McLaren MP4-31 Honda

[ringo]

Well so far a throttle pedal and sensor issue speaks more to the chassis side of things.
I'm not worried as yet. Ultimately the car just needs to have enough power and deployment.

[Redragon]

Another one of the Rear Wing.
http://img1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/Jen ... 928844.jpg

What's that sensor for? the one coming from the bottom

[GoranF1]

Numbers are delivering!
http://beta.autosport.com/news/report.p ... ce-in-test

[f1rules]

, incredible that Honda dont have clear idea of which direction to take

Is one way of looking at it... Another would be that they're being systematic and making incremental changes rather than massive ones...

well id love to buy that, still you dont see merc and ferrari doing that, i quess in the beginning its ok, but you need choose direction and go with it at some point, but better they verify now then royally --- the concept, would just have been nice if they found the clear direction, with this approach, it suggest they are not totally sure about where to go

[Sevach]

[FrukostScones]

interim PU confirmed

: see Honda PU thread...

[vantage87]

McLaren regaining confidence in Barcelona F1 test, Boullier says

http://beta.autosport.com/news/report.p ... ce-in-test

...
Asked if McLaren's confidence had been restored, Boullier replied: "Yes. All the numbers we've found on the car are correlating with what expected, and if you base your winter work and expectations on simulations it's a good sign.
"It means our tools are working properly, so that means we know the car is better than last year."
...
When asked to give his initial feedback on the 2016 Honda engine, Boullier replied: "I'm not going to say anything about the engine except it was running this morning, so it's good.

"I think there have been some good improvements on [Honda's] side.
"Clearly they are on the right path. They have fixed a few issues that were hurting us last year, so it's good so far."

[Alonsofor2017]

Numbers are delivering!
http://beta.autosport.com/news/report.p ... ce-in-test

Can't read it, what are they saying?

[Thunder18]

Numbers are delivering!
http://beta.autosport.com/news/report.p ... ce-in-test

Can't read it, what are they saying?

McLaren is regaining confidence after its first Formula 1 test session of 2016 proved much more successful than a year earlier, says its racing director Eric Boullier.

Honda's works team completed just six laps on the opening day of 2015 running, when Fernando Alonso was 18 seconds off the pace.

By contrast Jenson Button covered 35 laps in the morning session alone on Monday as the MP4-31 made its debut, and was 2.8s off pacesetter Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari.

Asked if McLaren's confidence had been restored, Boullier replied: "Yes. All the numbers we've found on the car are correlating with what expected, and if you base your winter work and expectations on simulations it's a good sign.

"It means our tools are working properly, so that means we know the car is better than last year."

He described the 35 laps of running - 31 below Lewis Hamilton's benchmark in the Mercedes - as "not the best of the best, but at least we have covered a decent part of the plan".

Poor Honda reliability in the firm's first season back in F1 was at the heart of McLaren's 2015 struggle.

When asked to give his initial feedback on the 2016 Honda engine, Boullier replied: "I'm not going to say anything about the engine except it was running this morning, so it's good.

"I think there have been some good improvements on [Honda's] side.

"Clearly they are on the right path. They have fixed a few issues that were hurting us last year, so it's good so far."

Button hands the car over to Alonso for Tuesday before returning to the cockpit on Wednesday.

Boullier added that Alonso's mood was optimistic going into the season.

"He was in the factory last week and was very happy with what he's seen of the car," he said.

"The trust level with us is good. He trusts the numbers.

"We told him we believe we will deliver and I'm happy now to report to him that the numbers are delivering."

[ElDictatore]

Still impressed by that undercut

[kaepernickus]

, incredible that Honda dont have clear idea of which direction to take

Is one way of looking at it... Another would be that they're being systematic and making incremental changes rather than massive ones...

well id love to buy that, still you dont see merc and ferrari doing that, i quess in the beginning its ok, but you need choose direction and go with it at some point, but better they verify now then royally --- the concept, would just have been nice if they found the clear direction, with this approach, it suggest they are not totally sure about where to go

I don't see where you're getting that idea from.
The term Mark (similar to 1.0, 2.0) already suggests an evolution of one specific concept.

My guess is something like this:

MkI: Put all the basics + major changes in place => check if everything works as intended + reliable
MkII: Add some bells and whistles (resulting in more powwwer ) => push it closer to the limit in small steps
MkIII: Revise MkII according to track data where necessary => go racing

[f1rules]

then i can live with it, the text to me just suggested they needed to verify between two solutions, no matter it seems they made a step

[vantage87]

Jenson Button:
"There were reasonable amount of laps today, in general things have run reliably and smoothly. There are things you have to take time with to make sure you are doing them correctly but things are a lot smoother!"

[GoranF1]

10-14Km/h down on Mercedes power on the straights.

[DarkAlman]

10-14Km/h down on Mercedes power on the straights.

With an intrim engine that likely isn't operating at 100%
Still beats a 30-40km/h deficit