McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[SiLo]

Car looked great almost at all times to be honest, real shame about Hamilton being told to retire the car, maybe we could of seen Button AND Hamilton moving through the field!

Pleased for Button though, he had a torrid time for almost the entire race. Kudos for pushing Vettel into a mistake too, he was still driving well within the limits of the car though, which for me is most impressive.

[horse]

They called the downforce level perfect in the end - huh? I suspect they would have not looked so clever had the race been dry.

[PlatinumZealot]

Those time gaps with similar tyres are very rare. The last time we saw something like that was Hulkenberg's Pole lap in Brazil. I don't think Mclaren intended for it to happen but it did! They were 1.5 seconds faster..

Webber and Vettel was on wet setup and so was MSC So this one is a mystery to me at least.

[megasyxx]

Webber and Vettel was on wet setup and so was MSC So this one is a mystery to me at least.

Ultimate sandbaggers and liars?

[SiLo]

I thought Mclaren were running more wing than anyone else? Maybe that's how they got heat into their tyres so well.

[dren]

The Mclaren was set up for the race with their wing. The Red Bull was better suited for qualification.

[aral]

Car looked great almost at all times to be honest, real shame about Hamilton being told to retire the car, maybe we could of seen Button AND Hamilton moving through the field!

Pleased for Button though, he had a torrid time for almost the entire race. Kudos for pushing Vettel into a mistake too, he was still driving well within the limits of the car though, which for me is most impressive.

The car had driveshaft damage, as well as lower wishbone damage. It had to be abandoned, but why park it on track?

[Princey]

It was said that Mclaren had made the mistake of not bringing a smaller rear wing to Canada not just them setting up the car for the wet.. would make sense that Whitmarsh would say it was a wet set up on the Saturday (as you wouldn't want to say we didn't bring the correct wing) and Jenson and Lewis saying that they weren't particularly set up for the wet. worked out pretty well though.. for Jenson at least.. Lewis would have been flying around too I have no doubt the car was suited very well in race conditions.

[hardingfv32]

"I thought Mclaren were running more wing than anyone else? Maybe that's how they got heat into their tyres so well."

What is best for getting heat in your tires? More wing, more downforce creates more heat in the tire side-wall or thread? Or less wing and more sliding?

Brian

[hardingfv32]

"The Mclaren was set up for the race with their wing. The Red Bull was better suited for qualification."

Up to this point in the season,including Canada, RB is setup for both the race and qualifying. Rb is clearly faster in qualifying and at a minimum equally fast during the race. I am talking about average performance for the whole race. Even in Canada, The track position at the end of the race was equal before Vettel's spin.

Brian

[hardingfv32]

"It was said that Mclaren had made the mistake of not bringing a smaller rear wing to Canada "

Who said it, an idiot? These teams do not make those kinds of mistakes. A smaller wing was available if they needed one. They modeled the race before coming and had a clear plan of what they wanted for a setup. Tire wear and grip levels would probably be the biggest variable. Friday practice would give them insight into this variable and whether they needed to make a wing choice.

Brian

[beelsebob]

"The Mclaren was set up for the race with their wing. The Red Bull was better suited for qualification."

Up to this point in the season,including Canada, RB is setup for both the race and qualifying. Rb is clearly faster in qualifying and at a minimum equally fast during the race. I am talking about average performance for the whole race. Even in Canada, The track position at the end of the race was equal before Vettel's spin.

If you think RBR have been as fast as McLaren in the race you're bonkers. McLaren easily had the fastest race car at Montreal, Monaco and Spain (though clearly not the fastest Qually one).

[hardingfv32]

So then this is all about track position? Your start on the pole and you don't need a car equal to your competition during the race to win?

RB's qualifying and race strategy has been going on since the start of the season. They are clearly there at the finish of most of the races. Am I not correct in stating that it is the correct strategy up to this point? Why hasn't McLaren emulated it yet?

Brian

[beelsebob]

So then this is all about track position? Your start on the pole and you don't need a car equal to your competition during the race to win?

Abolutely:

• In Spain Hamilton was closing on Vettel at 1.5 seconds a lap. Track position won the race for Vettel.
• In Monaco Button was clearly faster than Vettel – repeatedly closing in 20 second leads form Vettel after pitting. He just got unlucky with the way the SCs worked out.
• In Montreal Hamilton was all over... well, everyone. Button went from last to first, beating Vettel's raw pace even when carving through traffic, despite Vettel having two free pit stops, and Button going through the pits 6 times. Basically – Button beat Vettel by 2 minutes.

There's no question that McLaren have had the race pace for the recent races.

RB's qualifying and race strategy has been going on since the start of the season. They are clearly there at the finish of most of the races. Am I not correct in stating that it is the correct strategy up to this point? Why hasn't McLaren emulated it yet?

RB's strategy in the most recent couple of races has mostly involved massive amounts of luck, and free pit stops.

We're perhaps getting a decent way off the topic of the technical aspects of the McLaren though. If you'd like to continue, maybe we should get a mod to move this elsewhere.

[hardingfv32]

"RB's strategy in the most recent couple of races has mostly involved massive amounts of luck, and free pit stops."

A) No one was getting by Vettel at Monaco unless they crashed him out. No luck needed there. He could have accomplished that drive on the tires cords.
B) How do we know what RB's dry race strategy was? The tire changes caused by the conditions might not have been the best for the RB strategy.

The point of the comments is to question McLaren's technical choices or event strategy? If RB strategy has them leading both championships, why does McLaren not emulate it.

Why doesn't McLaren sacrifices some race performance for a better starting position?

Brian