2019 Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[Ground Effect]

I also think the Renault engine is decent, in terms of power, there's clearly a convergence, but the top 2 are still the top 2. Reliability is another story, which we hope will be sorted by Barcelona as Cyril said, but he's said a lot of things. The truth is, journalists, pundits just don't give coverage or point out the gains Renault have made performance wise. I guess they or McLaren aren't box office enough. It's a bit frustrating because there's an automatic assumption that they've fallen behind Honda, but nobody shows any evidence, they rely on the fact that Red Bull is quick, but they were quick with Renault.
I'm concerned though, with the engine updates in Barcelona, what becomes of the usual Canada upgrade?

[zoroastar]

Except from the biased user that likes to trash talk Renault what people generally think about Renault? Have they evolved? Will they provide a better engine in the distant future for Mclaren?

I think the engine is fine performance wise and the reliability should be fixed in Spain, although we'll have to wait and see. The most timed should be gained with chassis updates and Renault will eventually get it right, similar to the V8/V10 era. There is only so much you can do.

I agree, the power is hard to tell where they are, they seem to be even with everyone else. Reliability is hard to refute.

They may have made big power gains in the off season like they say OR some of that just comes with the relaxing of the rules of how much fuel you can start the race with.

The lack of reliability suggests a major change with not as much testing as they would have liked. So maybe...

if i remember correctly, theyve had this PU on dynos through half of last year. it is definately tested, and was supposedly to the point of seeming very reliable on the test benches. this just shows how completely stupid these engine rules have been.
1- it took 4 years for Anybody to even come close to equaling the power of the mercedes
2- it made a company like honda look like total fools for 3 years straight.
3- no company in their right minds would attempt to go through what honda had to endure to start developing a PU in the near future.
4- renault, even after testing a PU for almost a full year, after building the V6 turbo since before 2014, is STILL having problems with reliability.
not to mention the stupid engine penalties.
nothing could have done worse things for the the sport as a whole than to do what the decision makers did when they decided that the V6 turbo era (error) was a good idea.

[zoroastar]

I think the engine is fine performance wise and the reliability should be fixed in Spain, although we'll have to wait and see. The most timed should be gained with chassis updates and Renault will eventually get it right, similar to the V8/V10 era. There is only so much you can do.

I agree, the power is hard to tell where they are, they seem to be even with everyone else. Reliability is hard to refute.

They may have made big power gains in the off season like they say OR some of that just comes with the relaxing of the rules of how much fuel you can start the race with.

The lack of reliability suggests a major change with not as much testing as they would have liked. So maybe...

if i remember correctly, theyve had this PU on dynos through half of last year. it is definately tested, and was supposedly to the point of seeming very reliable on the test benches. this just shows how completely stupid these engine rules have been.
1- it took 4 years for Anybody to even come close to equaling the power of the mercedes
2- it made a company like honda look like total fools for 3 years straight.
3- no company in their right minds would attempt to go through what honda had to endure to start developing a PU in the near future.
4- renault, even after testing a PU for almost a full year, after building the V6 turbo since before 2014, is STILL having problems with reliability.
not to mention the stupid engine penalties.
nothing could have done worse things for the the sport as a whole than to do what the decision makers did when they decided that the V6 turbo era (error) was a good idea.

im obviously still down with bringing back v10's. but that aint going to happen. because you know, racing is all about fancy electric tricks, and who can use the least engine parts now right? - rant over

[mclaren111]

I agree, this year's car is superior to last year's. I don't believe the situation at Mclaren was as dire as some people have made it out to be last year and I'm reluctant to say thing were that much better when this car was designed. This year's car was pretty much designed by the same people that designed last year's, + or - one or two people is not a big change in personnel between March 2018 and March 2019. It's not a far stretch to say that this car could have been built with no personnel changes at all.

I think when you lack budget compared to other teams, you take short cuts. Short cuts leave you vulnerable. Sometime those vulnerabilities are exposed other times they aren't. By their own admission, they missed stuff in CFD.

