2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Macklaren]

Turning the page from the driver/fanbase battles, how are we feeling about the team being uncertain about the Austin upgrade? The fact that they are this hesitant seems to imply it's a BIG package (including floor) but surprised at the dithering given how good correlation has been so far. Maybe split the cars in the Sprint and decide after that?

[bauc]

Turning the page from the driver/fanbase battles, how are we feeling about the team being uncertain about the Austin upgrade? The fact that they are this hesitant seems to imply it's a BIG package (including floor) but surprised at the dithering given how good correlation has been so far. Maybe split the cars in the Sprint and decide after that?

Well yes, as both Mercedes and RedBull faced ''downgrades'' when they installed their upgrades and had inconsistent performance due to the same.

However I see a way out of this, they can give PIA the new package as he is far behind Max in the championship, and if it does not work, PIA could be p5-p6 with a solid race, which would not do great damage for the constructors championship, but if it works and if PIA is leading the race and its faster than NOR, then they can switch the positions (in a perfect scenario where the team would be 1-2) but I think it's worth to try as Stella said, we need to trust the development process that brought us here to this point.

[Macklaren]

Interesting that Joe Saward (a journalist that I highly respect) thinks that there is a very real risk of Oscar going to Red Bull when his contract is up and McLaren wants to keep Gabriel Bortoleto close. Intra team dynamics next year will be critical to determining that me thinks

[mclaren111]

Yet the haters will deem that heroic from Verstappen but poor from Lando

I'm not a hater for thinking Lando hasn't done enough in that period and that Verstappen was better at maximising his opportunities. Or is the forum veering to trumpisms whe we don't like someone's opinion?

What is trumpisms ?

[SilviuAgo]

Regarding Austin updates I like what Stella is saying, but I don't like this doubt about if it will work or not. I think you are sure if works when you put it on the car and hit the track.
Now that McLaren is P1 in constructors the fear increased, and they don't want to jeopardies the outcome. But as Stella said, if you are not improving the car the others sure will do it.

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/09/ ... s-in-2024/

"We do have some stuff in the pipeline and obviously when you have this kind of performance on track you always may approach things from a cautious point of view in terms of development. At the same time, we need to trust the process, we need to trust the way we’ve been working so far"

“In Formula 1 I’m not sure you can back off too much because backing off means that the others may catch and we don’t know what the plans of the others are,” he added.

[CjC]

Interesting that Joe Saward (a journalist that I highly respect) thinks that there is a very real risk of Oscar going to Red Bull when his contract is up and McLaren wants to keep Gabriel Bortoleto close. Intra team dynamics next year will be critical to determining that me thinks

I have no doubt Red Bull do.
It’ll all depend on who’s looking competitive in the new reg era though won’t it? Currently you can’t imagine either driver wants to leave on current form but who knows come ‘26.
Aston Martin may become an attractive option once we get to June/ July ‘26

[Emag]

Interesting that Joe Saward (a journalist that I highly respect) thinks that there is a very real risk of Oscar going to Red Bull when his contract is up and McLaren wants to keep Gabriel Bortoleto close. Intra team dynamics next year will be critical to determining that me thinks

I have no doubt Red Bull do.
It’ll all depend on who’s looking competitive in the new reg era though won’t it? Currently you can’t imagine either driver wants to leave on current form but who knows come ‘26.
Aston Martin may become an attractive option once we get to June/ July ‘26

Oscar can go to RedBull and McLaren can snatch Max in return

[Emag]

Regarding Austin updates I like what Stella is saying, but I don't like this doubt about if it will work or not. I think you are sure if works when you put it on the car and hit the track.
Now that McLaren is P1 in constructors the fear increased, and they don't want to jeopardies the outcome. But as Stella said, if you are not improving the car the others sure will do it.

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/09/ ... s-in-2024/

"We do have some stuff in the pipeline and obviously when you have this kind of performance on track you always may approach things from a cautious point of view in terms of development. At the same time, we need to trust the process, we need to trust the way we’ve been working so far"

“In Formula 1 I’m not sure you can back off too much because backing off means that the others may catch and we don’t know what the plans of the others are,” he added.

I have been saying this for a long time. You don’t postpone updates in such a competitive field if you haven’t hit some sort of trouble during development. I hope they are more confident about it now, but whatever they bring in Austin will be quite telling for both this season and the next.

