2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

His wrong turn leaving McLaren to go to head a lemon project was our gain, sad but true, taking Key with him. We haven't looked back with gains at every turn.

He was gone even if Audi didn't come for him. It was the reason we let him go without a grace period. Zak Brown has stated that the "problems" in the senior structure and how it needed to be remdiated was agreed around the time Mclaren were at Magny-Cour in 22. It was Stella who suggested what the problems and the subsequent fix were, in what transpired to be a job interview for the role of Team Principal.

[willmesquita]

Do you know what's funny to see here in the last few days?

It's just that in the pre-season, before the tests, the optimists here dreamed of a good season with one or two victories, a third place in the Constructors' championship to, who knows, fight for the title in 2025 and start the new regulations on a high note.

And here we are, after half the season, with an occasional victory and a 1-2 with absolute merit, many points scored. Our opponents fear us on every track, and yet the arguments make it seem like the team is rubbish.

Drivers and engineers don't know what they're doing, top management is lost, only the car is good.

[BMMR61]

Do you know what's funny to see here in the last few days?

It's just that in the pre-season, before the tests, the optimists here dreamed of a good season with one or two victories, a third place in the Constructors' championship to, who knows, fight for the title in 2025 and start the new regulations on a high note.

And here we are, after half the season, with an occasional victory and a 1-2 with absolute merit, many points scored. Our opponents fear us on every track, and yet the arguments make it seem like the team is rubbish.

Drivers and engineers don't know what they're doing, top management is lost, only the car is good.

Thanks for the positive observations. Yeah there's a lack of balance in may of the opinions here, and everywhere you look. Even the notably wobbly strategic side, when you look down the grid, there's evidence of it even among the top teams.

Red Bull - allowed undercut (twice) of Max at Hungary
Mercedes - didn't fuel George for the remainder of Q1 leaving him in the pits at the crucial time.
RB - seemingly panicked by undercut brought DR in to pit after 7 laps on medium tyres.
Aston Martin - pretty awful most weekends

So, undoubtedly we've left a lot of points go begging but the others are showing F1 isn't exactly a walk in the park. McLaren have in a sense been caught out by the high rate of development of the 38. Stella said there was the potential for ongoing incremental upgrades. Learning to win has been a victim of the speed of progress.
Oscar's development particularly in race pace is bringing the fight to Lando, the result being the convergence point when personal tensions need to be managed, is suddenly on management.

[MTudor]

Like they said on The Race,this is not the Mclaren of Senna&Prost or Lewis&Fernando where we were used to be on the front and being used to have the presure of fighting at the top constantly,this is a young team with you drivers,young(ish) managementand they will figure it out Ihave every faith in Stella.

[Darth-Piekus]

Like they said on The Race,this is not the Mclaren of Senna&Prost or Lewis&Fernando where we were used to be on the front and being used to have the presure of fighting at the top constantly,this is a young team with you drivers,young(ish) managementand they will figure it out Ihave every faith in Stella.

It might not be but it's on the road to write their own history as the Mclaren of Norris and Piastri by becoming constructor champions and if they also get the double then it will be a message to everyone that the emperor is back on the throne and the natural order has been restored.

[Marc.W]

I have a lot of respect for Seidl, he put a the building blocks in place for where we are today, Key on the other hand I lost faith in pretty soon after the disaster start to the 2022 regulations (which was repeated in 2023) I feel sorry for any team he ends up in lol

[MTudor]

Like they said on The Race,this is not the Mclaren of Senna&Prost or Lewis&Fernando where we were used to be on the front and being used to have the presure of fighting at the top constantly,this is a young team with you drivers,young(ish) managementand they will figure it out Ihave every faith in Stella.

It might not be but it's on the road to write their own history as the Mclaren of Norris and Piastri by becoming constructor champions and if they also get the double then it will be a message to everyone that the emperor is back on the throne and the natural order has been restored.

