Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[KingHamilton]

I think this car has 2weaknesses, race pace and wet wether running. doesnt seem to be able to catch other cars over mid fuel stints. hamilton in particular hasnt been able to chip away at lap times with it. the car is quite mellow.

Race pace....? obviously you weren`t watching the previous grand prix, also you can`t judge a car`s wet pace after one race! beside`s McLaren could have won this race but for mistakes in the pit`s and button losing his front wing! It`s A roll of the dice situation and someone get`s lucky! your not exactly gonna tell me Ferrari has race pace and amazing in the wet!

[ringo]

I think this car has 2weaknesses, race pace and wet wether running. doesnt seem to be able to catch other cars over mid fuel stints. hamilton in particular hasnt been able to chip away at lap times with it. the car is quite mellow.

It's not completely true. On the first 9 lap when it's raining they were good.

when i say wet weather i mean the whole range; heavy rain to damp conditions.

For a car on pole position it was quite ordinary in the race.

The last GP was not really representative of a typical F1 track.
The first race shouldn't be.

The race pace isn't special in this car. I don't think Mclaren could have caught up back. They could have won ofcourse had Perez not gambled on starting on wet tyres.
Or if they put their support behind hamilton. But the car had no answer for the suaber or ferrari today.

[raymondu999]

It was interesting to see how Mclaren in Australia pitted both at the same time.

This race i think there was three other teams doing it as well.

McLaren in Australia wasn't the first time it happened. I think the first time it happened (outside of safety car windows, or weather) was Red Bull in a race. I don't remember which off the top of my head. But this isn't really the thread for that though.

[SiLo]

I think the car has awesome quali pace, and really good high fuel pace, its just that bit in the middle that they seem slightly average on. Not bad tbh considering last years car. I think all the teams will be hard pressed to catch up with Mclaren this year, especially considering the rate they usually update the car.

[Dann]

Unless McLaren revamp their pitstops/strategies, they could frustrate their drivers again this year as happened during Kimi's time & also Lewis' time. They're indecisive & too analytical at times.
Surprisingly, none of their drivers criticise their pitstop mistakes this time.
They should have at least secured both drivers in points. Now we see Alonso in the lamed Ferrari leading WDC.

[Banki]

I think the car has awesome quali pace, and really good high fuel pace, its just that bit in the middle that they seem slightly average on.

I agree with you. But it's not so big matter. At least in Woking they know what they have to develop on the car.

[myurr]

I think the car has awesome quali pace, and really good high fuel pace, its just that bit in the middle that they seem slightly average on.

I agree with you. But it's not so big matter. At least in Woking they know what they have to develop on the car.

I still think it's too early to say, as we haven't really had a normal race. Hamilton would have faired better in both races had he not had so many mishaps in the pits where he's lost numerous seconds in both races and then fallen behind other drivers because of it. Plus Button's pace was the best in the field in Aus, we was always just controlling the pace once he'd opened out a gap.

Hopefully we'll get a better picture after China, but it won't be until we get back to Europe that the pecking order will start to settle down.

[myurr]

I think this car has 2weaknesses, race pace and wet wether running. doesnt seem to be able to catch other cars over mid fuel stints. hamilton in particular hasnt been able to chip away at lap times with it. the car is quite mellow.

It's not completely true. On the first 9 lap when it's raining they were good.

when i say wet weather i mean the whole range; heavy rain to damp conditions.

For a car on pole position it was quite ordinary in the race.

The last GP was not really representative of a typical F1 track.
The first race shouldn't be.

The race pace isn't special in this car. I don't think Mclaren could have caught up back. They could have won ofcourse had Perez not gambled on starting on wet tyres.
Or if they put their support behind hamilton. But the car had no answer for the suaber or ferrari today.

I think that it's in drying conditions that the car is decidedly average. In the first stint the two McLarens were pulling away and Lewis on inters was able to run as fast as those on full wets.

Plus they didn't have a huge margin in this race. It wasn't until Q3 that they were able to extract a little bit more and hit the front of the grid. There are some seriously good cars around them, with probably the top three or four cars having similar race pace.

In the final stint Lewis had uneven brake cooling due to the problems with the tape on his brake ducts so he would have been nursing a problem. But his pace on the inters in that middle stint wasn't too good. Alonso was faster at the beginning of the stint and whilst Lewis was starting to reel him in towards the end of the stint the Sauber was still even faster.

It's an incredibly competitive field this year.

[KingHamilton]

Unless McLaren revamp their pitstops/strategies, they could frustrate their drivers again this year as happened during Kimi's time & also Lewis' time. They're indecisive & too analytical at times.
Surprisingly, none of their drivers criticise their pitstop mistakes this time.
They should have at least secured both drivers in points. Now we see Alonso in the lamed Ferrari leading WDC.

