Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[McMrocks]

i can't see a Helmholtz exhaust. Have they?

[raymondu999]

Why do Mclaren run the front end so stiff? I know it´s not a new thing.
It seems that it only hurts them in braking and causes excessive wear on the fronts.
and it looked like they had immense understeer with the full wets but that could be temps as Belse corrected me on.

Could they be running an anti-dive system that would be legal or would such a thing be noticable from another teams view?

I think perhaps it's one of the reasons why the car's front looks so mighty on slow-corner turn in. Not sure why it would wear the tyres out though, other than maybe the wear being an indirect effect of the lack of tyre temps in the fronts. Less movement of the tyre (due to the suspension being stiff) should see less heat in the fronts, no?

[GrizzleBoy]

Why do Mclaren run the front end so stiff? I know it´s not a new thing.
It seems that it only hurts them in braking and causes excessive wear on the fronts.
and it looked like they had immense understeer with the full wets but that could be temps as Belse corrected me on.

Could they be running an anti-dive system that would be legal or would such a thing be noticable from another teams view?

I think perhaps it's one of the reasons why the car's front looks so mighty on slow-corner turn in. Not sure why it would wear the tyres out though, other than maybe the wear being an indirect effect of the lack of tyre temps in the fronts. Less movement of the tyre (due to the suspension being stiff) should see less heat in the fronts, no?

It would wear the tyres out more because the stiff springs mean the car is less capable of absorbing any shock. Therefore abnormalities in a bumpy circuit will cause the tyres to lift/bounce off the ground and because of the stiffness. Which in turn would cause the front end of the car to bounce off the ground too. Essenitally upsetting the balance of the car.

This leads to easier lock ups under braking, understeer and the tyres "shuddering" across the track when cornering on a harsh surface.

All of which are a front tyres worst nightmare.

Softer springs would allow the wheels to absorb the abnormalities without upsetting the balance of the car as much. The springs would take the shock without bouncing the front of the car up.

The stiffer springs would however give much better response to initial turn in as the wheels are loaded more "immediately", but the grip through the actual turn suffers as a result.


To counteract the problems stiff front ends give, you can add downforce to the front of the car to attempt to negate the attempts the car makes to push itself upwards during these moments of instability.

Ironically, we can see that after McLaren offloaded a load of front downforce with the new front wing, all these front end related potential problems have become more of a reality, especially on the more abrasive tracks.

[raymondu999]

Yes all true. But I'm still quite sure the fronts will see less heat, and therefore less thermal degradation.

[GrizzleBoy]

Yes all true. But I'm still quite sure the fronts will see less heat, and therefore less thermal degradation.

Less heat could also mean that they don't actually get to switch on the tyres, meaning that simply racing competitively on the tyres will be causing a different type of degradation as they grain under inconsistent load and morph due to lock ups.

[raymondu999]

Less heat could also mean that they don't actually get to switch on the tyres, meaning that simply racing competitively on the tyres will be causing a different type of degradation as they grain under inconsistent load and morph due to lock ups.

Which I did, of course, mention already

[Nando]

Not sure why it would wear the tyres out though,

I thought more of the bouncing causing the contact patch to change which can cause front locking.

Edit: Grizzle summed it up, should read everything before posting...

[myurr]

Yes all true. But I'm still quite sure the fronts will see less heat, and therefore less thermal degradation.

Less heat could also mean that they don't actually get to switch on the tyres, meaning that simply racing competitively on the tyres will be causing a different type of degradation as they grain under inconsistent load and morph due to lock ups.

It was reported that McLaren and Red Bull tend to run the tyres at the lower bounds of their operating window whereas Ferrari and Lotus (I think it was) were running them at the top end of their operating window.

[Nando]

It was reported that McLaren and Red Bull tend to run the tyres at the lower bounds of their operating window whereas Ferrari and Lotus (I think it was) were running them at the top end of their operating window.

In terms of temps?
Would be interesting to know just how many degrees it is in this spectrum of operating window.

[PhillipM]

It was reported that McLaren and Red Bull tend to run the tyres at the lower bounds of their operating window whereas Ferrari and Lotus (I think it was) were running them at the top end of their operating window.

In terms of temps?
Would be interesting to know just how many degrees it is in this spectrum of operating window.

About 5-6 degrees. Hence cars suddenly slowing when the track temp changes!

[Nando]

Good stuff, yea i've noticed certain cars just click mid way through the race due to temp changes.
Hopefully next years tires use a little broader operating window so we can see all teams fight for it no matter the conditions.
I understand it's part of the game to figure them out but maybe it's a bit to extreme right now.

[Nando]

Mclaren i think looked very strong despite the mishaps.
Updates for Hungary?

[morefirejules08]

So now McLaren are competitive again I guess all the talk of a stepped nose will disappear

[Coefficient]

So now McLaren are competitive again I guess all the talk of a stepped nose will disappear

No, stepped nose at Hungary! Guaranteed!

Just kidding btw!

[Huntresa]

Stepped nose in mclaren thread is like the cooling fins in merc thread early on