2019 Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[Xero]

OK, I can understand this, but still, how did Friday pace fade away?

The car setup didn't respond well to the higher temperatures from Saturday on.

[SmallSoldier]

I believe it is a better result than expected... Before the weekend even started the team came in thinking that they were probably the fifth team in this track, behind Haas and with the rest of the midfield really close.

Practice seemed to corroborate that and going into Qualy, 9th and 10th were probably the target positions.

At the start of the race, Lando was unlucky and drop a lot on the first lap, Carlos on the other hand even with a good start couldn’t take advantage and place the car on the right spot to take advantage of it.

The pace probably suffered because of higher track temperatures, rear grip was missing and been stocked in the train of cars didn’t help... If the strategy was a one stop, like mentioned during the team stream, it is understandable that they were keeping distance with the cars in front and saving tires instead of engaging on battles that could have reduced tire life even more.

All in all, the 8th position and 4 points are better than expected and really positive if the goal is to maintain 4th in the championship given that Racing Point didn’t scored today.

The next 3 races are really the key ones for me, after Spain, we stopped really scoring in the Championship last season, with 0 points in Monaco, Canada and France... If the team scores in those races, the season should end better than the previous one.


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[FittingMechanics]

Plan A was surely to go one stop. Team messages seem to show that.

"15:59
PIT NOR
Car directly ahead is STR. He's on Soft so he will two-stop. Ahead of him is PER and RIC. We think they will go to the end, so we are racing them."

Now it is a whole other issue whether they would have been able to make the tires last to the end, but it is obvious that was their plan. Whether others around us planned to pit is hard to tell, lot of them were in a similar situation having use two compounds already so they could have gone to the end as well (if the tires lasted).

[charliesmithhd]

Plan A was surely to go one stop. Team messages seem to show that.

"15:59
PIT NOR
Car directly ahead is STR. He's on Soft so he will two-stop. Ahead of him is PER and RIC. We think they will go to the end, so we are racing them."

Now it is a whole other issue whether they would have been able to make the tires last to the end, but it is obvious that was their plan. Whether others around us planned to pit is hard to tell, lot of them were in a similar situation having use two compounds already so they could have gone to the end as well (if the tires lasted).

this may be some of the cause of the pace deficit, the mclaren drivers may have been told to target a specific lap time, which would have been slower than 2 stopping team's laptime targets

[_cerber1]

A positive moment, Renault looks like he managed to solve his problems with PU.

[Ground Effect]

P1 & P2 in fastest pit stop, never thought I’d see the day.....

[mwillems]

A good result for us today, all said and done.

I'd said after race two that this track and Monaco are the two early tracks where we'd struggle, particularly Monaco. To have got a decent position and to be in 4th still, with one more tricky race to go before we head to tracks that our car will favour, is not a bad position. I believe that we will consolidate 4th position in the races that follow, and reasonably comfortably too.

As for the updates, time will tell to see how the work for us. To the poster who stated that this is not a philosophy change, I tend to agree. It is just a more extreme version of what we already had.
But I do get the feeling that the Merc and RBR solution may well work better so I have mixed feelings here. Not sure right now if we have moved sideways or forwards, but the team seem positive.

[Chicane]

A case of missing the wood for the trees is going on. Sainz was good in S1, decent in S2 which are aero dependent and which are the sectors the 'aero' upgrades largely influence. Sainz clearly mentions he was suffering from lack of rear grip in S3, a sector made up of slow twisty stuff needing good mechanical grip. To improve speed in low speed corners Mclaren has to bring mechanical upgrades. Not saying Aero does not make any difference just that mechanical grip plays a significantly larger role.

The car excels in straight-line performance, good braking, is decent in high speed corners and has good aero efficiency. It struggles in slow twisty bits and is average in medium speed corners. Mclaren know the areas they need to target. Rome wasn't built in a day. They have a good base now and it will be a matter of incremental updates at regular intervals. Test on Tuesday could not have come at a better time for them.

[SmallSoldier]

A good result for us today, all said and done.

I'd said after race two that this track and Monaco are the two early tracks where we'd struggle, particularly Monaco. To have got a decent position and to be in 4th still, with one more tricky race to go before we head to tracks that our car will favour, is not a bad position. I believe that we will consolidate 4th position in the races that follow, and reasonably comfortably too.

