2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Alonso Fan]

I see many people referring to Vandoorne's performance as the metric to the real McLaren one lap pace. How absurd... The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver and combine them. No driver can outdrive a car... Fundamental physics...

I agree. We don't even know if Alonso is getting the best out of the car. All we know is he is getting more out of it than Vandoorne. And we know that he often gets more out of cars than any other driver.

Now, how easy it is to extract a lot of performance from a car is another question. This is where the top drivers shine.

[Ground Effect]

The good news is updates are coming over the next few races. There's no talk of needing to unlock the performance of this batch of upgrades or understanding the new car etc. According to Fernando, they work as expected, how much of a step forward is another argument. Further steps forward will come hopefully with these coming upgrades, they're not sitting still. Hopefully, they'll work as well.

[diffuser]

I see many people referring to Vandoorne's performance as the metric to the real McLaren one lap pace. How absurd... The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver and combine them. No driver can outdrive a car... Fundamental physics...

He said that Van and Gastley were equivalent drivers(You can't really compare Gas to ALO) . Therefore It's a fair comparison. It might also be that they were both as good in Spain as they were in Bahrain, the only difference is the upgrade.

[M840TR]

The good news is updates are coming over the next few races. There's no talk of needing to unlock the performance of this batch of upgrades or understanding the new car etc. According to Fernando, they work as expected, how much of a step forward is another argument. Further steps forward will come hopefully with these coming upgrades, they're not sitting still. Hopefully, they'll work as well.

Apparently substantial ones in Monaco and Canada. Excited to see what they are. I reckon the bargeboards and maybe rear wing too. I believe in the next 2 to 3 races they'l complete the initial phase of the new design philosophy they've embarked upon this year which is utilizing the diffuser and floor more. Maybe that'l help them be clear of or at least be on par with the 4th quickest team.

[Nuvolari]

According to Fernando, they work as expected, how much of a step forward is another argument. Further steps forward will come hopefully with these coming upgrades, they're not sitting still. Hopefully, they'll work as well.

I think we will only truly get an idea of how much the package has improved performance in the coming races. The pole position time improved by 3.91% compared to last year at Spain. This is unlike other tracks this year:

Pole position improvement in 2018 vs 2017

Australia -1.18%
Bahrain -0.92%
China -0.64%
Baku +0.89%
Spain -3.91%

Baku was slower than last year. We know that the McLaren package was an average of 2.5% slower than P1 in the previous races, and at Spain they have closed that gap to 1.99%:

McLaren gap to Pole position in 2018

Australia +2.91%
Bahrain +2.50%
China +2.29%
Baku +2.42%
Spain +1.99%

Given how difficult it was with the tyres, and how much they will have learned about the car during the weekend and the tests to follow, I think they will find more time. So, Mercedes have improved by 3.91% vs their 2017 time, Ferrari by 3.79% and RB improved 3.76%. McLaren improved 4.1%, and that is a net 0.3% catching up to the front runners.

It isn't a huge leap forward, but I think the relative improvement will show to be bigger in the following races as the front of the field won't move as much forward as Spain with the special tyres and new asphalt.

[RonDennis]

Aero also isn't their only problem. According to Brundle the car didn't look good at the chicane (S3).

[kfrantzios]

I see many people referring to Vandoorne's performance as the metric to the real McLaren one lap pace. How absurd... The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver and combine them. No driver can outdrive a car... Fundamental physics...

He said that Van and Gastley were equivalent drivers(You can't really compare Gas to ALO) . Therefore It's a fair comparison. It might also be that they were both as good in Spain as they were in Bahrain, the only difference is the upgrade.

Assumption + Guessing + Speculation = Bullshit.

Please guys this is F1Technical not a random Facebook fan page.

[dr_cooke]

I see many people referring to Vandoorne's performance as the metric to the real McLaren one lap pace. How absurd... The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver and combine them. No driver can outdrive a car... Fundamental physics...

Actually: "The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver ON CONSTANT SETUP and combine them". You can't mix different sectors made on different setups and then combine them. Well, you can, but you'd get an unachievable lap time

[dimensi]

Top speed still an issue. Seems to be...THE issue

http://www.f1i.com/news/303594-barcelon ... stest.html

It similar with other Renault teams ...