I agree with you one hundred percent, McLaren seem to be there own worse enemies when they have A car capable of getting result`s, they ruin it with some very poor call`s and stratergy and then good old martin whitmarsh comes and laugh`s it off, I can tell you now Ron Dennis wouldn`t have laughed at it. Pitstop`s have generally got to improve at McLaren, look at the mistake from the rear jackman! arguably costing lewis 2nd place causing a delay in release.

I do take Heart at the fact that McLaren can develop a car quickly, but the other`s will not sit still! plus you feel team`s like red bull with perhaps take a gamble on another exhaust solution until next and final test.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

That inboard most strake seems awful inboard. lol



edit: Ah looked at picture of last year, seems it's in the same place.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I was thinking about something while driving my daughter to t-ball practice. About the McLarens poor pace in the Malaysian GP. I wonder if it was the rain(temperature & air pressure) & the dense air that made the car perform poorly? What I mean is it's obvious that McLaren have the exhaust solution that works the best, IMHO. And being that the air is very dense in Malaysia the crossflow bending effect on the exhaust would interfere with the usual flow path of the exhaust gasses or more alter it more than usual. This could explain why the McLaren was good in the dry and poor in the rain.


Before people go lecturing me, I'm aware that water vapor(rain) is less dense than dry air, however air density at sea level is higher than other places. I understand this is dependent on many factors & it may be a long shot, but the gasses have much farther to travel to their intended destination than last year.

If I'm way off base here someone let me know. TIA.

[ringo]

I think the car has awesome quali pace, and really good high fuel pace, its just that bit in the middle that they seem slightly average on.

I agree with you. But it's not so big matter. At least in Woking they know what they have to develop on the car.

I still think it's too early to say, as we haven't really had a normal race. Hamilton would have faired better in both races had he not had so many mishaps in the pits where he's lost numerous seconds in both races and then fallen behind other drivers because of it. Plus Button's pace was the best in the field in Aus, we was always just controlling the pace once he'd opened out a gap.

Hopefully we'll get a better picture after China, but it won't be until we get back to Europe that the pecking order will start to settle down.

Button's pace was artificial. He was pushing overly hard trying to move up. You can basically call it qualifying laps. This is why he burned through the tyres. I wouldn't call that genuine pace, especially when he went on brand new tyres many times. That pace was never sustainable.

[avatar]

I was thinking about something while driving my daughter to t-ball practice. About the McLarens poor pace in the Malaysian GP. I wonder if it was the rain(temperature & air pressure) & the dense air that made the car perform poorly? What I mean is it's obvious that McLaren have the exhaust solution that works the best, IMHO. And being that the air is very dense in Singapore the crossflow bending effect on the exhaust would interfere with the usual flow path of the exhaust gasses or more alter it more than usual. This could explain why the McLaren was good in the dry and poor in the rain.


Before people go lecturing me, I'm aware that water vapor(rain) is less dense than dry air, however air density at sea level is higher than other places. I understand this is dependent on many factors & it may be a long shot, but the gasses have much farther to travel to their intended destination than last year.

If I'm way off base here someone let me know. TIA.

I had similar thoughts, but was more thinking of spray during most of the race interfering with the exhaust flow. Droplets are more dense than air, e.g. rainfall has a significant impact on average windspeed.

p.s. what's T-ball?

[ianwit]

I know they've been trying to develop the ability to pit both cars on the same lap... but perhaps they should be looking to poach some staff from Sauber.

Sauber can afford to take strategy risks they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. In this race the same went for Alonso but Mclaren were reacting to the Red Bulls, in the change to slicks they were reacting to Vettel, provided they matched their strategy they could keep Lewis in front of the RB's. Once Jenson was relegated to the back of the field they could take more risk with his strategy and they must of learnt a hell of a lot about the tyres during that race. Did they run Jenson on the Hard and Lewis on the medium in the slick stint?

[myurr]

I still think it's too early to say, as we haven't really had a normal race. Hamilton would have faired better in both races had he not had so many mishaps in the pits where he's lost numerous seconds in both races and then fallen behind other drivers because of it. Plus Button's pace was the best in the field in Aus, we was always just controlling the pace once he'd opened out a gap.

Hopefully we'll get a better picture after China, but it won't be until we get back to Europe that the pecking order will start to settle down.

Button's pace was artificial. He was pushing overly hard trying to move up. You can basically call it qualifying laps. This is why he burned through the tyres. I wouldn't call that genuine pace, especially when he went on brand new tyres many times. That pace was never sustainable.

I did say Buttons pace in Australia... He was out front, controlling the pace, and after the safety car he easily pulled a gap on Vettel.

Malaysia was a poor race by McLaren and we never really got to see what either driver could do as they were both compromised except in the first stint when they were pulling away from the field and when Hamilton was running on the inters and was okay for pace and just about matched Alonso over the whole stint but a little bit off the Sauber.