2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

Shots fired! I like it. Let's not bring a mega update and dominate Austin.

It would be quite a let down if Red Bull managed to claw back their pace and WDC hopes fizzle out.

[FittingMechanics]

they won't get a penalty as they fessed up in time. The reason they admitted it was because it would have been found later today anyway, and then they may well have got a penalty had they just not said anything

In some reports they say FIA already was notified in Singapore and that they monitored it. So maybe that's why Verstappen was close in qualy but no where in race.

[MTudor]

I bet that Zak will be so loud this weekend ))

[Darth-Piekus]

Considering that this is their second offence this year and the third offence in 3 years should we expect some kind of punishment? After all it is a clear rule breach with the only question is for how much time did that happen. Remember that Benneton was punished harshly for Option 13.

[MTudor]

Considering that this is their second offence this year and the third offence in 3 years should we expect some kind of punishment? After all it is a clear rule breach with the only question is for how much time did that happen. Remember that Benneton was punished harshly for Option 13.

It's Redbull let's not kid ourselfs ,but it would be funny

[deargodhelpme]

I wrote about it in Red Bull thread but two things make sense. If Red Bull used it it would explain why McLaren had better pace at end of races. McLaren would end up on their qualy ride height while Red Bull ran a better race ride height (quicker earlier on).

Also teams probably can see when Red Bull brought it to the car, if it is in open source documents. I hope we get that info.

Btw I would be disappointed to win WDC through a penalty but then again, a win is a win.

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

[ispano6]

I wrote about it in Red Bull thread but two things make sense. If Red Bull used it it would explain why McLaren had better pace at end of races. McLaren would end up on their qualy ride height while Red Bull ran a better race ride height (quicker earlier on).

Also teams probably can see when Red Bull brought it to the car, if it is in open source documents. I hope we get that info.

Btw I would be disappointed to win WDC through a penalty but then again, a win is a win.

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

Car gets lighter as it uses more fuel. How would the car become lower to the quali height?

[Dunlay]

I wrote about it in Red Bull thread but two things make sense. If Red Bull used it it would explain why McLaren had better pace at end of races. McLaren would end up on their qualy ride height while Red Bull ran a better race ride height (quicker earlier on).

Also teams probably can see when Red Bull brought it to the car, if it is in open source documents. I hope we get that info.

Btw I would be disappointed to win WDC through a penalty but then again, a win is a win.

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

Car gets lighter as it uses more fuel. How would the car become lower to the quali height?

If there such a device that helps in ride height changes, then Red Bull can run quite low ride height for quali (lower than other cars) and raise as much as needed for race to balance the additional weight of fuel.
Early in the race, it would put the car in quali type ride height and allows the car to escape and build margin.
Later in the race, the car would rise as the fuel goes down and car wouldn't be as fast.
Whereas other cars, always have to go with a balanced ride height to cater to quali and race. Which is a compromise. Because McLaren is inherently faster car, when RB20's ride height goes up later in the race, they become slower than McLaren at the similar ride heights.

[SilviuAgo]

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

Car gets lighter as it uses more fuel. How would the car become lower to the quali height?

If there such a device that helps in ride height changes, then Red Bull can run quite low ride height for quali (lower than other cars) and raise as much as needed for race to balance the additional weight of fuel.
Early in the race, it would put the car in quali type ride height and allows the car to escape and build margin.
Later in the race, the car would rise as the fuel goes down and car wouldn't be as fast.
Whereas other cars, always have to go with a balanced ride height to cater to quali and race. Which is a compromise. Because McLaren is inherently faster car, when RB20's ride height goes up later in the race, they become slower than McLaren at the similar ride heights.

excellent!

[Ben1980]

Considering that this is their second offence this year and the third offence in 3 years should we expect some kind of punishment? After all it is a clear rule breach with the only question is for how much time did that happen. Remember that Benneton was punished harshly for Option 13.

The issue is, there is not a clear breach of the rules as no one can prove that it was used in the way it could be used.

And still not sure this is their second issue.

[Ben1980]

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

Car gets lighter as it uses more fuel. How would the car become lower to the quali height?