My worry is that they’ve hit a ceiling with this concept. The floor has been exactly the same since Miami and RedBull just took some inspiration from Ferrari in their Baku quickfix.

If they can’t develop this car further, they will resort to copying the competition, who would have more experience in that area.

Plus, if they came with a Ferrari-inspired floor in Austin, I would actually be extra worried for 2025. That would mean that in half a year, they couldn’t come up with anything to naturally progress their car and ended up copying whatever Ferrari brought in Monza to find some performance.

[Ground Effect]

Interesting that Joe Saward (a journalist that I highly respect) thinks that there is a very real risk of Oscar going to Red Bull when his contract is up and McLaren wants to keep Gabriel Bortoleto close. Intra team dynamics next year will be critical to determining that me thinks

To be fair, Joe writes very interesting articles and makes for a very good tour guide, but when it comes to F1 inside news, he gets most things wrong. His last accurate info was the McLaren Mercedes engine deal, which actually was first mentioned by Eddie Jordan the year before. I think it's just him speculating, as usual and applying logic.

[deargodhelpme]

I have been saying this for a long time. You don’t postpone updates in such a competitive field if you haven’t hit some sort of trouble during development. I hope they are more confident about it now, but whatever they bring in Austin will be quite telling for both this season and the next.

But as Stella says, when you have the level of performance they have, you can afford to be a little cautious. They've basically been able to fight for the win at every race since Miami. It's not like they have been in urgent need for performance.

I understand the concern but I'm not that worried yet. Especially since they have shown a willingness to take their time in bringing upgrades already. It's not as if they have been bringing updates quickly and regularly and now all of a sudden have changed their tune. This is more or less consistent with what they've been doing. Plus, whenever McLaren downplay things, it tends to mean good news.

[PapayaFan481]

My take is that they are cautious, rather than worried. I read this caution as being due to how many other teams have struggled with upgrades. As such, the team has made the most of having enough performance that they can take more time being sure they will work as planned.

Of course I could be wrong.

[Ben1980]

Being cautious is understandable, especially at this stage. As they said, it's different bringing a bigger upgrade than many small ones. But, we've seen upgrades not work on teams this season so it's clear why they are cautious.

On the RedBull links for Oscar. I would expect one to leave after next season, and that would likely be Oscar, on balance that Lando is Mclarens boy. 2 battling it out in the same team isn't sustainable. And a reason why it's rarely done. If they battle next year, it will strain any relationships.

I can see Max going to Merc, leaving spaces at Red Bull and Aston ( alonso 2026?) Russell to one and maybe Oscar or Lando to another.

Each team will have a lead driver.

[CjC]

Well considering most will be bringing something to Austin, supposedly Mercedes are bringing a substantial upgrade so as in Stella words, if you stand still you will just be overtaken. McLaren now have the target on their backs so they need to set the pace rather than wait to see what the others do.
Red Bull didn’t bring many upgrades to their car last season because they were so far ahead…. Look how that changed this season

[Ground Effect]

Well considering most will be bringing something to Austin, supposedly Mercedes are bringing a substantial upgrade so as in Stella words, if you stand still you will just be overtaken. McLaren now have the target on their backs so they need to set the pace rather than wait to see what the others do.
Red Bull didn’t bring many upgrades to their car last season because they were so far ahead…. Look how that changed this season

If the car was slow and the team were hesitant about upgrades, then there would be a problem. But the car is working, is fast and reliable, so being cautious isn't a bad thing in this case. It just seems Stella is giving an insight to the team's processes. I'd be personally surprised if they should to COTA without any upgrades.

[BMMR61]

Our competitors have all confidently announced major, or significant upgrades numerous times this year. We've repeatedly heard "we've got it now". Repeatedly the results have been poor or inconclusive. Have there been any upgrade from them which has worked immediately? Every major upgrade by McLaren last year and this year has reaped obvious rewards. McLaren has a car which is always challenging for podiums if not wins. This level of competitiveness could conceivably be eroded by an upgrade - floors seem to be the tricky component in the current rules set.

The dilemma of whether to or when to release the next upgrade is a tricky one. I think they will go ahead with one car at Austin. It's been thus with the big updates as well as being introduced at a sprint weekend with limited time for setup. I think this will put McLaren in charge at the front if history repeats.