Is McLaren really off the pace?

[Florio]

Very promising from McLaren. Decent quali, and the race pace is quite handy too.

[i70q7m7ghw]

I was reasonably impressed with how Button recovered from the drive through penalty, the car seems to be a good starting point, lets hope they can develop it over the season and stop Red Bull from running away with the championship.

[Alexgtt]

Yep, looks promising. That was pretty impressive for a car with a lashed up diffuser and exhaust blown diffuser system. First stint was very good apart from the initial few laps when the RB disappeared. The McLaren was closing the gap well just before the first stops. If they'd have got Lewis in on the same lap as Vettel he'd have been pushing him much closer through the rest of the race. And the broken floor didn't help.

[PlatinumZealot]

Very promising from McLaren. Decent quali, and the race pace is quite handy too.

we still need more pace. We can't have Redbull taking all the poles again. 1 second in quali is too much. I'm tired of mclaren chasing.

[snowy]

The McLaren was still around 20 kph slower than the fastest car through the only real high speed corner on the circuit, and that's.......a lot.

Is this true? If so can you point me in the direction of this data or source?

[sriraj1031]

The McLaren was still around 20 kph slower than the fastest car through the only real high speed corner on the circuit, and that's.......a lot.

Is this true? If so can you point me in the direction of this data or source?

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/03/v ... rand-prix/

I think he is using this as a source it says about 17 km/hr and not 20 KM/hr

[myurr]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/03/v ... rand-prix/

I think he is using this as a source it says about 17 km/hr and not 20 KM/hr

The thing is it can't just be downforce or Webber would have been as quick. Vettel was that much quicker than everyone, including his team mate in the same car with the same downforce.

[SiLo]

17km/hr slower than the fastest car. And still the second fastest car on the track comfortably (in the race). Not so much of a disaster now is it?

[Florio]

Very promising from McLaren. Decent quali, and the race pace is quite handy too.

we still need more pace. We can't have Redbull taking all the poles again. 1 second in quali is too much. I'm tired of mclaren chasing.

I don't think we'll see McLaren the ones to be chased this year. They'll be on much more equal terms this year though.

[myurr]

17km/hr slower than the fastest car. And still the second fastest car on the track comfortably (in the race). Not so much of a disaster now is it?

Apparently Vettel was fastest, Hamilton was slower by 17kph and the rest of the field was a further 6kph back. So they have a good car and a good base from which to mount a challenge. There's a lot more optimisation to do on this car, especially compared to the already highly refined Red Bull.

[SiLo]

17km/hr slower than the fastest car. And still the second fastest car on the track comfortably (in the race). Not so much of a disaster now is it?

Apparently Vettel was fastest, Hamilton was slower by 17kph and the rest of the field was a further 6kph back. So they have a good car and a good base from which to mount a challenge. There's a lot more optimisation to do on this car, especially compared to the already highly refined Red Bull.

Exactly, and great choice of words there. Highly refined Red Bull. I don't think Red Bull are going to be able to go much quicker when they are essentially on the 3rd evolution of the car (although it is still very quick). The scope for Mclaren is there, and if their updates actually work out of the box this year, that gap can be easily cut down.

It's the qualifying pace that needs to be sorted really, before the stops Hamilton was quicker than Vettel and only dropped back because he stayed out one lap longer on the shot tyres, then had the damaged bib. I think it bodes well for the team.

[PlatinumZealot]

I tend to look at Jenson's pace when it comes to the car. If Jenson's says the car is good, it's really good. Right now he still has some balance issues with it, additionally the pace is not enough to get Jenson on pole. So you know, we are still waay behind.

[Poleman]

I tend to look at Jenson's pace when it comes to the car. If Jenson's says the car is good, it's really good. Right now he still has some balance issues with it, additionally the pace is not enough to get Jenson on pole. So you know, we are still waay behind.

Funny thing for your theory and for Jenson is that the sister MP4-26 doesnt seem too "wayyy behind"

[Richard]

we

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[Poleman]

we

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Just a passionate way to show the support to the team i guess Common expression in the fan community all over the world.