McLaren MCL36 Speculation Thread

[adrianjordan]

No DRS button?

I'm think most teams now have it turn on automatically when its available

Activate it automatically is pretty sure forbbiden (safety reason). It is likely on the rear side as a paddle.

Or the big red button.... Or maybe I just like big red buttons!!

[basti313]

AMuS is claiming Mclaren might show up in Barcelona with a basic spec as opposed to the fully realized 2022 car. Interesting approach if true.

Source: https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... udget-cap/

Seems that they wanted to make an article on the 2 potential approaches (Basic car in Barcelona and Developed car in Bahrain or Developed Car in Barcelona) and simply used McLaren as an example of it…

Whether they can bring a basic car and then a developed one is a matter of cost… I understand the reluctancy of Teams to bring their cars to Barcelona and let the other Teams copy their solutions, but correlation tests in Barcelona could be crucial… If a team gets 3 complete days of testing on their “close to racing spec” car it could also be a major advantage going into the season.

I think McLaren is the only team where it would make sense.
They are the only (hopefully) top team without control over the engine. So they have to develop the bodywork to any late changes. In this regard it may be necessary to go with a basic cooling spec to the first test, see if it works or where they can shrink further.
For anything else, like wings or boards they would keep the bodywork and just modify it.

[Giando]

So, talking about pull-rod suspensions... if i understand correctly by the photos shared online, is it possible that the MCL36 front scheme may not replicate the one used back in 2013 (with vertical dampers, like Ferrari's set up 2012-2015) but instead have horizontally mounted dampers and or springs in an area in front and below the drivers feet?

[Stu]

AMuS is claiming Mclaren might show up in Barcelona with a basic spec as opposed to the fully realized 2022 car. Interesting approach if true.

Source: https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... udget-cap/

Seems that they wanted to make an article on the 2 potential approaches (Basic car in Barcelona and Developed car in Bahrain or Developed Car in Barcelona) and simply used McLaren as an example of it…

Whether they can bring a basic car and then a developed one is a matter of cost… I understand the reluctancy of Teams to bring their cars to Barcelona and let the other Teams copy their solutions, but correlation tests in Barcelona could be crucial… If a team gets 3 complete days of testing on their “close to racing spec” car it could also be a major advantage going into the season.

I would be amazed if any of the top teams (the ones that are limited by the budget cap) bring anything other than either a ‘vanilla’ aero spec or very heavily camouflaged aero to the first test. I wouldn’t plan on it, I would tend to use it to put miles into the engine/drivetrain & test things that cannot be accurately done on the sim.

We are hearing stories about the pace that some teams are seeing on the sim (I hope for their sakes that they haven’t got correlation issues…), if they are confident in their sim/track correlation why show your hand early?

[SmallSoldier]

AMuS is claiming Mclaren might show up in Barcelona with a basic spec as opposed to the fully realized 2022 car. Interesting approach if true.

Source: https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... udget-cap/

Seems that they wanted to make an article on the 2 potential approaches (Basic car in Barcelona and Developed car in Bahrain or Developed Car in Barcelona) and simply used McLaren as an example of it…

Whether they can bring a basic car and then a developed one is a matter of cost… I understand the reluctancy of Teams to bring their cars to Barcelona and let the other Teams copy their solutions, but correlation tests in Barcelona could be crucial… If a team gets 3 complete days of testing on their “close to racing spec” car it could also be a major advantage going into the season.

I think McLaren is the only team where it would make sense.
They are the only (hopefully) top team without control over the engine. So they have to develop the bodywork to any late changes. In this regard it may be necessary to go with a basic cooling spec to the first test, see if it works or where they can shrink further.
For anything else, like wings or boards they would keep the bodywork and just modify it.

Almost every single team would make sense if you think about it… From the top teams, to teams like Haas, Alfa, Williams… Almost every single team could easily show up with a base car… That’s why I said that they just used McLaren as an example.

[the EDGE]

if they are confident in their sim/track correlation why show your hand early?

