CjC wrote:SmallSoldier wrote: ↑08 Aug 2020, 16:28
CjC wrote:As was the case at the Styrian GP we are considerably slower at the second race at the same circuit on back to back weekends.
Any thoughts as to why?
It’s like we hit our performance ceiling almost immediately and it takes our rivals longer to find theirs and with the back to backs its just kills us
It’s also a possibility... But proteus made a good point also, RIC, LEC, VER, ALB and GAS all had brand new PU’s and probably that gave them a little performance advantage during Qualy (and potentially tomorrow in the race)... The teams ahead definitely improved more than Mclaren on this second race, but I wouldn’t discount also car setup... Last race, Mclaren set the car more towards Qualy and struggle in the race, hopefully they set the car more towards race pace and it will pay off tomorrow, but we shouldn’t expect miracles either.
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I don’t know the answers either. There’s obviously lots of different factors.
Mclaren ran more wing last weekend than other and this weekend the Mclaren have kept the same level of wing and our rivals have gone for even less!
That could help in the race but with it being a multi stop race any tyre advantage could be negated.
I feel Renault have moved ahead of us by a fair bit now, supposedly on Thursday the drivers said Renault have brought another upgrade this weekend and due to covid and the lack of photos I haven’t seen what they have brought.
Having a new PU today could be another reason to fall behind.
The performance ceiling I originally asked, it’s something I’ve felt since observing Mclaren from the Hamilton years, we would have strong Fridays only for Ferrari and Red Bull to move ahead the following days.
The cars are very sensitive to track conditions and that could also explain the swing from one weekend to the other... I remember last year at the US GP, the headwind during qualy benefited Mclaren because it help with the lack of front DF and it hampered other teams... In terms of the difference in performance between last week and this one, the following is what I could see as factors:
A) This weekend it has been hotter and Carlos said that they had to add some pieces to the car that create additional drag to manage the cooling on the car (our layout is different than Renault’s for example).
B) It has been windy, and the wind picked up during Q2/Q3, Mclaren’s aero could be more sensitive to those changes in wind speed and direction and therefore struggle with it more than it’s rivals.
C) Last week we were overheating the tires a bit, if this weekend is hotter than last one and going one step softer on the tires, it would have made the team struggle... Setting the car up towards the race, knowing that we weren’t so kind on the tires last weekend could have had a negative effect in performance... The car may be better suited to cooler conditions than hot conditions.
D) The teams/drivers ahead in Qualy had new PU’s available this weekend, RIC, VER, ALB, GAS, LEC all of them had brand spanking new PU’s and that should give them an slight advantage.
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