem for me is that Lando hasn't come close to maximising his potential. Not all of it is down to him, and that would take some reflection of the season and the races and not just anecdotal recollection, to answer fairly. What I would say is that I'm disappointed we don't have much more, I'm not sure how much of it is on Lando, but a reasonable portion of that responsibility would be.

And for Balance, I'd also say Oscar has been "OK", this year, relative to the talent he showed last year. Tyre management and his racecraft have all got better and he's only in year 2. But it would also have been nice to see a little more from him. But he has not embarrassed himself against Lando, he's stood up to the challenge and given a good showing and to be fair, he was extremely unlucky not to be the one winning in Miami because of luck that favoured Lando, and unlucky not to have won last week when he was penalised in Austria and lost his Q3. Whilst I think it was not right his lap was ruled out, he also needed to make sure it wasn't in question.

[BMMR61]

Ahahaha I love watching you two argue

It's a very difficult and subjective answer though. It might be better posed as, should Lando, in his 6th year of racing in F1, be sufficiently be prepared to take a championship level car and get the maximum out of it consistently. And the answer this year is probably Yes. Is he quite there? Probably not.

It's very fine margins, and he has improved. But I was making this point consistently last year... Lando is up against one of the very best, and he has to get close to the limits, consistently, and maximise all of his opportunities if he wants to be a world champion. The person who comes back from a position behind the other cars to win anyway, is still Max, sadly. And it isn't just luck.

Lando, for me, could certainly have done more this year. On the one hand, I look at this like a practise year for Lando, to grow into that world champion elect headspace. But should he need that time, should he already be doing more now?

But it is worth mentioning that the team haven't always helped, nor have circumstances. But Lando also needs to up his game against somebody who will be spoken about in the same breath as Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton. We've no right to expect that from him, but if he wants to be WDC and keep being WDC, there's more room for improvement.

As for which year is the worst for Lando, that is honestly a horrible question with no sensible answer, and would likely see many different versions of the truth contested until the end of time! ahahaha

Reasonable and sensible.

Much to agree with. For me and watching it confirmed in the Tom Clarkson interview this week Lando wears his heart on his sleeve just a bit much for a warrior. Sure that's why many of his fans love him but his near rookie team-mate will eat him up sooner or later with his quiet, determined, no distractions approach. I was ready to watch Oscar challenge for pole without the weight of expectations on his shoulders. On the positive side, Lando is only just getting the experience of challenging for wins against a world driver like Max, he's still getting better for sure. Great to see how strong he has been week in week out, really since China.