I'd reckon getting rid of your team principle, technical & engineering director is a pretty big change.

It would be if they would have done that.
-chief technical officer Tim Goss was removed from his position and later quit.
-racing director Eric Boullier Left.
+Sporting Director GIL DE FERRAN
To me they took the people that were under those 2 and just made them director positions interim.

+Added Pat Fry in Sept of 2018


POST START of 2019
+TECHNICAL DIRECTOR James Keys
+TEAM PRINCIPAL Andreas Seidl
The other 2 have come on line this year. I doubt they've done much yet.

Don't forget Matt Morris... Fry "officially" started in Sept... Lots of people say he was there sooner (no source)...

Then there is also the promotion of Stella to Performance Director...

Thus: MCL34 is the handiwork of PP, Fry & Stella...

[M840TR]

Sainz:

Sometimes last year when I was racing for Renault I was a bit puzzled by McLaren being half a second away in qualifying and suddenly in the race being always a pain for us.
"This year, qualifying has improved and still we have strong race pace.
"So, I kind of expected the race pace to be good, and now I understand why last year the car was a bit better in the race than in qualifying.
"I've tested it, I know how it feels and I know more or less what's going on.
"There's a few interesting bits there that I've learned

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14316 ... by-mclaren

[Ground Effect]

Anybody heard any more chatter regarding upgrades? So far, Haas say theirs will be big, RP also suggest same. Carlos in his F1 column mentioned he was at base for simulator work and prepare for upgrades they're taking to Spain.... No further insight.

[PhillipM]

Nothing yet, it'll be tricky to find out anything more than large parts like the floor, as everything tends to just go overnight to Spain, or Friday morning.
I was told near the beginning of the season that body shrink/sidepods wouldn't be looked at until Spain at the absolute earliest while they concentrated on just making sure everything was working well and correlating - so it doesn't sound like there'll be sidepods, etc, but I'll see if I can dig anything up this week.

[Lucky]

Anybody heard any more chatter regarding upgrades? So far, Haas say theirs will be big, RP also suggest same. Carlos in his F1 column mentioned he was at base for simulator work and prepare for upgrades they're taking to Spain.... No further insight.

-Improvements in Barcelona?
-Yes, we have a large aerodynamic package but everyone will bring it, so it will be a matter of seeing who works best.
https://as.com/motor/2019/04/28/formula ... 73155.html

[Ground Effect]

Thanks for the info and article..

[M840TR]

Doesn't look as bad as I'd expected in the Marlboro livery.

[ME4ME]

I also think the Renault engine is decent, in terms of power, there's clearly a convergence, but the top 2 are still the top 2. Reliability is another story, which we hope will be sorted by Barcelona as Cyril said, but he's said a lot of things. The truth is, journalists, pundits just don't give coverage or point out the gains Renault have made performance wise. I guess they or McLaren aren't box office enough. It's a bit frustrating because there's an automatic assumption that they've fallen behind Honda, but nobody shows any evidence, they rely on the fact that Red Bull is quick, but they were quick with Renault.
I'm concerned though, with the engine updates in Barcelona, what becomes of the usual Canada upgrade?

Regarding media coverage, that should really come as no surprise. Renault and Mclaren are both guilty of over stating and under delivering the last couple of years. Add to that that the power unit is still braking down every once in a while and there is really nothing impressive to write about.

Looking at team performance, Renault better wish nothing is written about them at all because it wouldn't be much positive reading. Mclaren on the other hand are improving, fresh blood has joined the team and a page has been turned. They are now the underdogs on a mission, so they'll rightfully get more and more media coverage as progress is being made.

[_cerber1]

Construction is in full swing.

[Ground Effect]

Construction is in full swing.

https://radikal.ru

Wish they'd show the car as well...

[_cerber1]

Wish they'd show the car as well...

Usually on Wednesday, some photos are already starting to leak. And this is a full three days .

[proteus]

Doesn't look as bad as I'd expected in the Marlboro livery.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5jRBcpWwAECIHZ.jpg:large

The sidepods are still orange