Is McLaren really off the pace?

[CHT]

Mclaren has definitely make a big step forward since winter testing, but lets not forget that there is still a big 0.8sec gap between Mclaren and RBR qualifying pace. As for race pace, I think no one can really tell if Vettel was really pushing to the limit or was he controlling his race. Ultimately, Vettel still finish the race about 22 sec ahead of Lewis, and that is a clear indication of RBR race pace.

IMO Ferrari and Merc failure to delivery might have clouded the fact that Mclaren is still off the pace relative to RBR. I am sure things will look very different if Ferrari and Merc were at the same pace as Mclaren. Then again, it also depends on who you choose to measure against Mclaren.

I would think the result of Sepang (if it doesnt rain) will give us a better indication of the current pecking order

[raymondu999]

Yeah. Sepang is more of an aero-efficiency circuit. With slow and fast corners, and long straights, is more of an allaround test. Similar to the makeup of Barcelona. Barcelona really just has 2 fast corners, then open-exiting chicanes like 6/7, 1/2. It's not a very good "all-around" test of a car

[CHT]

Helmut Marko said that even without the system the RB7 could go quicker than it did in Australia, with Vettel pacing himself throughout the race.

"Sebastian based himself on his opponents, setting his pace according to the competition -- especially Hamilton," Marko told RTL. "We just wanted the gap for a pitstop or in case the safety car came out. In the end he was just protecting the tyres. We still have some more in it (the car)."

[myurr]

Don't forget that Hamilton was also slowed because of him damaged splitter.

At the end of the first stint he'd closed up within 2 seconds of Vettel. SB certainly didn't have anything in reserve in that stint, and Lewis was starting to reel him in again in the second stint when the car broke.

I don't think McLaren have the measure of Red Bull in the race just yet, but I think they can run them quite close and there is clearly a lot more to come from their car.

[CHT]

Don't forget that Hamilton was also slowed because of him damaged splitter.

At the end of the first stint he'd closed up within 2 seconds of Vettel. SB certainly didn't have anything in reserve in that stint, and Lewis was starting to reel him in again in the second stint when the car broke.

I don't think McLaren have the measure of Red Bull in the race just yet, but I think they can run them quite close and there is clearly a lot more to come from their car.

Lewis obviously tried too hard to close in on vettel and thats why he broke his floor isnt it?

Just curious how could you be so certain that Vettel was pushing his car to the limit, during the first and second stint? What about the 3.2 sec gap between vettel and lewis after just 3 laps?

[marcush.]

the Marko remark in RTL interview with Niki Lauda was a bit forced by Lauda playing the austrian national card...Marko wanted to tell the world they are fine and no one will be able to catch them ...the same pattern we see from Vettel...
How many times did we see people fall flat on their face going into seasons with a massive advantage only to drop the ball somewhere...I would not air such silly things after a race but talk about the issues instead of talking about the advantage they got in hand...Do they think Mclaren will give up ,or Ferrari and accept to be second or third? Need only to look as far as Webber to clearly see defeat and loss is waiting just around the corner...
Mclren is a lot closer to RedBull than we could have hoped for in winter testing.It is well possible that again their concept is leaning more towards the low drag concept at the expense of some downforce.I would not even think it is peak downforce they lack but their car too pitch sensitive in downforce generation and being able to control the platform ?how much is potential of the bendy wing alone ? maybe they bend the tray as well now and it snapped because of this..

[Shakeman]

Don't forget that Hamilton was also slowed because of him damaged splitter.

At the end of the first stint he'd closed up within 2 seconds of Vettel. SB certainly didn't have anything in reserve in that stint, and Lewis was starting to reel him in again in the second stint when the car broke.

I don't think McLaren have the measure of Red Bull in the race just yet, but I think they can run them quite close and there is clearly a lot more to come from their car.

Lewis obviously tried too hard to close in on vettel and thats why he broke his floor isnt it?

Just curious how could you be so certain that Vettel was pushing his car to the limit, during the first and second stint? What about the 3.2 sec gap between vettel and lewis after just 3 laps?

There's simply not enough information to judge why Vettel pulled out that lead as it could've been Lewis looking after tires early on or it was indeed raw pace.

I think tyre strategy is still in its embryonic state but there's no denying Lewis was catching Seb until the failure took him off the road. The floor had gone prior to him going off. It could be McLaren see the latter stage of the tyre stint as an overtaking opportunity rather than at the beginning with heavy fuel.

