2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

Norris' 1:40 ish laps were comparable to the start of last years grand prix where cars ran similar times.

I look forward to seeing the complete set of laps and times from this morning to get an idea of the pace of the car. About the only thing we can tell is the minimum of how much faster we can be compared to the race average last year.

What would be interesting is the average difference between last years Testing Race simulations and the average race pace to see if that ratio can be applied to this years numbers, particularly when running tyres less than 5 laps old.

[SmallSoldier]

Norris' 1:40 ish laps were comparable to the start of last years grand prix where cars ran similar times.

I look forward to seeing the complete set of laps and times from this morning to get an idea of the pace of the car. About the only thing we can tell is the minimum of how much faster we can be compared to the race average last year.

What would be interesting is the average difference between last years Testing Race simulations and the average race pace to see if that ratio can be applied to this years numbers, particularly when running tyres less than 5 laps old.

I would wait for Piastri’s racing simulations… The track is fairly hot, therefore times from Norris may not be representative, if we want to compare to the race pace of last year’s GP, we may get a better understanding later today.

[Lucky]

Norris' 1:40 ish laps were comparable to the start of last years grand prix where cars ran similar times.

I look forward to seeing the complete set of laps and times from this morning to get an idea of the pace of the car. About the only thing we can tell is the minimum of how much faster we can be compared to the race average last year.

What would be interesting is the average difference between last years Testing Race simulations and the average race pace to see if that ratio can be applied to this years numbers, particularly when running tyres less than 5 laps old.

I would wait for Piastri’s racing simulations… The track is fairly hot, therefore times from Norris may not be representative, if we want to compare to the race pace of last year’s GP, we may get a better understanding later today.

for comparison, RB

[SmallSoldier]

Norris' 1:40 ish laps were comparable to the start of last years grand prix where cars ran similar times.

I look forward to seeing the complete set of laps and times from this morning to get an idea of the pace of the car. About the only thing we can tell is the minimum of how much faster we can be compared to the race average last year.

What would be interesting is the average difference between last years Testing Race simulations and the average race pace to see if that ratio can be applied to this years numbers, particularly when running tyres less than 5 laps old.

I would wait for Piastri’s racing simulations… The track is fairly hot, therefore times from Norris may not be representative, if we want to compare to the race pace of last year’s GP, we may get a better understanding later today.

for comparison, RB

That’s why we have to take them with a grain of salt… At that point and with the same tires, lap times were the same as Sainz (although with what appeared as higher degradation towards the end of the stint)… Hard to make comparisons unluckily

[mclaren111]

F1.com:

13:35
Forty minutes to go, and what have we learned so far today? Red Bull's reliability still looks very, very solid, in contrast to McLaren who seem to be finding a few more teething issues. AlphaTauri are still gathering data and piling on the laps, so they too seem more interested in quantity rather than fine-tuning the quality so far.

What is this about ?

[mwillems]

I would wait for Piastri’s racing simulations… The track is fairly hot, therefore times from Norris may not be representative, if we want to compare to the race pace of last year’s GP, we may get a better understanding later today.

for comparison, RB

That’s why we have to take them with a grain of salt… At that point and with the same tires, lap times were the same as Sainz (although with what appeared as higher degradation towards the end of the stint)… Hard to make comparisons unluckily

This is why I'm wondering if that Testing to Race pace ratio from last year might remove some of the noise, of course we may have a different approach to how much we want to push the car this year vs last, but it would make interesting reading none the less and I think that the difference between this and last years approach may not be that great.

But as I think about it, if it were that simple I'm sure the teams would mix it up to hide their pace

[SmallSoldier]

F1.com:

13:35
Forty minutes to go, and what have we learned so far today? Red Bull's reliability still looks very, very solid, in contrast to McLaren who seem to be finding a few more teething issues. AlphaTauri are still gathering data and piling on the laps, so they too seem more interested in quantity rather than fine-tuning the quality so far.

