I'm not even sure it's simply the final 3rd of the race. McLaren are faster right now, this is pretty obvious. But they aren't "miles" faster as some here are alluding to. And that lap 39 to 42 where Piastri is .95 seconds faster than Leclerc, that happened once he passed him and was over 5 seconds behind Hamilton (clean-ish air). He was also significantly faster during those laps than his "faster" teammate in the same car. He was about .85 seconds/lap faster than Norris during those laps as well.Vanja #66 wrote: ↑29 Jul 2024, 17:15True, McLaren are not clearly better than other cars until the final third of the race. Miami to an extent, Imola, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Spa, very different tracks and the pattern is the same. The final third is them being able to push the limit and without the bouncing as fuel drops and cornering speed increase.yooogurt wrote: ↑29 Jul 2024, 14:49Point is that Mclaren wasnt the fastest throughout the race.
At the end? Yes, its not new that with empty tanks their car is the best.
On the 1st and 2nd stint, definitely not, otherwise Oscar would catch up and overtake Charles even before the first pit stop, as he did at the end, and no dirty air did not prevent him.
What this has to do with the date and what the drivers said, I dont understand.
Leclerc started second stint with smaller margin over Piastri than it was at the end. Sainz dropped his times by a bigger margin than Piastri did when he was clear in first stint. If McLaren don't have a good Q, they need to wait and hope for something at the end of the race
I'm curious if it IS something with their energy deployment as Leclerc alluded to a few races ago. Not necessarily illegal, but something different. McLaren tend to have these 3 lap bursts where they seem to be verrry quick. More than a single "recharged" lap.