It's a shame Lewis had damage because it robbed us the opportunity of knowing where the cars stand over a full race distance.

[Hangaku]

Lewis obviously tried too hard to close in on vettel and thats why he broke his floor isnt it?

I was curious as to why his bib broke the way it did. During the race, Martin Brundle said that the titanium strip was missing, but looking at pre-season testing, there is no vertical retaining strip on the McLaren, like there is on the Red Bull.

It might be a bit of a design flaw, rather than something that happened purely due to riding the curbs too hard.

On another note, I find F1 quite funny. All through pre-season, everyone says "you can't tell real pace, this is pre-season, people are sandbagging, wait until the first race". Then after the first race, everyone is saying "wait until Sepang, Melbourne isn't a real race circuit, a jelly monster jumped onto the track and disrupted airflow, so we don't know the real pace..."

The only point in the season when we know real pace (for sure), is when someone wins a championship

[Just_a_fan]

Just curious how could you be so certain that Vettel was pushing his car to the limit, during the first and second stint? What about the 3.2 sec gap between vettel and lewis after just 3 laps?

I think this is one of the ways that Hamilton has adapted to F1. When he started in F1 he was flat out from the first lap and ended up having tyre issues. He's famous for destroying tyres because of that. But he doesn't destroy tyres these days - and that's because he's learned to be gentle for the first few laps on new tyres. We often see it after pitstops too - he's not as quick as you might expect on fresh rubber. The result is that he then gets more out of the tyres later in the stint.

Vettel can get away with going flat out from the off because the car has sufficient pace in hand. Given the need to run against a similarly paced opponent he might find he needs to adapt his tyre care or risk losing out over the course of a stint because the tyres go off quicker.

[myurr]

Don't forget that Lewis also lost a good couple of seconds off the line and having to get back past Webber in the first corner. Vettel already had most of his initial lead at that point.

He pulled out another second give or take over the next lap, but from there on in Hamilton pegged the gap and then started to reel him in as the tyres starting coming his way. Vettel would have run the first stint as fast as he could, not in absolute pace but in terms of overall pace during the stint as a whole, as Lewis was too close to not be a threat. In the second stint again McLaren were starting to catch up and probably would have been able to be more aggressive in the final stint but unfortunately the car broke so we have no real idea.

Do I think Lewis would have won the race without the damage to his car? Probably not, but I think he would have finished the race within 5 seconds or so of Vettel, and that gives me hope for the races where tyre wear is going to be much higher.

[feynman]

I think it's obvious no-one, including McLaren knew exactly what was going to happen with the tyres. It was all finger in the wind stuff.

Vettel took off yes ... and paid the price for it later. To pull out 3 seconds in the first coupla laps, and be only 1.2 secs ahead at your pitstop tells us pretty much everything we need to know about how aggrieved the tyres felt.

No-one with a supposed 0.8 secs per lap advantage ever lets a timegap drop to less than a dropped wheelnut if they can possibly help it.

It's also pretty clear McLaren weren't totally 100% confident in 2 stops, softly softly, didn't want to risk a late third stop, evidenced by their lack of aggression on the undercut.

Would have been very interesting and revealing to see how it eventually unfolded, but the floor it seems had other ideas.

[ringo]

Lewis obviously tried too hard to close in on vettel and thats why he broke his floor isnt it?

The floor broke right before he came onto the main straight before starting the lap he went onto the grass.
It happened right before he went on the curb that Sutil spun on.
I don't know if anyone saw the replay, but the car touch the ground, then there were sparks and then the car rebounded but the floor stayed down.
So i would say it was part failure.
If he hit a curb it may have been between the second to last and last turns. But i doubt it, since the bib just collapsed by itself.

[raymondu999]

If anything it seemed to me more like a reliability thing on the car's part and not Lewis's part. I mean, this IS the first racing distance either chassis has done.

[Poleman]

If anything it seemed to me more like a reliability thing on the car's part and not Lewis's part. I mean, this IS the first racing distance either chassis has done.

+1 on that!Although i had my doubts before the lights went off, surprisingly the car held up together in a race distance which wsa a nice thing to see.

[Richard]

The furtherst they'd run in winrer testing before breaking down was just 18 laps!