McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[gridwalker]

Given the way that Lewis got outdragged at the start, I think gearing was definitely a factor : he just didn't seem to have either acceleration from slow speed, nor the top speed we expect from a Merc engine.

I think he was gambling on the rain.

[raymondu999]

The DF overrun thing is a bit interesting that you mention. If there truly is a negative correlation between power output and more "downforce" from the engine, It wouldn't matter much anyways. Think of it. If you're getting more df from the engine mode, you can back the rear wing off and get less drag, but have less power. If you don't use it, you have more power, but have to crank on more wing anyways.

[Coefficient]

What happened to the super sharp/hard front, soft rear thing they had going. Not that that was stopping Button from locking up... The harder front should lessen the porpoising.

The harder you go the more work is transferred into the tyres think in extremes -solid front suspension all vertical movement is either soaked up by the tyre sidewall (mainly undamped)or flex...
so if you get a frequency of excitation in your usual driving envelope without damping this will lead to some sort of oscillation ....porpoising or strong vertical movements -underdamped-the amplitude is huge but as the car is changing variables quickly and the issue seems to be only under certain conditions (not on the straight at constant speed)it appears and disappears quickly enough to give the drivers a chance to drive through the phenomenom by the looks of things...like a imbalance in the wheels..sort of.

Yes, the porpoising certainly seems to be confined to the heavy breaking zones such as at Les Coombes and Bus Stop. Often with the cars producing such great forces under braking the actual asphalt surface becomes rolled up in the heavy breaking areas which makes the approach to the the corner bumpy. With the Mclaren favouring a stiffly sprung front end the effect of this will be exagerated causing the car to appear unstable in the breaking zone. Normally the bouncing causes lock ups as the car goes light and then heavy but the Mclaren must have a pretty good heave/rebound set up otherwise they'd be locking up lap after lap and the they'd soon have square tyres.

[Richard]

The McLaren top speed is interesting, Kobyashi was able to catch Hamilton even though Hamilton had DRS open.

I wonder if they put too much emphasis on the wet quali and sacrificed top speed in the race?

[raymondu999]

I don't buy it. I agree with beelsebob and the two of us have been saying that the McLaren wing is super skinny. Comparable to the RBR wing

[SiLo]

Hamilton was clearly running more downforce from the rear wing, Button seemed fine to me. I don't think they had the same setup which was why Hamilton was getting eaten on the straights. What did surprise me however was how he had the DRS open and was still easily caught by Kobayashi, although the saubers where clearly running with the least wing out of them all.

[Richard]

Yup, a car pulling alongside you from 2 or 3 lengths behind when your DRS is open is a bit embarrassing!

[ell66]

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".

No your stll wrong, qually was very strange and hamilton clearly had more df on his car then others, hence his slow sector 1 time and the amount of times he was outdragged in the race. Your comparison between jenson and alonso is terrible, jenson was on the options whilst alonso was on the primes which the ferrari seems to hate when unless the conditions are hot.
I watched the timing through out and mclren were competeive through sector 2 but at no point were they 0.5 sec let alone 1 sec faster as you put it.

[aral]

Yup, a car pulling alongside you from 2 or 3 lengths behind when your DRS is open is a bit embarrassing!

Yes, but do not forget that Hamilton had been behind Kobayashi, and when he opened his wing, was able to pull out and pass him, being with less drag. Kobayashi just braked later than Hamilton, or else Hamilton just thought that he had a faster car and that Kobayashi wouldn't fight back.

[Richard]

No. Hamilton passed Kobyashi on the straight after La Source (1) without any DRS. Then Kobyashi followed Hamilton through Eau Rouge (2,3&4) and had enough speed on the Kemmel straight to catch up.

[beelsebob]

No. Hamilton passed Kobyashi on the straight after La Source (1) without any DRS. Then Kobyashi followed Hamilton through Eau Rouge (2,3&4) and had enough speed on the Kemmel straight to catch up.

To be fair, the Sauber was well and truly wedged in the slip stream of the McLaren, that accounts for at least a DRS worth of overspeed.

[raymondu999]

So who was DRSing who though? Who had their DRS available?

[Mandrake]

To be fair, the Sauber was well and truly wedged in the slip stream of the McLaren, that accounts for at least a DRS worth of overspeed.

Getting close in the Slipstream is one thing, Steering out of it and passing while the other one has his DRS open is another....Kamui was faster without DRS than Hamilton with DRS. Either DRS wasn't effective or Hamilton was short geared.

[beelsebob]

To be fair, the Sauber was well and truly wedged in the slip stream of the McLaren, that accounts for at least a DRS worth of overspeed.

Getting close in the Slipstream is one thing, Steering out of it and passing while the other one has his DRS open is another....Kamui was faster without DRS than Hamilton with DRS. Either DRS wasn't effective or Hamilton was short geared.

That's rather the point though – Kamui steered out of it, got half way along side, and then the drag washed his overspeed off and he pulled back again.

[Richard]

The key thing is that we normally see that sort of head to head result in the DRS car zooming off into the sunset, especially a McL on new tyres against Sauber on old tyres.

Just shows how much slower that McLaren was on the straights.