With such a big rules upheaval I'm not sure any team could be confident, yes there are benefits from keeping things hidden for now, but that has to be finely balanced with the need for genuine data, and the need to be on top of your game ahead of the competition in understanding what you have

What is there to gain from spending what is already a very tight budget for the top teams, in developing 2 lots of aero for tests that are only 2 weeks apart. Sure, there will be updates for test 2 and probably race 1 or 2, sure, some innovation may be held back deliberately, but lets not forget there is limited scope for anything major to be designed so it's likely to be small detail

And lets not forget, these cars are not just new to teams, they are going to be all new beasts for the drivers to come to terms with too, I'm not sure any driver wants 3 days of settling into a new skill-set and way to drive the car, only to find the cars characteristics notably changed 2 weeks later and be back at square 1

For me, the race would be on from Feb 23 to be ready for Mach 20, and that is not a long time to have days to burn playing 'hide the aero' game, in fact just 3 weeks to be precise

[SmallSoldier]

AMuS is claiming Mclaren might show up in Barcelona with a basic spec as opposed to the fully realized 2022 car. Interesting approach if true.

Source: https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... udget-cap/

Seems that they wanted to make an article on the 2 potential approaches (Basic car in Barcelona and Developed car in Bahrain or Developed Car in Barcelona) and simply used McLaren as an example of it…

Whether they can bring a basic car and then a developed one is a matter of cost… I understand the reluctancy of Teams to bring their cars to Barcelona and let the other Teams copy their solutions, but correlation tests in Barcelona could be crucial… If a team gets 3 complete days of testing on their “close to racing spec” car it could also be a major advantage going into the season.

I would be amazed if any of the top teams (the ones that are limited by the budget cap) bring anything other than either a ‘vanilla’ aero spec or very heavily camouflaged aero to the first test. I wouldn’t plan on it, I would tend to use it to put miles into the engine/drivetrain & test things that cannot be accurately done on the sim.

We are hearing stories about the pace that some teams are seeing on the sim (I hope for their sakes that they haven’t got correlation issues…), if they are confident in their sim/track correlation why show your hand early?

With such a change in the regulations, I guess that correlation is a big question mark for all teams… Making sure that it’s on point should be one of the priorities for the first tests.

[basti313]

Seems that they wanted to make an article on the 2 potential approaches (Basic car in Barcelona and Developed car in Bahrain or Developed Car in Barcelona) and simply used McLaren as an example of it…

Whether they can bring a basic car and then a developed one is a matter of cost… I understand the reluctancy of Teams to bring their cars to Barcelona and let the other Teams copy their solutions, but correlation tests in Barcelona could be crucial… If a team gets 3 complete days of testing on their “close to racing spec” car it could also be a major advantage going into the season.

I think McLaren is the only team where it would make sense.
They are the only (hopefully) top team without control over the engine. So they have to develop the bodywork to any late changes. In this regard it may be necessary to go with a basic cooling spec to the first test, see if it works or where they can shrink further.
For anything else, like wings or boards they would keep the bodywork and just modify it.

Almost every single team would make sense if you think about it… From the top teams, to teams like Haas, Alfa, Williams… Almost every single team could easily show up with a base car… That’s why I said that they just used McLaren as an example.

No, as you say they need to do correlation work as early and as much as possible.

But I guess we mean the same, but did not define what we understand from "bodywork".

My understanding:
- Front and rear wings will change every second week. Budget cap or not, we will see new front wings every race if necessary, not like last season.
- The floor will change on a nearly similar basis. In terms of budget cap this will hurt, maybe they also start screwing the fins on the bottom instead of gluing...but everyone will need a strong development in this area.

In this regard the bodywork when we speak about a test spec, is just the covers of the main body except for the ones above. The big and expensive CF parts.
There I think that everyone with his own engine should have the data to go all-in from the start and turn up with most parts also at the first test. But this is the point where I expect McLaren to struggle. They had a too wide bodywork an not an optimized packing last season and now need to plan on the E10 engine changes...I think this is super difficult without the test.

By the way: I did not include Haas, Alpha or Willi into the discussion from my side as I see no reason why they should play any role.

[McFAN]

[SmallSoldier]

I think McLaren is the only team where it would make sense.
They are the only (hopefully) top team without control over the engine. So they have to develop the bodywork to any late changes. In this regard it may be necessary to go with a basic cooling spec to the first test, see if it works or where they can shrink further.
For anything else, like wings or boards they would keep the bodywork and just modify it.

Almost every single team would make sense if you think about it… From the top teams, to teams like Haas, Alfa, Williams… Almost every single team could easily show up with a base car… That’s why I said that they just used McLaren as an example.