As for the updates, time will tell to see how the work for us. To the poster who stated that this is not a philosophy change, I tend to agree. It is just a more extreme version of what we already had.
But I do get the feeling that the Merc and RBR solution may well work better so I have mixed feelings here. Not sure right now if we have moved sideways or forwards, but the team seem positive.

I do believe that is a different philosophy, even though the previous wing wasn’t all the way towards an outboard solution (Mercedes, RBR), it had that philosophy, the new wing is definitely more of an inboard solution, fairly close to what Ferrari is doing.

My understanding is that the biggest difference between them is in 2 main factors, how the outwash is manage by the wing itself and how much air is driven towards the bargeboard area... With trade-offs between them... The Merc/RBR type makes it harder to generate outwash, but sends more air towards the bargeboard and the Ferrari/Mcl type makes it easier to create outwash while it blocks or sends less clean air towards the bargeboard... That’s why the Y250 has to be managed in a completely different way for either solution.

I also think that current differences in performance between the types of wings is more related to mechanical grip (suspension) than the wings themselves and is in this area that some teams (Mercedes) is winning the battle and that some teams like Ferrari and McLaren may struggle in the low speed sections.


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[ispano6]

I don't know what orange flavored koolaid you guys are drinking to think McLaren remotely did well. STR has clearly leapfrogged McLaren. McLaren needed a SC scenario and created one.
Norris looked amateur today and Sainz benefitted from a bunched up field. Its appalling that during a virtual safety car you can't close time deltas but under a real safety car you can. Next time anyone wants to sabbotage a race they just need to go off track and bring back a ton of rubble back onto the track.

[mwillems]

A good result for us today, all said and done.

I'd said after race two that this track and Monaco are the two early tracks where we'd struggle, particularly Monaco. To have got a decent position and to be in 4th still, with one more tricky race to go before we head to tracks that our car will favour, is not a bad position. I believe that we will consolidate 4th position in the races that follow, and reasonably comfortably too.

As for the updates, time will tell to see how the work for us. To the poster who stated that this is not a philosophy change, I tend to agree. It is just a more extreme version of what we already had.
But I do get the feeling that the Merc and RBR solution may well work better so I have mixed feelings here. Not sure right now if we have moved sideways or forwards, but the team seem positive.

I do believe that is a different philosophy, even though the previous wing wasn’t all the way towards an outboard solution (Mercedes, RBR), it had that philosophy, the new wing is definitely more of an inboard solution, fairly close to what Ferrari is doing.

My understanding is that the biggest difference between them is in 2 main factors, how the outwash is manage by the wing itself and how much air is driven towards the bargeboard area... With trade-offs between them... The Merc/RBR type makes it harder to generate outwash, but sends more air towards the bargeboard and the Ferrari/Mcl type makes it easier to create outwash while it blocks or sends less clean air towards the bargeboard... That’s why the Y250 has to be managed in a completely different way for either solution.

I also think that current differences in performance between the types of wings is more related to mechanical grip (suspension) than the wings themselves and is in this area that some teams (Mercedes) is winning the battle and that some teams like Ferrari and McLaren may struggle in the low speed sections.


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Those are the two main factors I believe, however Mercedes have stated in an interview that despite using the full amount of front wing, they are still able to manage outwash at similar levels than last year. This to me seems something special and very different.

I saw the Mclaren solution as just past the halfway house and a little closer to Ferrari personally. In fact I openly wondered if Mclaren were sitting on the fence and whether they would pursue a new front wing design, some time ago in the car thread.

Somehow, I feel that the changes to implement a Mercedes style solution would be more drastic to the cars philosophy than what we did here this weekend, and that the existing changes necessitate changes further back in the car, but not in the same way as the Merc solution would.

[M840TR]

[RonDennis]

https://i.redd.it/10c3xc3y0ux21.jpg

Three McLaren stops completed the top three.

[ispano6]

https://i.redd.it/10c3xc3y0ux21.jpg

Three McLaren stops completed the top three.

Just goes to show how unmotivated the pitcrew was the past few years. At least the pitcrew now is trying to give their drivers a fighting chance.

[M840TR]

https://i.redd.it/10c3xc3y0ux21.jpg

Three McLaren stops completed the top three.

Just goes to show how unmotivated the pitcrew was the past few years. At least the pitcrew now is trying to give their drivers a fighting chance.

Boullier also stopped their practice at one point the past few years. Cuz what's the point.