What is this about ?

No idea… Norris is on track with more than 60 laps already run this morning

[101FlyingDutchman]

F1.com:

13:35
Forty minutes to go, and what have we learned so far today? Red Bull's reliability still looks very, very solid, in contrast to McLaren who seem to be finding a few more teething issues. AlphaTauri are still gathering data and piling on the laps, so they too seem more interested in quantity rather than fine-tuning the quality so far.

What is this about ?

Running out of things to say. Love to stir the pot slightly. Can’t see the team be in the slightest bothered about yesterday as they’ve run 60+ laps already today. Just head down and collect data

[Ground Effect]

It gets better... From The Race testing live blog

McLaren in trouble?

I’ve sought refuge from the sun (the press conferences are coming up soon, that’s my excuse).

I’d caution my observations even more than last night’s because I was there for a little less time, but I continue to be concerned by the McLaren.

It just looks really difficult there. If Norris was running a very high fuel load it would mitigate it to a degree but even so, the MCL60 does not look like the leader of the midfield pack by a long shot - I’d put the Aston Martin in front there.

[haza]

Norris' 1:40 ish laps were comparable to the start of last years grand prix where cars ran similar times.

I look forward to seeing the complete set of laps and times from this morning to get an idea of the pace of the car. About the only thing we can tell is the minimum of how much faster we can be compared to the race average last year.

What would be interesting is the average difference between last years Testing Race simulations and the average race pace to see if that ratio can be applied to this years numbers, particularly when running tyres less than 5 laps old.

I would wait for Piastri’s racing simulations… The track is fairly hot, therefore times from Norris may not be representative, if we want to compare to the race pace of last year’s GP, we may get a better understanding later today.

for comparison, RB

Same times as Norris yesterday on the hards low 1:37s

[Emag]

It gets better... From The Race testing live blog

McLaren in trouble?

I’ve sought refuge from the sun (the press conferences are coming up soon, that’s my excuse).

I’d caution my observations even more than last night’s because I was there for a little less time, but I continue to be concerned by the McLaren.

It just looks really difficult there. If Norris was running a very high fuel load it would mitigate it to a degree but even so, the MCL60 does not look like the leader of the midfield pack by a long shot - I’d put the Aston Martin in front there.

Is that from Gary Anderson, or from Edd Straw?

Not like it makes a difference, but I want to measure by how much I should ignore their comments.

[FittingMechanics]

Last year car had major brake issues. Comparing those times to this year will heavily skew the numbers in favor of a major upgrade this year.

Not sure what are they going on about McLaren finding few more teething issues. Lando ran plenty of laps.

Yeah nothing new from the pundits. McLaren 9th best!

[Ground Effect]

It gets better... From The Race testing live blog

McLaren in trouble?

I’ve sought refuge from the sun (the press conferences are coming up soon, that’s my excuse).

I’d caution my observations even more than last night’s because I was there for a little less time, but I continue to be concerned by the McLaren.

It just looks really difficult there. If Norris was running a very high fuel load it would mitigate it to a degree but even so, the MCL60 does not look like the leader of the midfield pack by a long shot - I’d put the Aston Martin in front there.

Is that from Gary Anderson, or from Edd Straw?

Not like it makes a difference, but I want to measure by how much I should ignore their comments.

Scott Mitchell-Malm.... like I said yesterday, these guys just go by "vibes and feelings", just vague reasoning, quite shocking really. They could end up being right, things may not be well at McLaren, but it's so obvious these guys are just guessing and hedging bets, all based on Stella's misconstrued comments at the launch.

[DGP123]

The general feeling, is that this is going to be a tough year for McLaren

[Ben1980]

The general feeling, is that this is going to be a tough year for McLaren

It may well be. But the its not really based on anything.

It's the team who more often than not was quickest 4th team, especially in Qualifying. What is there to indicate its all suddenly gone so badly wrong. Especially as cars aren't dramatically changing.