Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[segedunum]

I knew the other teams would have problems from the begin.

Who cares when you can corner faster? Using the system is about off-setting a disadvantage at select tracks like Monza, but they are few and far between.

I remember months back, some posters were criticizing Mclaren putting testing instruments on the car; saying they were in a bind and grasping for straws because the car was another silver donkey.

I stand firmly behind that criticism. They were spending a ton of time faffing about with a neat new system that at most might gain them a handful of tenths of a second per lap and at many tracks virtually nothing. Gary Anderson in Autosport was also critical of the focus in this area given that Red Bull found several tenths of a second in downforce at Barcelona which is the kind of development reproducable at just about every track. They didn't panic into putting a F-duct on their car. It's a no brainer where the focus on development should be.

Boy were they wrong. Mclaren's in field tests are paying off big time now.

I see no evidence that it is paying off. I would have expected them to be obviously faster today at this kind of track and I certainly didn't expect a Red Bull to be that far up today.

[Ratatouille]

I think Mclaren are just sandbagging, they were probably not even making use of the F-duct in the 2nd practice, and before anyone else says I have no proof of this, I can assure you have no evidence of the contrary either.

(This comment was made to show a classic example of Fanboy language like the one shown in the post previous to mine, please limit yourselves to discuss technical matters that can be verifiable, not the classic " I think this or I think that and I have no proof or f****ing idea of what I am talking about but still it must be right")

Once more, GET A GRIP PEOPLE!!

[De Jokke]

They are not sandbagging:http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 10894.html

[raymondu999]

OR they're sandbagging and lying.
OR they're running obscene amounts of fuel

[segedunum]

They are not sandbagging. They're running more wing and downforce than virtually everyone else and yes, they are using the F-duct, as confirmed by Martin Whitmarsh. Is there any evidence that they aren't?

The stability of the car under braking is noticeably bad. You could visibly see it in Turkery.

This comment was made to show a classic example of Fanboy language like the one shown in the post previous to mine, please limit yourselves to discuss technical matters that can be verifiable

If you have evidence to back up that McLaren are sandbagging or that they're not using the F-duct then back that up, otherwise it is just plain meaningless. It was a legitimate response to someone as to what direction the development of this car has headed in. I'm not interested in people simply not liking what's being written.

[donskar]

IF McLaren is "sandbagging" (I doubt it), then even the drivers have been enlisted in the charade -- both Button and Hamilton were very clear that the car was doing badly in FP2 -- unstable, bottoming, bad tire usage, lack of grip, braking iffy (IIRC).

I expect them to work out the issues overnight and we'll see a remarkable turnaround in qualifying. Not a fanboy post -- I hope I'm wrong and they do poorly!

[dannyteasdale]

Looks as thought they've pulled something out today - Car seems alot faster and Button is saying he feels as though they've made a step forward from yesterday (Source - Mclaren Live feed on their website). Not sure what they were doing yesterday then?
Bad Setup?

[Ratatouille]

Now you can all say what you want, but I told you Mclaren were sandbagging.

As a matter of fact, you will see that even in FP3 they were still holding something in the tank.

So there are your facts [...].

[dannyteasdale]

As a matter of fact, you will see that even in FP3 they were still holding something in the tank.

I hope your right - We need a good quali.

Roll on QF!!

[Mysticf1]

holding so much in the tank that hami scrapped the wall trying his hardest.

but i will say he does seem to have the speed for pole, f-duct is dragging him up there.

[Shrieker]

It turns out McLaren indeed were sandbagging or running huge amounts of fuel -which is - another kind of sandbagging.

You can't otherwise explain almost 1.5s of difference from friday to saturday, or can you ?

[ringo]

I stand firmly behind that criticism. They were spending a ton of time faffing about with a neat new system that at most might gain them a handful of tenths of a second per lap and at many tracks virtually nothing. Gary Anderson in Autosport was also critical of the focus in this area given that Red Bull found several tenths of a second in downforce at Barcelona which is the kind of development reproducable at just about every track. They didn't panic into putting a F-duct on their car. It's a no brainer where the focus on development should be.

The F duct has worked to Mclaren's benefit at every track except Monaco.
The handfull of tenths is enough to pressure 2 redbulls to self immolation.

[donskar]

It turns out McLaren indeed were sandbagging or running huge amounts of fuel -which is - another kind of sandbagging.

You can't otherwise explain almost 1.5s of difference from friday to saturday, or can you ?

Nitrous.

[Ratatouille]

For me, the sandbagging I'm talking about is performed with restricting the engine power, fuel mixture, and of course an extra lap or two worth of fuel. I think we can still see Hamilton reach 1.15.8 or 1.15.7. For Button I am not so sure. RBR still could pull out their magic Q3 warp drive but since I think this one is mostly related to aerodynamics maybe in Canada this will not be a factor.

Of course it all depends if the temperatures remain the same

[Holm86]

I dont think they were holding back yesterday. Look at the speed traps.

Yesterday they just ran a very low downforce today they ran a much higher downforce.