No, as you say they need to do correlation work as early and as much as possible.

But I guess we mean the same, but did not define what we understand from "bodywork".

My understanding:
- Front and rear wings will change every second week. Budget cap or not, we will see new front wings every race if necessary, not like last season.
- The floor will change on a nearly similar basis. In terms of budget cap this will hurt, maybe they also start screwing the fins on the bottom instead of gluing...but everyone will need a strong development in this area.

In this regard the bodywork when we speak about a test spec, is just the covers of the main body except for the ones above. The big and expensive CF parts.
There I think that everyone with his own engine should have the data to go all-in from the start and turn up with most parts also at the first test. But this is the point where I expect McLaren to struggle. They had a too wide bodywork an not an optimized packing last season and now need to plan on the E10 engine changes...I think this is super difficult without the test.

By the way: I did not include Haas, Alpha or Willi into the discussion from my side as I see no reason why they should play any role.

I wouldn’t consider the MCL35M fat by any means… On the contrary, it was the “slimmest” car McLaren has made in years (definitely compared to the MCL35 and MCL34 that preceded it)… The not optimized package last season wasn’t due to lack of knowledge, it was because of lack of Tokens… If anything, this season they have the experience of working with Mercedes for a couple of years (if one considers the preparation time in 2020 as part of their working relationship), they also understand what is needed for the PU and any hardware changes necessary due to changes to the PU by Mercedes will be known way in advance… The change to E10 shouldn’t have a significant impact for McLaren to properly install the PU and optimize it’s integration.

There is no reason for McLaren not to go “all in” if they wanted to… Just as they could easily “hide their goods” before Bahrain… My point is that the article could be applicable to every team (including McLaren) and not necessarily a sign of McLaren may end up doing.

[adrianjordan]

Almost every single team would make sense if you think about it… From the top teams, to teams like Haas, Alfa, Williams… Almost every single team could easily show up with a base car… That’s why I said that they just used McLaren as an example.

No, as you say they need to do correlation work as early and as much as possible.

But I guess we mean the same, but did not define what we understand from "bodywork".

My understanding:
- Front and rear wings will change every second week. Budget cap or not, we will see new front wings every race if necessary, not like last season.
- The floor will change on a nearly similar basis. In terms of budget cap this will hurt, maybe they also start screwing the fins on the bottom instead of gluing...but everyone will need a strong development in this area.

In this regard the bodywork when we speak about a test spec, is just the covers of the main body except for the ones above. The big and expensive CF parts.
There I think that everyone with his own engine should have the data to go all-in from the start and turn up with most parts also at the first test. But this is the point where I expect McLaren to struggle. They had a too wide bodywork an not an optimized packing last season and now need to plan on the E10 engine changes...I think this is super difficult without the test.

By the way: I did not include Haas, Alpha or Willi into the discussion from my side as I see no reason why they should play any role.

I wouldn’t consider the MCL35M fat by any means… On the contrary, it was the “slimmest” car McLaren has made in years (definitely compared to the MCL35 and MCL34 that preceded it)… The not optimized package last season wasn’t due to lack of knowledge, it was because of lack of Tokens… If anything, this season they have the experience of working with Mercedes for a couple of years (if one considers the preparation time in 2020 as part of their working relationship), they also understand what is needed for the PU and any hardware changes necessary due to changes to the PU by Mercedes will be known way in advance… The change to E10 shouldn’t have a significant impact for McLaren to properly install the PU and optimize it’s integration.

There is no reason for McLaren not to go “all in” if they wanted to… Just as they could easily “hide their goods” before Bahrain… My point is that the article could be applicable to every team (including McLaren) and not necessarily a sign of McLaren may end up doing.

This!!

[Motörhead]

No, as you say they need to do correlation work as early and as much as possible.

But I guess we mean the same, but did not define what we understand from "bodywork".

My understanding:
- Front and rear wings will change every second week. Budget cap or not, we will see new front wings every race if necessary, not like last season.
- The floor will change on a nearly similar basis. In terms of budget cap this will hurt, maybe they also start screwing the fins on the bottom instead of gluing...but everyone will need a strong development in this area.

