2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[bananapeel23]

Very good article by Marc Hughes:
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... periority/

There was a moment, four-five laps into the race, where up and down the pitwall there was general surprise that he was pushing as hard as he was, almost two seconds ahead of Max Verstappen by the end of the fifth lap.

Surely he was pressing the medium tyre too hard for the optimum strategy? Except that he wasn’t pushing. He was at this point just waiting for his tyres to come fully up to temperature. Even doing this he was pulling away from the Red Bull at 0.5s per lap. Which in turn was well clear of the two Mercedes.

It was lap nine when Norris was told he could begin to push. He duly lapped a full 1s faster than Verstappen. That’s how far ahead the MCL38 was around here, a high-downforce track where it’s all about balance and driveability.

Ferrari qualifying out of position really flattered McLaren. This win wouldn't have been anywhere near as dominant if Leclerc had been in P2.

Was McLaren the fastest in the race? Probably.

Was Norris 1 second per lap faster than the competition on the mediums because the McLaren had an extra second of pace over every other team? Almost certainly not.

[FittingMechanics]

Very good article by Marc Hughes:
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... periority/

There was a moment, four-five laps into the race, where up and down the pitwall there was general surprise that he was pushing as hard as he was, almost two seconds ahead of Max Verstappen by the end of the fifth lap.

Surely he was pressing the medium tyre too hard for the optimum strategy? Except that he wasn’t pushing. He was at this point just waiting for his tyres to come fully up to temperature. Even doing this he was pulling away from the Red Bull at 0.5s per lap. Which in turn was well clear of the two Mercedes.

It was lap nine when Norris was told he could begin to push. He duly lapped a full 1s faster than Verstappen. That’s how far ahead the MCL38 was around here, a high-downforce track where it’s all about balance and driveability.

Great article, thank you for sharing.

Hungary and Zandvoort were both dominant performances. It has better aero efficiency across the grid but at low-drag the efficiency of the Ferrari and Red Bull is more comparable to our car.

So Stella is saying that we have best aero efficiency overall but when the drag is low, the amount lost due to drag is smaller so the gaps are smaller. Maybe an admission they think the car is fastest?

[Macklaren]

Ferrari qualifying out of position really flattered McLaren. This win wouldn't have been anywhere near as dominant if Leclerc had been in P2.

Was McLaren the fastest in the race? Probably.

Was Norris 1 second per lap faster than the competition on the mediums because the McLaren had an extra second of pace over every other team? Almost certainly not.

Just like Ferrari taking a punt on strategy flattered them in Monza.
It's interesting that rivals thought Lando was pushing too hard at the start when he came on the radio and said he was "pace 6". Similarly when Charles put in the fastest lap, Lando said on the risk he couldn't match that only to go 1 sec faster on the next lap and take it back. I think he had plenty of pace in hand

[Gillian]

Very good article by Marc Hughes:
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... periority/

There was a moment, four-five laps into the race, where up and down the pitwall there was general surprise that he was pushing as hard as he was, almost two seconds ahead of Max Verstappen by the end of the fifth lap.

Surely he was pressing the medium tyre too hard for the optimum strategy? Except that he wasn’t pushing. He was at this point just waiting for his tyres to come fully up to temperature. Even doing this he was pulling away from the Red Bull at 0.5s per lap. Which in turn was well clear of the two Mercedes.

It was lap nine when Norris was told he could begin to push. He duly lapped a full 1s faster than Verstappen. That’s how far ahead the MCL38 was around here, a high-downforce track where it’s all about balance and driveability.

Ferrari qualifying out of position really flattered McLaren. This win wouldn't have been anywhere near as dominant if Leclerc had been in P2.

Was McLaren the fastest in the race? Probably.

Was Norris 1 second per lap faster than the competition on the mediums because the McLaren had an extra second of pace over every other team? Almost certainly not.

I think Leclerc would have been faster than Verstappen over the full race but it probably would have been just a few tenths on average. I don't see how anyone would have been even within 0.5 second of Norris in the McLaren.

[geogate]

The B team in Formula One has been a topic of debate for years. However, I believe that the current circumstances require us to reconsider this issue. There was a time when Formula One was struggling to attract enough teams, with fears of the field dropping below 10 teams. Now, the situation has changed, and it is likely that the number of teams will be limited to 10, despite the interest from credible organisations wanting to join the grid. The sport has experienced significant growth and has attracted a new audience who are deterred by any perceived unfairness.
It is clearly wrong, blatantly not a level playing field
The problem for me is that while for sure Formula one and the FIA could prevent it, legally I don't know if they can change it now ... not without it getting very very messy.

[DoctorRadio]

Ferrari qualifying out of position really flattered McLaren. This win wouldn't have been anywhere near as dominant if Leclerc had been in P2.

Was McLaren the fastest in the race? Probably.

Was Norris 1 second per lap faster than the competition on the mediums because the McLaren had an extra second of pace over every other team? Almost certainly not.

Just like Ferrari taking a punt on strategy flattered them in Monza.
It's interesting that rivals thought Lando was pushing too hard at the start when he came on the radio and said he was "pace 6". Similarly when Charles put in the fastest lap, Lando said on the risk he couldn't match that only to go 1 sec faster on the next lap and take it back. I think he had plenty of pace in hand

Lando cooled the tyres and then went for the FL, Charles did his in a constant push during the stint.
Charles’ FL is actually more impressive, as he was constantly pushing the tyres from the first lap out of the pits; in doing so, he was some tenths faster than Piastri who was also pushing at the same time.

[mwillems]

Ferrari qualifying out of position really flattered McLaren. This win wouldn't have been anywhere near as dominant if Leclerc had been in P2.

Was McLaren the fastest in the race? Probably.

Was Norris 1 second per lap faster than the competition on the mediums because the McLaren had an extra second of pace over every other team? Almost certainly not.

Just like Ferrari taking a punt on strategy flattered them in Monza.
It's interesting that rivals thought Lando was pushing too hard at the start when he came on the radio and said he was "pace 6". Similarly when Charles put in the fastest lap, Lando said on the risk he couldn't match that only to go 1 sec faster on the next lap and take it back. I think he had plenty of pace in hand

The harder the tyre, the closer the performance. Mediums would still have seen the Mclaren drop the Ferrari. But even on hards, pace was comparable with the Ferrari, but Lando wasn't pushing. Quite the opposite, he'd been told just to bring the car home. Charles was trying to get a move on and had 6 lap fresher hards with a tyre delta and less laps to do in the race than on Lando's car. And yet still, he was only able to go a little faster than Lando.

Ferrari was indeed out of position at the start of the race, but was probably around the right position come the end.