2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[makecry]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

I'm scared China could be worse

I fear this too but last year they were good in China before the PU crapped out. Let's just hope for the best.

[McHonda]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

I'm scared China could be worse

Yeah it's hard to have any confidence because of the swing but it wouldn't surprise me if it swung again now. Could be a bit of an up and down run for a while I'm afraid.

[godlameroso]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

I'm scared China could be worse

China is a high downforce circuit because you need good traction, you have to accelerate and turn a lot. High top speed isn't as important as high downforce. The .3 you gain on the straight(there's really only one) is meaningless with the .5 you gain everywhere else.

[makecry]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

I'm scared China could be worse

China is a high downforce circuit because you need good traction, you have to accelerate and turn a lot. High top speed isn't as important as high downforce. The .3 you gain on the straight(there's really only one) is meaningless with the .5 you gain everywhere else.

Well, Alonso said they had severe traction issues and braking as well. Eric said low grip conditions caught them out, whatever that . means. It seems to be a mechanical issue, let's just hope it's not because of the rear suspension.

[johnny vee]

In the race they weren't slower than Renault, they weren't slower than Haas, they were only slower than the top 3. It could just be McLaren sucks at qualifying, maybe Renault and Red Bull can get more out of the engine in qualifying. Could probably explain why they had such better pace in the long runs only Gasley and Alonso were capable of 35's in that mid field group. It seems fitting if TR Honda ends up being McLaren Alonso's main rival this season.

Thank you for this comment. I agree with you. I also saw that Mclaren had very good pace in long runs.
I do hope that they can beat Torro Rosso in the race.

[mclaren111]

Re: 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, April 6-8

Post by atanatizante » 08 Apr 2018, 01:01

This is what Alonso said regarding McLaren`s poor qualy performance on this track and I think it`s the same case for Mercedes: "This circuit requires a little bit different setup concept for qualifying and the race distance, because here the rear degradation is huge … With this type of circuit being stop and go, with heavy traction, corners and things like that, you need a very strong rear end. If you have a very strong rear end then you struggle in qualifying to rotate the car in the hairpins with the front end missing, so maybe we setup the car a little bit too much towards the race”.

Let's see how the race goes. It's early days and it's only 1 qualifying session. Grosjean as well.

Spain should be where we can start judging a bit more critically.

[Alonso Fan]

We're still the most improved team from last year in qualifying despite the lack of Quali pace

https://www.racefans.net/2018/04/08/lap ... rand-prix/

[Ground Effect]

Re: 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, April 6-8

Post by atanatizante » 08 Apr 2018, 01:01

This is what Alonso said regarding McLaren`s poor qualy performance on this track and I think it`s the same case for Mercedes: "This circuit requires a little bit different setup concept for qualifying and the race distance, because here the rear degradation is huge … With this type of circuit being stop and go, with heavy traction, corners and things like that, you need a very strong rear end. If you have a very strong rear end then you struggle in qualifying to rotate the car in the hairpins with the front end missing, so maybe we setup the car a little bit too much towards the race”.

Let's see how the race goes. It's early days and it's only 1 qualifying session. Grosjean as well.

Spain should be where we can start judging a bit more critically.

[dp12]

we know the mclaren is good in terms of race pace and the chassis is also good, and Nando is a god when it comes to starts so we could see a very good battle

[marvin78]

You really know that? From what?

[Ground Effect]

Race pace is better than one lap pace, but is it enough?

[marvin78]

Enough for what? What do you all expect? They won't race for the win and not for podium. They race for points. That's it.

[dp12]

You really know that? From what?

Alonso's long runs

[Alonso Fan]

Enough for what? What do you all expect? They won't race for the win and not for podium. They race for points. That's it.

Yes that's what we expect. A decent points finish

[Ground Effect]

Enough for what? What do you all expect? They won't race for the win and not for podium. They race for points. That's it.

That's what I mean, good enough to get into the points, they qualified out side the points, 2 places below Melbourne. I was wondering if they've got good enough pace to get into the points.

By the way, most people's expectations were raised by none other than Mclaren themselves. They are the ones who talked of podiums, racing Red Bull and leaving the midfield. Fernando said Melbourne would be their lowest point of the season. They talked about reaching Q3 in every race this season, they're 0 for 2. So if fans seem to have too lofty expectations, blame Mclaren, not anybody's fantasy.