2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[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.

[CMSMJ1]

Please take this bib waffle to the bib thread - thank you

[Darth-Piekus]

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.

As I am not a steward I have no idea what you have to do to consider cheating. Technically with a loophole anything illegal can be considered to have not enough proof. If you think of it Mclaren was never proven to have used the copied dossier during the Spygate and back then taking information from one team to the other was normal. However that didnt stop Mr. Mosley in almost making a whole team extinct. Benetton while they havent been punished for Option 13, they did get punished regarding the rig. I think its up to the FIA to stop being wussies and start acting like an organisation with rules otherwise they might as well remove every rule and its free for all.

[FittingMechanics]

To get back on team track.

"Norris was optimistic, saying he has more confidence about having a competitive weekend in Austin compared to Singapore where he clinched his most dominant win of the season last month."

When reading the quote I think Norris was saying that last year he wasn't as fast in Singapore (like this year) yet he was better in Austin. So going by that this should be great as he dominated in Singapore 2024.

Quite optimistic from Norris who likes to downplay chances. I think they expect the update to deliver.

[Cassius]

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.

The mental gymnastics to try to explain the last few races with the bib adjustment option is hilarious to read. McLaren has been better at the end of each stint, not just the end of the race. This is due to the balance issues of the RB which crept into their floor since '23 leading to better tyre performance at McL. Also, the stiff RB works when it is low to the ground. When it has to soften the suspension (e.g. in Singapore) the car is relatively high and it loses more df relative to other cars. Hence why early in the race the RB is relatively strong on circuits where it can drive low and hard (e.g Austria) and relatively slow when it has to soften the suspension (Singapore).

[FittingMechanics]

The mental gymnastics to try to explain the last few races with the bib adjustment option is hilarious to read. McLaren has been better at the end of each stint, not just the end of the race. This is due to the balance issues of the RB which crept into their floor since '23 leading to better tyre performance at McL. Also, the stiff RB works when it is low to the ground. When it has to soften the suspension (e.g. in Singapore) the car is relatively high and it loses more df relative to other cars. Hence why early in the race the RB is relatively strong on circuits where it can drive low and hard (e.g Austria) and relatively slow when it has to soften the suspension (Singapore).

Could be. Maybe it's nothing big and Red Bull only used it to make their setup changes quicker. If that is the case great, no question marks over the season and we can continue.

Now let's stop the discussion about the bib as moderators asked us.

[hollus]

Also a gentle reminder that this is the papaya team thread. If your post is only about the blue cars, there is a caffeine loaded team thread somewhere, you can go there (but please play nice and keep it civil).