If there such a device that helps in ride height changes, then Red Bull can run quite low ride height for quali (lower than other cars) and raise as much as needed for race to balance the additional weight of fuel.
Early in the race, it would put the car in quali type ride height and allows the car to escape and build margin.
Later in the race, the car would rise as the fuel goes down and car wouldn't be as fast.
Whereas other cars, always have to go with a balanced ride height to cater to quali and race. Which is a compromise. Because McLaren is inherently faster car, when RB20's ride height goes up later in the race, they become slower than McLaren at the similar ride heights.

I'm not sure they are saying the RB was changing height throughout the race, just potentially, between Qualifying and the race start.

I thought, it waa just about running it lower in qualy then higher fir the race, getting best of both worlds.

[Darth-Piekus]

The issue is, there is not a clear breach of the rules as no one can prove that it was used in the way it could be used.

And still not sure this is their second issue.

Is it not a breach though? Changing ride height under parc ferme conditions as Oscar said? Reminds me of the Option 13 of Benneton. They also tried to cover it up as a forgotten code and claiming never using it but reality showed otherwise. Why even have a system to change ride height if you arent using it. They said the same BS to cover up Ferrari's engine gate. The FIA needs to get a spine and start punishing harshly because so far this iteration of the FIA are a bunch of spineless cowards that cant enforce rules unless of course they are corrupt.

[FittingMechanics]

It is a breach if they changed it. Problem is that no one can prove they changed it in previous races Just like Option 13 or Ferrari engine.

It is a shame but not a much you can do retroactively (maybe if someone testifies). While I agree in principle you can't punish them without proof, FIA should be able to give some sort of punishment (probably financial one) for devices that can clearly be used to cheat. The way it is currently you can cheat but you need to make sure that it is undetectable without new sensors. Once FIA adds the sensors you stop cheating.

[ispano6]

Finally a decent explanation for this. I had been putting it down to McLaren/Lando just managing the stints differently but this would indeed make sense as well.

Car gets lighter as it uses more fuel. How would the car become lower to the quali height?

If there such a device that helps in ride height changes, then Red Bull can run quite low ride height for quali (lower than other cars) and raise as much as needed for race to balance the additional weight of fuel.
Early in the race, it would put the car in quali type ride height and allows the car to escape and build margin.
Later in the race, the car would rise as the fuel goes down and car wouldn't be as fast.
Whereas other cars, always have to go with a balanced ride height to cater to quali and race. Which is a compromise. Because McLaren is inherently faster car, when RB20's ride height goes up later in the race, they become slower than McLaren at the similar ride heights.

No, you've misunderstood my comment. I'm not talking about what Red Bull are doing. My comment was in reply to this.:

McLaren would end up on their qualy ride height while Red Bull ran a better race ride height (quicker earlier on).

How would McLaren end up at their quali height at the end? Does it mean they didn't go as low as possible to account for full weight and acceptable plank wear? You see, this explanation has nothing to do with what Red Bull are doing, and if anything this explanation would imply Red Bull knowingly set up the car to get slower toward the end of the race. I don't see them doing that.

[FittingMechanics]

How would McLaren end up at their quali height at the end? Does it mean they didn't go as low as possible to account for full weight and acceptable plank wear? You see, this explanation has nothing to do with what Red Bull are doing, and if anything this explanation would imply Red Bull knowingly set up the car to get slower toward the end of the race. I don't see them doing that.

Yes, I think you are right. I got that wrong (it's the other way around). Due to weight, they would start lower than in qualy and slowly rise up to the qualy height.

Red Bull could fine tune that, perhaps starting a bit higher than they would with qualy setup full of fuel, this would put them into a better window while heavy on fuel but at the end they wouldn't be on "qualy setup" like McLaren, they would end up higher than in qualy.

This could explain the discrepancy between qualifying and final stints for Red Bull. For example in Imola, Max qualified ahead of both McLarens by a small margin, he pulled away a bit (7s or so) but at the end Norris was much faster and almost caught him. Given how close their margins were in Q3 it is a bit strange but as always, there could be a number of factors like tyres, temperature or just plain mistakes.

I am just guessing how this might work. But we have noticed that McLaren is a good final stint car this year, usually against Red Bull.