In this regard the bodywork when we speak about a test spec, is just the covers of the main body except for the ones above. The big and expensive CF parts.
There I think that everyone with his own engine should have the data to go all-in from the start and turn up with most parts also at the first test. But this is the point where I expect McLaren to struggle. They had a too wide bodywork an not an optimized packing last season and now need to plan on the E10 engine changes...I think this is super difficult without the test.


By the way: I did not include Haas, Alpha or Willi into the discussion from my side as I see no reason why they should play any role.

I wouldn’t consider the MCL35M fat by any means… On the contrary, it was the “slimmest” car McLaren has made in years (definitely compared to the MCL35 and MCL34 that preceded it)… The not optimized package last season wasn’t due to lack of knowledge, it was because of lack of Tokens… If anything, this season they have the experience of working with Mercedes for a couple of years (if one considers the preparation time in 2020 as part of their working relationship), they also understand what is needed for the PU and any hardware changes necessary due to changes to the PU by Mercedes will be known way in advance… The change to E10 shouldn’t have a significant impact for McLaren to properly install the PU and optimize it’s integration.

There is no reason for McLaren not to go “all in” if they wanted to… Just as they could easily “hide their goods” before Bahrain… My point is that the article could be applicable to every team (including McLaren) and not necessarily a sign of McLaren may end up doing.

This!!

Let's face it Chaps......
Looking at seasons past, all the teams turn up with a car that's pretty close to what will be raced on the first weekend. They need to, as correlation is king. Yes it will be basic. But it will match the Tunnel config pre race one.

The first race will be updates. Floor edges, diffuser upgrades etc, perhaps a front wing or two? Then more correlation work on the Friday practice. This is the usual practice. Tunnel config race one.

However, if teams have truly come up with something that's considered unique, like a pull rod configuration with the rockers, dampers etc in the keel area, (Which I believe several teams are looking at), involves a major architectural change, and the budget simply won't be there to hide it and it makes correlation pointless in the early test.

The launches won't reveal much, either renders of the FIA car or highly camouflaged wraps with discreet camera angles. Unless someone unveils a major sponsor or partner, like Audi for instance. Then we may get to see a little more.

[adrianjordan]

I wouldn’t consider the MCL35M fat by any means… On the contrary, it was the “slimmest” car McLaren has made in years (definitely compared to the MCL35 and MCL34 that preceded it)… The not optimized package last season wasn’t due to lack of knowledge, it was because of lack of Tokens… If anything, this season they have the experience of working with Mercedes for a couple of years (if one considers the preparation time in 2020 as part of their working relationship), they also understand what is needed for the PU and any hardware changes necessary due to changes to the PU by Mercedes will be known way in advance… The change to E10 shouldn’t have a significant impact for McLaren to properly install the PU and optimize it’s integration.

There is no reason for McLaren not to go “all in” if they wanted to… Just as they could easily “hide their goods” before Bahrain… My point is that the article could be applicable to every team (including McLaren) and not necessarily a sign of McLaren may end up doing.

This!!

Let's face it Chaps......
Looking at seasons past, all the teams turn up with a car that's pretty close to what will be raced on the first weekend. They need to, as correlation is king. Yes it will be basic. But it will match the Tunnel config pre race one.

The first race will be updates. Floor edges, diffuser upgrades etc, perhaps a front wing or two? Then more correlation work on the Friday practice. This is the usual practice. Tunnel config race one.

However, if teams have truly come up with something that's considered unique, like a pull rod configuration with the rockers, dampers etc in the keel area, (Which I believe several teams are looking at), involves a major architectural change, and the budget simply won't be there to hide it and it makes correlation pointless in the early test.

The launches won't reveal much, either renders of the FIA car or highly camouflaged wraps with discreet camera angles. Unless someone unveils a major sponsor or partner, like Audi for instance. Then we may get to see a little more.

I'm fully expecting the launch cars to be the FIA mock up perhaps just with a tweaked nose design to ape the car's actual nose or something like that.

[BOEING>AIRBUS]

It seems McLaren will be bringing an upgrade package to the first race of the season. This isn't surprising of course, but nice regardless. It's always good to have such things confirmed.

[Motörhead]

It seems McLaren will be bringing an upgrade package to the first race of the season. This isn't surprising of course, but nice regardless. It's always good to have such things confirmed.

Have they confirmed anything?

I'm talking generically. Every team will bring upgrades if they can......