[kfrantzios]

I see many people referring to Vandoorne's performance as the metric to the real McLaren one lap pace. How absurd... The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver and combine them. No driver can outdrive a car... Fundamental physics...

Actually: "The best approach to determine maximum performance of the car is to take the best sectors of the fastest driver ON CONSTANT SETUP and combine them". You can't mix different sectors made on different setups and then combine them. Well, you can, but you'd get an unachievable lap time

Actually: on constant setup, no weather variation, no tyre degradation no fuel variation etc etc..
I just wanted to state the obvious

[Ground Effect]

Aero also isn't their only problem. According to Brundle the car didn't look good at the chicane (S3).

I heard him say that, but strangely Alonso had the best S3 time amongst the midfield teams in Q3, pretty close between him, Carlos & KMag, but Fernando just edged it.

[Andres125sx]

I really think the step forward this upgrade brought was smaller than expected but:

1- Top speed (drag) looks solved now, pretty similar to other Renault teams
2- A new concept does need some time to extract its full potential
3- If we believe Newey words, PP is a very methodical person who makes small steps at once. EB is saying they will bring updates in next two races, so I´d say what we saw in Spain (Spain bastards, what the hell are you doing playing the catalonian anthem??? This people can´t differ between sport and politics...) was just the base, not the whole new car and we should expect similar steps forward in next GPs

Not sure the drag problem is solved because Alonso mentioned after the race (on team website race review) he couldn't get past Leclerc because they still lack speed on straights

Sauber use Ferrari PU so assuming that speed difference was due to Mclaren drag is a bit biased I´m afraid

[Andres125sx]

Top speed still an issue. Seems to be...THE issue

http://www.f1i.com/news/303594-barcelon ... stest.html

Did you bother to compare with other RENAULT engines?

Speed trap: 5 kmh down fastest Renault powered car
Finish line: 1km/h down
i1: 1 km/h down
i2: Alonso is the fastest Renault powered car, 5km/h faster than next Renault powered car

What issue are you talking about?

Edit: just to clarify, the issue is obvious, but the problem comes from Renault PU wich are all of them at the bottom of the charts, not from McLaren drag wich look solved after the upgrade

[604gtir]

I feel like the top 3 have their advantages over all other teams is down to suspension and wing flex. I'm probably wrong, but its my gut feeling where the mclaren is lacking.

Does anyone know if the mclaren has a hydraulic heave damper? RB, Merc and ferrari seem to have very advanced hydraulic heave dampers.
Also does anyone know if mclaren or has an onboard of the mclaren front wing at speed? Ferrari seem to be able to achieve quite a bit of flex while still passing scrutineering (https://streamable.com/c97zs)

[RonDennis]

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has dismissed suggestions that he could be stepping down at the Woking-based outfit anytime soon.

McLaren's fortunes have greatly improved this season following its switch from Honda to Renault power. But the team's inability to challenge the front-runners despite its pre-season confidence has pundits suggesting that Boullier's executive role could be in jeopardy.

McLaren recently parted ways with its chief technical officer Tim Goss, but any reshuffling at the top likely won't include Boullier's demotion, according to the man himself.

Spanish GP weekend confirms McLaren improvement - Alonso
"Yes, I believe it," Boullier said in Spain when asked if he still believed he could steer McLaren back to the top end of the grid.

"In the past I have managed, revitalised and restructured several teams, and I have won with all of them in all categories, I know my job, we have to make sure that we can do it."

Boullier hinted that further changes could be in the works at Woking if it meant improving the squad's performance level.

"I believe in the people we have, I believe in the managers, you always want strong leadership, good combination, be as flexible as possible, they look like generic words, but we do have to address our issues if we think we have left some.

http://www.f1i.com/news/303875-no-stepp ... laren.html

I feel like the top 3 have their advantages over all other teams is down to suspension and wing flex. I'm probably wrong, but its my gut feeling where the mclaren is lacking.

Does anyone know if the mclaren has a hydraulic heave damper? RB, Merc and ferrari seem to have very advanced hydraulic heave dampers.
Also does anyone know if mclaren or has an onboard of the mclaren front wing at speed? Ferrari seem to be able to achieve quite a bit of flex while still passing scrutineering (https://streamable.com/c97zs)

They have quite a different rear suspension compared to the others.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13458 ... suspension