2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[McFAN]

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.

My thoughts exactly

They've built a narrative around Stella's "not entirely happy" comment
And now it's just plain old confirmation bias.

[101FlyingDutchman]

PIA on an interesting run. Metronomic 36.5s. Now going up to 37s

[organic]

PIA on an interesting run. Metronomic 36.5s. Now going up to 37s

I think you spoke too soon.. He went from 1.36.5s to mid-high 1.37s in 7 laps

[Macklaren]

Car is looking very oversteery on this PIA long run. Maybe the aero + new tires dialed out the chronic understeer after all?

[101FlyingDutchman]

PIA on an interesting run. Metronomic 36.5s. Now going up to 37s

I think you spoke too soon.. He went from 1.36.5s to mid-high 1.37s in 7 laps

Yeah was a strange stint. Literally 5/6 laps all 36.5 then boom straight into mid 37s

[organic]

PIA on an interesting run. Metronomic 36.5s. Now going up to 37s

I think you spoke too soon.. He went from 1.36.5s to mid-high 1.37s in 7 laps

Yeah was a strange stint. Literally 5/6 laps all 36.5 then boom straight into mid 37s

Might've cooked the rears. Setup seemed oversteery

[MrGapes]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10435975/

New McLaren driver Oscar Piastri suggested that his early impression of the MCL60 was that it was not a dramatic step forward on the 2022 MCL36 that he tried out in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.

“I would say a small step from last year,” he said. “We know we've got a few things in the pipeline for hopefully soon in season. But so far, it's I think similar to what I remember from my limited experience in a ground-effect car.”

damn.

[McL-H]

I honestly don’t understand the feel for optimism around here. The car looks slow. It is not smooth around the corners. Seems to degrade its tires.

It doesn’t fit with a team aspiring to leave the midfield this year and close the gap to the top teams, to fight for the championship in 2025.

[McL-H]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10435975/

New McLaren driver Oscar Piastri suggested that his early impression of the MCL60 was that it was not a dramatic step forward on the 2022 MCL36 that he tried out in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.

“I would say a small step from last year,” he said. “We know we've got a few things in the pipeline for hopefully soon in season. But so far, it's I think similar to what I remember from my limited experience in a ground-effect car.”

damn.

It confirms what many people already said after the presentation. Stella basically said it there already. It was confirmed yesterday when we saw the car on track. And is now confirmed by Piastri’s comments once again. Very disappointing.

[ort895]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10435975/

New McLaren driver Oscar Piastri suggested that his early impression of the MCL60 was that it was not a dramatic step forward on the 2022 MCL36 that he tried out in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.

“I would say a small step from last year,” he said. “We know we've got a few things in the pipeline for hopefully soon in season. But so far, it's I think similar to what I remember from my limited experience in a ground-effect car.”

damn.

I have been trying to remain hopeful but those quotes in that article do not paint a pretty picture.

[101FlyingDutchman]

Don’t get the negativity either. We obviously don’t know fuel loads or engine maps but ALO is also in the 37s after 5 laps. Race pace doesn’t seem that bad and comparable to ones I see as our direct competition for this year

[MrGapes]

Don’t get the negativity either. We obviously don’t know fuel loads or engine maps but ALO is also in the 37s after 5 laps. Race pace doesn’t seem that bad and comparable to ones I see as our direct competition for this year

Yeah 100% it’s all relative to what other teams accomplished over the winter, just sucks when the team boss says they failed to meet there development goals etc. etc.

[organic]

When is the first upgrade package due?

[Lucky]

I honestly don’t understand the feel for optimism around here. The car looks slow. It is not smooth around the corners. Seems to degrade its tires.

It doesn’t fit with a team aspiring to leave the midfield this year and close the gap to the top teams, to fight for the championship in 2025.

I agree, McLaren will fight for Q2 in Bahrain. Q3 definitely won't.

[Macklaren]

Zak's comments are grim but interesting. They clearly knew they did not hit their development targets at launch already even before turning a wheel. Also sounds like he is now lighting a fire under Key