Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 2013

[rifrafs2kees]

..hate to be so negative but seems they're back to headlining the trend of making wrong calls....ala sergio and the slicks..

[KingHamilton01]

Martin Whitmarsh is he really capable of running this team......? please comeback Ron Dennis and fix your slowly dying team

[Shakeman]

Classic Whitmarsh, “Jenson and Checo both drove very hard and very well today, in difficult conditions, making no errors, so I want to say ‘bravo’ to both of them.

“As always, Jenson managed the very challenging tyre degradation issues he faced quite brilliantly, his ninth-place finish pushing his career total of world championship points past the thousand mark: a truly remarkable personal milestone.

“Checo made a storming start from 15th place on the grid, surviving a very busy first few corners with an impressive mixture of forcefulness and diligence, and only very narrowly missed out on scoring a point on his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes debut. Believe me, very few 11th-place finishes have been harder earned or better deserved than Checo’s was today.

“Having said all that, a ninth-place finish and an 11th-place finish don’t constitute much of a result by our sky-high standards, and ultimately the 2013 Australian Grand Prix weekend must therefore go down as a disappointing one for all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Our car simply hasn’t been quick enough here, but undoubtedly our drivers and engineers got the maximum out of it this afternoon and you can’t ask for more than that."

I admire his indefatigability.

[munudeges]

I see a MP4-27B on the horizon............

[Anon123]

I felt sorry for Jenson, I know it's only the first race but he thought he would have a very good chance of winning the title with Hamilton leaving, when he was asked "How long will it take for Mclaren to be challenging for podiums and wins?" he just looked lost.

[Shakeman]

Jenson was pleased with how the car felt in the simulator noting it was a step forward from the 27. As Anon123 points out they were quite confident of the step forward with the 28.

This must cast a shadow over the simulator as it's obviously telling them one thing and in practise the car couldn't be more wrong. Jenson's demeanour is telling a consummate corporate man looks lost.

I know there have been calls for the reinstatement of the 27 but who are they going to find to go and tell Ron that? Can you imagine the sneer that would generate?

Joking aside if the 27 was an option, which I don't think it will be, it has to happen sooner rather than later as it will be slipping behind in development as other teams continue their current programmes. IMHO, they don't have an option but to try and fix the 28 and find the discrepancy in their data/simulator which will be a hugely valuable exercise that may pay dividends in later seasons.

Tough first half of the season for sure.

[munudeges]

Jenson was pleased with how the car felt in the simulator noting it was a step forward from the 27.

Their simulator is dead wrong then, isn't it?

[wunderkind]

I see a MP4-27B on the horizon............

And i afraid that won't be the solution. The team needs to find out what is wrong with the existing car.

[Shakeman]

Jenson was pleased with how the car felt in the simulator noting it was a step forward from the 27.

Their simulator is dead wrong then, isn't it?

That's my point. I made this a few pages back.

I think it's one of the more interesting angles to the story of why McLaren are in the shape they are given how successful their simulator testing/development has been over recent years.

That's why they have to continue with the 28 and understand what is causing the discrepancy.

[bhall]

I see a MP4-27B on the horizon............

Not necessarily a bad idea. The rules shift next year, particularly lower noses and the resultant change in front suspension geometry, means there's less to carry over anyway.

[munudeges]

And i afraid that won't be the solution. The team needs to find out what is wrong with the existing car.

I'm afraid it will. By the time they sort out this mess 2013 will be over and it will be all change for next year. They are completely at sea here and the shortest way to solve it is to go back to a known point.

[wunderkind]

And i afraid that won't be the solution. The team needs to find out what is wrong with the existing car.

I'm afraid it will. By the time they sort out this mess 2013 will be over and it will be all change for next year. They are completely at sea here and the shortest way to solve it is to go back to a known point.

I don't like it, but maybe you're right. Bring last year's Brazil spec car to the next race and do a back-to-back comparison with the MP4-28. Racing the MP4-27 might be a short term solution. But making a B-spec out of it is not the solution. The team admitted many times that the reason they went for a high risk design with the MP4-28 is because there was very little development potential left with the 27.

[myurr]

And i afraid that won't be the solution. The team needs to find out what is wrong with the existing car.

I'm afraid it will. By the time they sort out this mess 2013 will be over and it will be all change for next year. They are completely at sea here and the shortest way to solve it is to go back to a known point.

The problem is that it would appear the tools they're using to validate their designs aren't working. Reverting to a previous known car won't help them in designing the new car for next year. They have to sort their correlation between design, wind tunnel, cfd, simulator, and real world performance and that means persevering with the new car. Otherwise they'll just launch next years car with a high probability of having the same issue all over again.

[bhall]

I don't think they just magically sprouted correlation issues over the last year, regardless of whatever Button has said about the status of the 28 in their simulator - he's not exactly known as King Setup, yanno?

They took a risk, one that doesn't appear to be a very wise one at the moment. I think it's a simple as that.

[CjC]

I see a MP4-27B on the horizon............

Not necessarily a bad idea. The rules shift next year, particularly lower noses and the resultant change in front suspension geometry, means there's less to carry over anyway.

I've read that the pull rod front suspension could be a feasiable solution on the 2014 cars.

And i afraid that won't be the solution. The team needs to find out what is wrong with the existing car.

I'm afraid it will. By the time they sort out this mess 2013 will be over and it will be all change for next year. They are completely at sea here and the shortest way to solve it is to go back to a known point.

I don't like it, but maybe you're right. Bring last year's Brazil spec car to the next race and do a back-to-back comparison with the MP4-28. Racing the MP4-27 might be a short term solution. But making a B-spec out of it is not the solution. The team admitted many times that the reason they went for a high risk design with the MP4-28 is because there was very little development potential left with the 27.

I don't know how it'd work within the rules, isnt it 2 chassis per team, per race? I don't know the exact wording but I know the 't-car's' are outlawed.

I think its worth giving Jenson the brazil spec 27 and Perez the 28 in Mal if its possible, maybe China, the reason for the chassis choice that way around is becasue Jenson and his engineers know that car and can have a good base set up with it, rather than Perez having the old car and getting lost with that cars set up, which again was supposedly a 'knife edge' to set up correctly if I remember rightly. This would at least give the team and Jenson a chance to compare the 2 chassis and have one side of the garage scoring solid points (if the fuel pump and gearbox don't break).

I dont think making a 27B is feasiable either, even for a team like Mclaren to run 3 seperate race engineering programs (one working on the 29, one fixing the 28 and one improving the 27), hell I don't think even Mercedes with all the technical directors they have would be able to undertake such a mamouth task.