2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

Doesn't look dominant like in Zaandvoort but it still looks pretty good. But it could end up close.

I still have faith in the team and the car. They were quite stable from what I could eyeball, Ferrari and Red Bull closer to the limit. Not sure about Mercedes.

[_cerber1]

[Macklaren]

Also Norris thinks Piastri is quicker than him (akin to the high speed Spa weekend) and that he thinks they had the PU turned up more than the others

https://www.racefans.net/2024/08/30/nor ... -practice/

i think that is a HUGE clue that Lando is sandbagging since there is clear evidence over the past several weekends that the opposite is true and McL does NOT turn it up as much on Friday as anyone except maybe RBR

[FittingMechanics]

Quite a silly dataset. Perez 3 lap "long run" fastest.

Hamilton and Russel starting super slow and going much faster at the end of the stint.

Only normal looking stints are McL, Ferrari and Verstappen.

[CjC]

Doesn't look dominant like in Zaandvoort but it still looks pretty good. But it could end up close.

I still have faith in the team and the car. They were quite stable from what I could eyeball, Ferrari and Red Bull closer to the limit. Not sure about Mercedes.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... -at-monza/

[CjC]

Also Norris thinks Piastri is quicker than him (akin to the high speed Spa weekend) and that he thinks they had the PU turned up more than the others

https://www.racefans.net/2024/08/30/nor ... -practice/

i think that is a HUGE clue that Lando is sandbagging since there is clear evidence over the past several weekends that the opposite is true and McL does NOT turn it up as much on Friday as anyone except maybe RBR

Mark Hughes has suggested something similar in my previous link.
He said that Red Bull are turned down a little’ makes me think Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedes were all pretty much even on engine mode

[FittingMechanics]

They always say Red Bull is turned down more. I should really go and look it up.

I don't think there is a big difference. McLaren definitely doesn't glory run Fridays.

[Ben1980]

I'm not sure the Mclaren dont show their pace os quite true. Wasn't long back when they said that others got faster and the team didn't.

I think Red Bull will be strong, from the look of it. The talk of their demise is way to early.

[Macklaren]

I'm not sure the Mclaren dont show their pace os quite true. Wasn't long back when they said that others got faster and the team didn't.

I think Red Bull will be strong, from the look of it. The talk of their demise is way to early.

That was probably 2-3 years ago. Not under Stella

[BMMR61]

I'm not sure the Mclaren dont show their pace os quite true. Wasn't long back when they said that others got faster and the team didn't.

I think Red Bull will be strong, from the look of it. The talk of their demise is way to early.

That was probably 2-3 years ago. Not under Stella

Stella's more like a canny Scotsman than an Italian! LOL.

I agree that in recent times McLaren have carried better relative pace into qualifying. Brundle seems to think that Friday has revealed Red Bull are struggling with drivability, with the dreaded snap on both cars. What I saw the McLaren guys were almost conservative on push laps. sometimes not even using all the road. Mercedes are lately very unpredictable, going from uncompetitive to the head of the field and vice versa. It looks likely that at the very least McLaren will be well in the mix. Oscar's fastest lap had a 0.3 "moment" in the last sector - a lot around Monza in this field. Once again judging the track to round thing will be the big equation, with a new surface that is no mean task.

[search]

Also Norris thinks Piastri is quicker than him (akin to the high speed Spa weekend) and that he thinks they had the PU turned up more than the others

https://www.racefans.net/2024/08/30/nor ... -practice/

i think that is a HUGE clue that Lando is sandbagging since there is clear evidence over the past several weekends that the opposite is true and McL does NOT turn it up as much on Friday as anyone except maybe RBR

Mark Hughes has suggested something similar in my previous link.
He said that Red Bull are turned down a little’ makes me think Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedes were all pretty much even on engine mode

Marko says this every weekend, so they just copy his statements. I doubt it's based on anyone else analyzing the data.

McLaren (same as the other Mercedes teams) got a new engine yesterday, though. Often this leads to different approaches than when using an old practice engine. If Norris says they tuned up the engine, I'd tend to believe it's true.

