Mansell89 wrote: ↑20 Dec 2021, 17:13
Anyone got a full translation for that? Looks a really good article from the bits I could make out
Here you go:
The goal with the MCL36 for 2022
Third place went to Ferrari. Nevertheless, McLaren takes stock satisfied after 2021. The team is developing. The car has been improved. The pit stops are more constant. The point average per race has been slightly increased. McLaren wants to create more balance between fast and slow curves with the 2022 car.
By Andreas Haupt 12/19/2021
A few figures to start with. McLaren only wrote a zero round in Hungary. Both drivers were hit through no fault of their own in the starting round. There was a double-digit yield 14 times, ten times before the summer break. McLaren scored less than ten points with both cars in seven Grand Prix of the season. In total, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo scored 12.5 points on average per race. A year ago there were 11.8.
McLaren won five podium places. The crowning glory was Monza's double victory with Ricciardo before Norris. Not even Mercedes or Red Bull did that this season. Norris also secured the team a pole position in Russia. The goals in the World Cup, which were aimed at by a particularly successful first half of the season, were missed in the end. Norris wanted to finish fifth. Sixth place jumped out. In the Team World Cup, Ferrari thwarted the plans with a strong final spurt as third.
"Appetite" to third place
McLaren got something out of step in the final spurt. Bad luck also played a big role. Tire damage, starting collisions, Sochi's risk strategy, which was supposed to lead to victory, and Norris finally threw back to seventh place. It could have been at least a second.
We were in third place for a long time. This has stimulated our appetite to maintain this position," sums up Operations Manager Andrea Stella. But we have to remember that Ferrari was on poles in Monaco and Baku. And that on a dry route. So it was almost a surprise that they only came to third place so late."
This is also underlined by the team boss. Andreas Seidl points out that Ferrari was also faster in the first qualifyings of the season. Only McLaren made more of the possibilities and opportunities, and Ferrari sold itself below value in the races. At the back, the traditional racing stable was no longer quite as accurate. This does not cloud the view of the year. The development process makes us happy. We wanted to confirm our upward trend. We succeeded. Technically and as a team, says Stella. With an improved car, you have consolidated in the front midfield. And the team has also taken the next step, for example, with more constant and less error-prone pit stops.
MCL35M an efficient car
Chief of Technology James Key is also generally satisfied. The McLaren MCL35M was a car with which drivers could advance to the Q3 of qualification on every route. A safe car for the top 10, which, like in Monza, also took off to fly high or slipped into the other extreme like in Zandvoort without sinking completely. In the Netherlands, Alpha Tauri, Ferrari and Alpine from the midfield were faster, but McLaren did not fall into the bottomless on his fear track.
The MCL35M did not like the many elongated curves. Maximum downforce was required in Zandvoort. The McLaren did not feel comfortable with this combination. An even bigger wing was missing. Mercedes also faced the problem. In general, the more long slow and medium-fast curves a track had this season, the more McLaren suffered. Angled corners or high-speed passages were the profession.
"We have worked on these weaknesses and have also made progress. Nevertheless, our car is not as robust in these curve types as in fast ones, explains Key. There was no continuous grip over the curve, with the front wheels hit. What was particularly good for the McLaren MCL35M? Fast courses with fast curves, long straight lines and hard braking zones. Monza was made for the papaya yellow car. The susceptibility to wind has been reduced compared to the 2020 car. Keep the efficient.
Unfinished work with MCL35M
The MCL35M had a healthy ratio of output and air resistance. Quite different from, for example, the Aston Martin AMR21, which was either good on straight lines, but suffered massively in curves. And was sensible in the curves with larger wings, but starved to death when driving straight ahead. "Efficiency is an important building block, because the car then works on every route," says Key. Of course, this efficiency would also be maintained next year.
The switch from Renault to Mercedes engine was a feat of strength. McLaren was allowed to switch from the FIA, but no two (additional) development tokens were granted. The engineers had to bring forward developments such as the new nose and adjustments to the front suspension in 2020, because certain vehicle parts were gradually frozen by the regulations in order to limit expenditure in the corona crisis.
The engineers would have liked to have made further modifications compared to the MCL35. For the suspensions, for example. But McLaren was prohibited from doing so. "It wasn't a big disadvantage," Key believes. Because of the homologation regulations and all the trimmings, the McLaren head of technology says. "We would have installed the Mercedes engine in the car without certainly anything else. Unfinished work has stopped with the 2021 car." But the others feel the same way. But it also means that McLaren will be better positioned next year from the packaging of the drive modules under the cladding alone.
Chassis crash test passed in December
If McLaren were allowed to develop the car completely new under the expired regulations, what would be done differently? We would have focused exclusively on the slower curves in aerodynamic development. Because there are more routes of this type than the fast ones.
McLaren stopped developing the MCL35M in the summer. Since then, the full focus has been on the 2022 car, which is being built under a completely new set of rules. The downforce is largely generated by the Venturi effect. "Our goal is to create more balance with the new car," says Key. This refers to slow and fast curves. The 2022 McLaren, called MCL36, is supposed to be an even more balanced package.
December is exhausting for the teams not only because of the last two races of the season. But also because this month the first big crash tests with the new car are usually due. The first chassis existed earlier this month. Development is in full swing. Nobody yet knows what the other is up to.
FIA will take a close look
The teams will only see exactly how the opponents interpreted the new technical rules during the winter test drives. What solutions they come to. Key believes: "The rules are written restrictively. But that tends to stimulate innovation." In all probability, the development speed will be extremely high in the first weeks of the season.
McLaren predicts that the cars will not all look the same. "I expect to see different ideas," says Key. We will all see what the others have done. At the same time, everyone must first ensure that what has been predicted in the factory actually arrives on the track. The correlation is tapped. We will compare strengths and weaknesses. I think from 2023, the teams under these regulations will get closer because the big trends will be identified over 2022."
A topic could become flexible parts again. Due to the return of the ground effect, perhaps even stronger than this season. Everyone will try to press as much clean air as possible into the channels in the underbody and keep them there. If you manage to artificially seal the pages, you could gain a great advantage. Key is cautious about this.
The tests for the rear wings are being tightened up. The Beam Wing is coming back. You can certainly use it in a way." This refers to the lower rear wing above the diffuser. The front wing is a massive part. But there are also strict guidelines on stiffness on this. I think there will be a few tricks with which the teams can play. But nothing that can simply be exploited. The FIA will take a close look at this."
As an organization, they will continue to grow with a new driving simulator and a new wind tunnel. McLaren is upgrading the development tools step by step. However, this will only benefit on a larger scale in the long term.
