McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[raymondu999]

I think he means the car overall doesn't have very good downforce efficiency (not saying it's true, but that's what I think he's saying) but they ran with a wing level that was too high

[beelsebob]

But a simple static two-plane RW would be, no? Or a simple static single wing for that matter.

I don't get how Lewis could say after the race they had too much df on when their wing was super skinny

Yes, static two or one plane wings are both fine – you're allowed at most 2 planes, and the rearward and upper ward one must be shorter than the other. The DRS flap is defined to be the rearward and upper ward one, because of that, you can't have a single DRS flap (because it would be longer than the non-existent other flap), but you could have a single static wing.

[Richard]

I think he's saying that he'd have like more straight line speed. Not sure he'd be happy with the resulting loss of traction. Clearly the combined package was better than Ferrari so perhaps this is just a driver who didn't win saying he wanted a faster car.

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I did notice the McLaren lower top speed, it could be due to the gearing as well as drag.

[beelsebob]

I think he's saying that he'd have like more straight line speed. Not sure he'd be happy with the resulting loss of traction. Clearly the combined package was better than Ferrari so perhaps this is just a driver who didn't win saying he wanted a faster car.

I think he's saying "Hey, the red bulls were wayyyyyy faster down the straight than us", and assumed that they were faster in the middle sector too. In fact, the McLaren was generally about 0.5 to 1 seconds faster in the middle sector. The problem they have is that that looked like about the least downforce/drag you could make the McLaren actually have. At Monza, they need less drag, so they might have a problem.

[myurr]

I did notice the McLaren lower top speed, it could be due to the gearing as well as drag.

Could also be because of the blown exhaust, with their particular solution sapping more HP from the engine. Their car was quickest through sector 2 in qualifying, and Button's car look absolutely planted in the race, so they definitely seemed to have more down force than the others.

[raymondu999]

To be fair it looks like the Red Bull is about as backed off in terms of RW as it can get too. But if McL is running its least drag package, and you can't make it have any more top speed, and similar with the RB, then ironically the RB should be faster in Monza

[astracrazy]

i think they should try and scrap this short drs. It doesn't seem to work for them. Try and make the normal drs much flatter?

[raymondu999]

What do you mean by make the normal DRS "flatter?"

[beelsebob]

What do you mean by make the normal DRS "flatter?"

I think he means "give it a shorter chord and a shallower main plane" wait... that's what they did >.>

[myurr]

i think they should try and scrap this short drs. It doesn't seem to work for them. Try and make the normal drs much flatter?

They can't within the rules. The size of the gap between the two planes is limited - the shorter chord of the top flap is what is allowing it to move through a greater angle within that allowed distance. So you can either have a long chord flap and have it only move a few degrees, or you can have a short chord and have it rotate further.

It's also crazy to say scrap this or scrap that. Lewis had good pace and was definitely a contender for the podium or possibly even the win. Don't forget that Vettel benefitted massively from the safety car coming out giving him a free pitstop that alleviated his tyre wear issues.

So yes he was mugged early on in the race because of the straight line speed, but overall his pace was very good once the racing had settled down and he had much better tyre wear than the Red Bulls and better pace than the Ferrari.

[ell66]

I think he's saying that he'd have like more straight line speed. Not sure he'd be happy with the resulting loss of traction. Clearly the combined package was better than Ferrari so perhaps this is just a driver who didn't win saying he wanted a faster car.

I think he's saying "Hey, the red bulls were wayyyyyy faster down the straight than us", and assumed that they were faster in the middle sector too. In fact, the McLaren was generally about 0.5 to 1 seconds faster in the middle sector. The problem they have is that that looked like about the least downforce/drag you could make the McLaren actually have. At Monza, they need less drag, so they might have a problem.

did even watch the live timings? at no point was lewis or jenson 0.5-1sec faster in the middle sector.
fact is lewis ran to much df and got mugged at he start of the race. jeson hd an ideal set up and i think theyl be just fine for monza.

[beelsebob]

did even watch the live timings? at no point was lewis or jenson 0.5-1sec faster in the middle sector.
fact is lewis ran to much df and got mugged at he start of the race. jeson hd an ideal set up and i think theyl be just fine for monza.

Yes, yes I did, and yes they were. The only driver to get within 0.5 seconds of Hamilton's Q3 middle sector was vettel, and even he was slower. This was also the first time that any driver had got within 0.5 - vettel's other laps had significantly slower middle sectors. Vettel made all his time on Hamilton in the first sector. http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1 ... ectors.pdf. During the closing laps, button was closing 0.1 on Alonso in the first sector, 0.3 in the final sector, and between 0.7 and 1.1 in the middle sector.

Listen from 2:17.0 here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... rand_Prix/ Oh look "Button has gained 7 tenths on him, just on the downhill sector alone".

[Lycoming]

I think they can shed drag enough for spa, front wing is adjustable too, even if they cant make the rear wing skinnier. they just didn't get the right setup here. Button was 318 km/h with DRS open at the end of kemmel, that should be enough potential for monza.

[raymondu999]

Beelsebob is saying that they might have hit the stops (maxed out their low-drag package) to hit that 318 though. Monza is typically around 335-340 range. Unless you're Jenson Button and it's the year 2010.

Front wing also typically doesn't do much in terms of drag reduction. It helps, but not by much at all

[Owen.C93]

Was it a DF or gearing issue though? Lewis couldn't even out drag a Sauber with DRS open! I don't know, maybe McLaren will have a bit more power in Monza with not needing the overrun for DF so much as in Spa.