2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

I’ve been thinking for the past few race weekends that what the drivers say on a Friday is the most telling.

Soooooo …..
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... uAWgs.html

Lando is king of lowering expectations.

[mwillems]

When I see a line running so smooth but quicker, it makes me think they are just running to a slightly different delta.

None of the cars have challenged their cornering speed or tyre life so there isn't much to learn from it.

This was the soft run - qualy.

No running to a delta.

They still run to target times even on the faster Friday runs to conceal some pace. But even so, if it isn't a delta it can quite easily be fuel load, engine mode or other pace affecting variables. The gap increases so uniformly that I have a strong suspicion that we are not seeing anything that resembles the real pace difference over the course of a lap.

I mean, maybe come tomorrow we actually just will be faster than the Ferrari at most of the lap, I just don't think it will be the case once the cars approach the limits and they're in full qualy mode.

[Macklaren]

I’ve been thinking for the past few race weekends that what the drivers say on a Friday is the most telling.

Soooooo …..
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... uAWgs.html

Lando is king of lowering expectations.

10000%
The Ferraris and RBRs went off several times and I didn't see our guys go off even once. No way we were pushing more than them in FP2

[proteus]

I’ve been thinking for the past few race weekends that what the drivers say on a Friday is the most telling.

Soooooo …..
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... uAWgs.html

Lando is king of lowering expectations.

10000%
The Ferraris and RBRs went off several times and I didn't see our guys go off even once. No way we were pushing more than them in FP2

Norris had his moment.

[Darth-Piekus]

Oscar was 5.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc in clean air. Oscar was faster than Lando, as it is fairly clear that being in dirty air actually had very little effect. Didn't matter what happened at T3/4, Leclerc would have still stayed close to both cars as he ably demonstrated in the race. This being the case, the defining moment was the strategy. T3/4 might not have happened, but Leclerc would have been following the Mclarens soon enough and we'd make the same mistake with tyres and we'd throw the race away again. It's not nice to come out second and third, but suggesting that we'd have made a big gap when it was hugely evident the Ferrari had the pace to stay with us is like suggesting the sky is green, simply because you don't like blue.

Yes because Norris lost one more place trying to avoid a collision. With Norris at first and Piastri at second it could have been a walk in the park. One driver to escape away and the other to play shield. At best Leclerc could have passed Piastri with an undercut.

[Macklaren]

Lando is king of lowering expectations.

10000%
The Ferraris and RBRs went off several times and I didn't see our guys go off even once. No way we were pushing more than them in FP2

Norris had his moment.

He only ran wide a couple times, no? Did he have to take the escape road and take a u turn? I must've missed it then

[mwillems]

Oscar was 5.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc in clean air. Oscar was faster than Lando, as it is fairly clear that being in dirty air actually had very little effect. Didn't matter what happened at T3/4, Leclerc would have still stayed close to both cars as he ably demonstrated in the race. This being the case, the defining moment was the strategy. T3/4 might not have happened, but Leclerc would have been following the Mclarens soon enough and we'd make the same mistake with tyres and we'd throw the race away again. It's not nice to come out second and third, but suggesting that we'd have made a big gap when it was hugely evident the Ferrari had the pace to stay with us is like suggesting the sky is green, simply because you don't like blue.

Yes because Norris lost one more place trying to avoid a collision. With Norris at first and Piastri at second it could have been a walk in the park. One driver to escape away and the other to play shield. At best Leclerc could have passed Piastri with an undercut.

I see. Green it is then.

[proteus]

10000%
The Ferraris and RBRs went off several times and I didn't see our guys go off even once. No way we were pushing more than them in FP2

Norris had his moment.

He only ran wide a couple times, no? Did he have to take the escape road and take a u turn? I must've missed it then

Yes, i meant going wide. No u turns.

[BMMR61]

Until people realise the media are shadow punching for stories and supposed quotes like
Lando Norris’ ‘long way off’ verdict after McLaren endure tough Azerbaijan GP start
and the ridiculous hyping of McLaren "throwing away" a championship. Hold it right there, have McLaren really sewn up the WCC? Really? You'd think so given all the projection in the media and many fans lap it (and other nonsense) up by the bucketful. Villeneuve is doing his normal trolling. McLaren need to stay strong and focussed race by race, that's the way F1 has always been and I haven't seen any rule changes that should affect that. Maybe there are a lot of fans who think you can wish the sky to be green!

I don't think hysteria can be excused as just "well meaning fans". The worth of the WDC is diminished by what happened with Ferrari's WDC efforts from 2000 - 2004 and F1's popularity dropped as a result. Since then my respect for Ferrari has been what you'd call a "grudging" one. There are better ways of winning than diminishing one of your two drivers as an also ran.

[BMMR61]

I’ve been thinking for the past few race weekends that what the drivers say on a Friday is the most telling.

Soooooo …..
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... uAWgs.html

Lando is king of lowering expectations.

10000%
The Ferraris and RBRs went off several times and I didn't see our guys go off even once. No way we were pushing more than them in FP2

So I see Lando hasn't brought a change of attitude to the game. Glass half empty still?

[mwillems]

Until people realise the media are shadow punching for stories and supposed quotes like
Lando Norris’ ‘long way off’ verdict after McLaren endure tough Azerbaijan GP start
and the ridiculous hyping of McLaren "throwing away" a championship. Hold it right there, have McLaren really sewn up the WCC? Really? You'd think so given all the projection in the media and many fans lap it (and other nonsense) up by the bucketful. Villeneuve is doing his normal trolling. McLaren need to stay strong and focussed race by race, that's the way F1 has always been and I haven't seen any rule changes that should affect that. Maybe there are a lot of fans who think you can wish the sky to be green!

I don't think hysteria can be excused as just "well meaning fans". The worth of the WDC is diminished by what happened with Ferrari's WDC efforts from 2000 - 2004 and F1's popularity dropped as a result. Since then my respect for Ferrari has been what you'd call a "grudging" one. There are better ways of winning than diminishing one of your two drivers as an also ran.

It's dealt with. Team and Lando are taking a sensible approach. He'll get help, but if he wins it it's because he fought for it, won it and deserved it. And like that I hope he now converts his ability to the race finishes it should merit. And I have huge respect for Lando and the teams approach with it. But it's done and put to bed now, let's watch and see if he can get the points.

[FittingMechanics]

Norris was compromised in most of his soft runs this weekend.

Today he got red flag on his first run while in S1 and on his second attempt red flag during the outlap.

Oscar looked fast without the tow starting the lap.

[mwillems]

Oscar looked good on his next lap but hit traffic that lost 8 tenths on the lap.

[FittingMechanics]

I am still quite optimistic but hard to tell.

[FittingMechanics]

Let's get a clean Lando lap for confidence before qualifying.