McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[ringo]

Right. I just remembered all the crashes up front.
Oh well, they better do a good job this year. They need that constructors trophy, it's been years.

[Richard]

The Mclaren was crap, but the KERS was so well done that it actually made the 24 competitive.

please get your facts right.the mp4-24 was in no way competetive in aus, they went out in q1. .

Yes they went out in q1, but Lewis got to p3 on track. That's impressive by anyone standards. Admittedly due to errors by others, plus some good/lucky strategy calls.

[Holm86]

The Berlin launch was a request from Vodafone says Paddy Lowe.

Too bad i had hoped for a surprise on the launchday ...

[myurr]

The Mclaren was crap, but the KERS was so well done that it actually made the 24 competitive.

please get your facts right.the mp4-24 was in no way competetive in aus, they went out in q1. .

Yes they went out in q1, but Lewis got to p3 on track. That's impressive by anyone standards. Admittedly due to errors by others, plus some good/lucky strategy calls.

And, to be fair, a large number of on track overtakes (helped by KERS).

[Richard]

So based on final track position, the overall package of car, team, driver and track conditions was very competitive. Not quite as good as Oliver Panis in Monaco '96.

[adrianjordan]

Fact is that by the end of 2009 the MP4-24 was a race winning car, so McLaren should have learnt from their mistakes.

Will be very interesting to see what route they have taken with the 26 though. I would imagine Button pushing for a very compliant car that is easy to set up how he likes it.

(Amazing - 23 pages and we haven't even caught a glimpse of the car yet!!)

[gridwalker]

(Amazing - 23 pages and we haven't even caught a glimpse of the car yet!!)

And not a Goony in sight

This off-season could use its own dead-zone rumor (so long as it doesn't turn out to be a career-death-zone rumor, as it was last time around) ... it would be more interesting than the will-they/won't-they go pullrod speculation

[ell66]

Fact is that by the end of 2009 the MP4-24 was a race winning car, so McLaren should have learnt from their mistakes.

Will be very interesting to see what route they have taken with the 26 though. I would imagine Button pushing for a very compliant car that is easy to set up how he likes it.

(Amazing - 23 pages and we haven't even caught a glimpse of the car yet!!)

i really hope its not made to buttons liking.
he just isnt fast enough, they need to make the fastest car they can period and let lewis do the rest.

[adrianjordan]

Fact is that by the end of 2009 the MP4-24 was a race winning car, so McLaren should have learnt from their mistakes.

Will be very interesting to see what route they have taken with the 26 though. I would imagine Button pushing for a very compliant car that is easy to set up how he likes it.

(Amazing - 23 pages and we haven't even caught a glimpse of the car yet!!)

i really hope its not made to buttons liking.
he just isnt fast enough, they need to make the fastest car they can period and let lewis do the rest.

I hope it's made to both drivers' liking and then they can both show how fast they are.

I agree with the many who say that on his day Button is as fast as anyone, but his big downfall is that he needs the car to be set up within a very narrow window.

So it stands to reason that if they can make a car that is easy to set up into Button's prefered window, then it should also be easy to dial in for Hamilton.

Just to be clear here, I am a fan of both Button and Hamilton, would favour Button slightly but only because he's been in the sport longer and I've followed him since his Williams days and also because I live just down the road from Frome...but I will agree that Hamilton is the better driver.

[ringo]

If the car is favoured by both i don't mind. The faster driver can develope it during the season where he brings it to a faster but more edgier car. The slower has to learn to deal with it or stick with the easier to drive version.
I remember Singapore 2009 where that was the case between Heiki and Lewis.
I don't mind if it suits both of them in the beginning at all, it better not be underdeveloped just to make both drivers feel equal though!

Concerning leaked images or developments, I'm kind of glad we don't have any this year. The f duct rumours didn't help Mclaren at all. It would have been better that the other teams didn't know about it until a few races in.

[raymondu999]

Your post seems to say that a car that is faster will undoubtedly be less easy to drive

[ringo]

Well i was thinking along that line. If it starts out as a certain speed, to bring more speed to the same car may make it edgier. It's possible it could be inherently easy to drive and be quick at the same time, but maybe if it is made faster still it may have to be a bit harder to drive. I think one of the Renault engineers said something to that effect.
It sounds logical, seeing as though the car is using the same tyres and chassis throughout the year. More speed may either mean more downforce (not affecting difficulty to drive) or suspension and brake setup changes. I think getting speed out of suspension changes is what may make a car edgier to drive?

[ell66]

^^ fanboi alert!

not at all its called reality pal you want me to dig up some facts for you?
jensons demands could potantially hurt mclaren, espeically on development through the year, his need for a stable rear end might possibly take time and resource away from other develpoments, is it a just by chance that mclaren didnt develop quite as well last y year as in others?

[dren]

If Jenson's demands help enhance the car, then how is that such a bad thing? I believe the team would prioritize their focuses to optimize the car's performance.

[ell66]

'Innovative' McLaren will provoke 'lots of discussion'

Martin Whitmarsh tells Crash.net that the new McLaren-Mercedes MP4-26 will be 'innovative' and provoke 'lots of discussion' - and with 'the best driver pairing in F1', it will also vie for title glory in 2011
Martin Whitmarsh has warned McLaren-Mercedes' F1 2011 rivals that the new MP4-26 will be 'innovative' and contends that the team has 'the best driver pairing' on the current grand prix grid – even if he concedes that the competition in the top flight this year is going to be every bit as tough as it has ever been.

Last season, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button both vied for title glory – tallying five victories between them – but although the former took the battle all the way down to the Abu Dhabi finale, ultimately the duo wound up respectively just fourth and fifth in the standings, and McLaren itself came up 44 points short of pipping arch-rivals Red Bull Racing to constructors' glory.




by Russell Atkins
source: http://www.totalf1.com/full_story/view/ ... iscussion/