Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[wesley123]

mclaren is an team that can do an incredible development phase. We all know that, it is a simple fact. So if they want to head back to the top for this year it will not be a problem, they need to fix their qualifying pace, wich simply lacks a lot. From starting 6th isnt a great position for an race win, so if they can get this right they are an huge contender for the wins. Their pace isnt far behind the red bulls and maybe even faster. What i think is that they usre can go for an 1-2 at Silverstone, It got high speed flowing turns, it is a thing where front end downforce is a must for example, also straight line speed is important too, an F-Duct will help huge there

[autogyro]

I disagree. I think the McLaren is to complicated and draggy.
There is little development left in the design.
In comparison the RB6 has yet to use an f-duct and at Silverstone this will win the race for them.
McLaren needs a big shake up.

[wesley123]

I disagree. I think the McLaren is to complicated and draggy.
There is little development left in the design.
In comparison the RB6 has yet to use an f-duct and at Silverstone this will win the race for them.
McLaren needs a big shake up.

That is true yes. The car is radical in alot of things, most things completely new, this is making the car complicated thus hard to understand. On turn this can cause problems in set ups and a hard to drive car.

The red bull on the other hand was built for development, the car itself is not complicated, only most things are more closely packed.

[PNSD]

Radical?

What is radical these days? The f-duct maybe?

But in terms of looks, last year the Brawn and RedBull looked the most radical imo, and the RedBull still does.

Ive said before, we can judge by looks but it means nothing. Mclaren said at the begining the car has alot of scope for development, and given last years problems, and all the measuring devices they used in testing, I tend to believe them.

Is the car draggy? Well speed trap times suggest otherwise. Okay they have the f-duct, but from what ive read they use it so they can use more wing to get more downforce.

In terms of performance, we should go by Spain, and in Spain the Mclaren was 2nd quickest.

[wesley123]

it is true, the mclarens pace is simply good, like you said second best.

But can we state it is the car or the drivers? The car seem to have a few problems and they might just have a trick up their sleeve.

[segedunum]

The problem is that McLaren have fallen victim to conventional wisdom that you would simply make room for a double diffuser the size of Brazil on the back of your car to generate the maximum amount of downforce this year, particularly with the fuel being carried. The cars would simply be giant diffusers. Mercedes have largely fallen victim to it as well. It was accepted by certain people so much that when the RB6 was launched it was put about that the pull-rod suspenion had gone for a push-rod one to make way for a larger diffuser. Everyone seemed suitably shocked when it transpired that wasn't the case.

It does remain to be seen whether McLaren can keep up with development with the heavy-duty design they've gone for, and even worse it's difficult to see how they can evolve this year's car into next without a double diffuser. They don't appear to be particularly strong on the mechanical grip front either.

[wesley123]

It does remain to be seen whether McLaren can keep up with development with the heavy-duty design they've gone for, and even worse it's difficult to see how they can evolve this year's car into next without a double diffuser. They don't appear to be particularly strong on the mechanical grip front either.

Thats why i said that they can rather discard this years car. Next years car will simply be completely different, probably an red bull pull rod will be adopted etc. The car will not even look like each other, so it would be alot easier to just get a clean sheet wich fixes the problems of the car, after this year rules are going to be stable so it would be usefull to get a good fresh design, they then might not have a good 2012, but then after that they can head for the championship again.

[ringo]

The large diffuser seems to be targeted at the high speed turn characteristics. This is why the mclaren is more like last year's redbull; good at high speed turns and not as hot as it used to be in the low speed stuff.
I don't know how people can judge the performance of the different diffusers though. The Mclaren could have the best one out there; it's the total car that is lacking down force.

The redbull's diffuser is optimised, but it may as well pull the same throat vacuum as the Mclaren's.

One other trick the redbull has is it's length. The longer the car the bigger the floor area and the more the suction. Newey knows this and made the RB6 into a limo.

[rayden]

certainly not true. The RB6 is one of the shorter cars on the grid.

i thought it was the shortest actually.

i'll try and dig up a source..

[ringo]

parc ferme shot would be good.

[rayden]

not exactly concrete, but gives you an idea.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/9435/wheelbase.jpg

taken in aus i think.

[Blackout]

Jerez

[marcush.]

certainly not true. The RB6 is one of the shorter cars on the grid.

and Webber not a small person...that tells us something about Neweys package density..

[gibells]

not exactly concrete, but gives you an idea.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/9435/wheelbase.jpg

taken in aus i think.

great pics. Sheesh the RB and the Renault are short. And by contrast the 25 is very long.

[gibells]

Confusing pic as I'm sure parts are from 23 (tyres), 24 (engine cover) & 25.