[SilviuAgo]

A lot of debate about packing order in Monza, but not to forget that this track is not a normal one, if you can say this. Is more like Monaco, an one off. Not even Spa is close to Monza. This is the Temple of Speed, where a car 90% of the time is full throttle and you only have to go (almost) straight. This is the reason that Williams since 2022 performed very well here. You do not need DF, mechanical grip, fancy stuff, just a rocket )
Yesterday on F1TV Croft said that if McLaren beat RB here then they can beat them everywere. And this is due to the particular layout of Monza.

So let's wait for the race and enjoy whatever the team was able to put together for this weekend.

[mwillems]

They always say Red Bull is turned down more. I should really go and look it up.

I don't think there is a big difference. McLaren definitely doesn't glory run Fridays.

But the last time that was suggested and everyone got upset, we dropped back in a big way against Merc and RB in qualifying.

In any case, I'd take it all with a pinch of salt. So much more than engine modes, like deployment, fuel, tyre life, setup and how much the driver is pushing, for instance.

[LionsHeart]

A lot of debate about packing order in Monza, but not to forget that this track is not a normal one, if you can say this. Is more like Monaco, an one off. Not even Spa is close to Monza. This is the Temple of Speed, where a car 90% of the time is full throttle and you only have to go (almost) straight. This is the reason that Williams since 2022 performed very well here. You do not need DF, mechanical grip, fancy stuff, just a rocket )
Yesterday on F1TV Croft said that if McLaren beat RB here then they can beat them everywere. And this is due to the particular layout of Monza.

So let's wait for the race and enjoy whatever the team was able to put together for this weekend.

I don't agree at all. Williams had a top speed of 353 km/h, and Albon finished practice 0.8 seconds behind, and Lando only had 345, I think. Top speed alone is not enough here. It is precisely here that grip is needed more than anywhere, due to hard braking and certain corners. Vettel took pole in 2011 with the lowest top speed, and then won a day later.

I will also note that Lando was given a Spa spec rear wing for the second practice. And the front wing is in the usual uncut configuration. So far this only indicates that their package for Monza turned out to be excessive in terms of reducing downforce. If they don’t use it in Monza (which I’m not quite sure about yet), it can be retested in Baku and Las Vegas.

But since top speed at Monza is important to defend your position in the race, I hope the team will return to the package that Lando tried in the first practice.

[Emag]

A lot of debate about packing order in Monza, but not to forget that this track is not a normal one, if you can say this. Is more like Monaco, an one off. Not even Spa is close to Monza. This is the Temple of Speed, where a car 90% of the time is full throttle and you only have to go (almost) straight. This is the reason that Williams since 2022 performed very well here. You do not need DF, mechanical grip, fancy stuff, just a rocket )
Yesterday on F1TV Croft said that if McLaren beat RB here then they can beat them everywere. And this is due to the particular layout of Monza.

So let's wait for the race and enjoy whatever the team was able to put together for this weekend.

I don't agree at all. Williams had a top speed of 353 km/h, and Albon finished practice 0.8 seconds behind, and Lando only had 345, I think. Top speed alone is not enough here. It is precisely here that grip is needed more than anywhere, due to hard braking and certain corners. Vettel took pole in 2011 with the lowest top speed, and then won a day later.

I will also note that Lando was given a Spa spec rear wing for the second practice. And the front wing is in the usual uncut configuration. So far this only indicates that their package for Monza turned out to be excessive in terms of reducing downforce. If they don’t use it in Monza (which I’m not quite sure about yet), it can be retested in Baku and Las Vegas.

But since top speed at Monza is important to defend your position in the race, I hope the team will return to the package that Lando tried in the first practice.

I believe Oscar was running the low df config on FP2 and as far as one-lap pace goes, he was set to be around 0.2-0.3s faster than Lando had he not had the moment in Ascari.

You could argue the low df package makes the car tricky to drive and Oscar actually complained about graining on the long run, even if his pace was actually quite strong early on.

It’s up to them to find the right balance now and whether they can minimise wear with the low df package, because it certainly seems like the faster option.