I like the EMPEROR part

[MTudor]

My thoughts about sunday:YES Lando is 1st driver in WDC for Mclaren ,but when the team said to him,to swap the positions with Oscar,Lando should have said ,OK,NO QUESTION ASKED,if he would have done so when the team told him,then he could have attackted Oscar in the remaining laps and who knows he could have passed him!
And YES the team screwed up by pitting Lando first,because no way Mercedes would have been quicker than Mclaren.

[TeamKoolGreen]

Piastri shouldn't have accepted the gifted win scenario. He knows Lando would have caught him anyway.

Piastri also went way off the track in that first strint. But the crowd is behind Piastri now so it doesn't matter. He makes mistakes and hardly anyone notices.

[TeamKoolGreen]

My thoughts about sunday:YES Lando is 1st driver in WDC for Mclaren ,but when the team said to him,to swap the positions with Oscar,Lando should have said ,OK,NO QUESTION ASKED,if he would have done so when the team told him,then he could have attackted Oscar in the remaining laps and who knows he could have passed him!
And YES the team screwed up by pitting Lando first,because no way Mercedes would have been quicker than Mclaren.

It wasn't a screw up though. They wanted to avoid Lando racing Piastri for the lead. They wouldn't have given him permission to fight anyway.

[Ground Effect]

I have a lot of respect for Seidl, he put a the building blocks in place for where we are today, Key on the other hand I lost faith in pretty soon after the disaster start to the 2022 regulations (which was repeated in 2023) I feel sorry for any team he ends up in lol

Agreed, McLaren have him to thank for the wind tunnel, simulator, factory upgrade, Mercedes engine and signing Piastri. Unfortunately he also pushed for the Audi takeover, and kicked against the technical department restructure.

[mwillems]

Piastri shouldn't have accepted the gifted win scenario. He knows Lando would have caught him anyway.

Piastri also went way off the track in that first strint. But the crowd is behind Piastri now so it doesn't matter. He makes mistakes and hardly anyone notices.

Can't speak for anyone else, but from my perspective I see his mistakes. But I don't expect the same level from someone who's completed a season and a half vs 6.5 seasons.

[McLarenMor]

Weather forecast has the ingredients for a very interesting weekend.
Friday - wet-ish
Saturday - wet
Sunday - dry
Will demand a compromising setup for Quali/Race and green track for the race with little to no information (depending on Friday) on dry tires running.

[FittingMechanics]

Piastri was not gifted a win. He was leading easily for first two stints. He lost the lead due to the team deciding to be extra conservative and protect Lando against 5 second Hamilton undercut.

It is very unfair to call his win a gifted win. In a situation where the leading driver gets preference (over the team), I am 100% sure that Piastri would not let Lando undercut him. Problem with doing it that way is that if someone is close to second driver it can lead to that driver losing their position to the other team due to strategy. Do we want to team to be able to maximize results or that drivers worry about undercut from their own teammate?

McLaren made this a problem unnecessarily but it is good to see that the drivers are smart and fair enough to be able to put the interests of the team (protect driver under threat) before their own needs.

[stewie325]

Piastri was not gifted a win. He was leading easily for first two stints. He lost the lead due to the team deciding to be extra conservative and protect Lando against 5 second Hamilton undercut.

It is very unfair to call his win a gifted win. In a situation where the leading driver gets preference (over the team), I am 100% sure that Piastri would not let Lando undercut him. Problem with doing it that way is that if someone is close to second driver it can lead to that driver losing their position to the other team due to strategy. Do we want to team to be able to maximize results or that drivers worry about undercut from their own teammate?

McLaren made this a problem unnecessarily but it is good to see that the drivers are smart and fair enough to be able to put the interests of the team (protect driver under threat) before their own needs.

Agree with everything apart from the last sentence.

Norris did absolutely nothing of the sort, by dragging out the whole scenario for ages. It was very petulant behaviour, and made a mockery of the team on public radio.

If it was unfair team orders like Rubens in Austria decades ago resulting in that farce, I'd understand. But Norris should be smart enough to know he was only leading because he got a 2 lap undercut completely unfairly to Piastri. The latter was more than capable of keeping the lead if pitted first.

I'm really surprised Norris isn't getting more stick for his behaviour and language on the radio...