2022 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Mansell89]

Yeah looks that way - I’m pleased as came to really love the Barcelona livery in the end

Anyway- the real business starts tomorrow with track time and development!

[_cerber1]

[SmallSoldier]

Was about to post… Hopefully nothing serious and he will be on the car tomorrow… These tests and miles on the car are very important for both drivers to get used to the car

[Ground Effect]

I find it a bit strange, or ironic that during the biggest boon of F1 team sponsorship in recent time, it has been the most quiet one for McLaren in recent years. A lot of high profile and commercial deals being done up and down the grid. Red Bull’s Oracke and crypto deals, AM with Aramco, Alpine with BWT, Williams got Duracell, Ferrari back with Santander, Alfa have been reported to have done about a dozen deals (probably small, but Zhou brings funding) etc. If anything, there have been more sponsor exits this year than in previous recent years.

[SmallSoldier]

I find it a bit strange, or ironic that during the biggest boon of F1 team sponsorship in recent time, it has been the most quiet one for McLaren in recent years. A lot of high profile and commercial deals being done up and down the grid. Red Bull’s Oracke and crypto deals, AM with Aramco, Alpine with BWT, Williams got Duracell, Ferrari back with Santander, Alfa have been reported to have done about a dozen deals (probably small, but Zhou brings funding) etc. If anything, there have been more sponsor exits this year than in previous recent years.

Zak’s philosophy has been one to avoid having “Title Sponsors”… And it’s not a bad one, you don’t rely on one particular one, you don’t have to please or cater to their marketing initiatives (for example having pink in the car due to BWT)… It’s early too… And the car is far from “naked”… I wouldn’t be too concerned

[101FlyingDutchman]

I feel our car looks very basic now I’ve seen the Merc…

[MrMclaren]

I feel our car looks very basic now I’ve seen the Merc…

I think every car looks basic compared to that mercedes...

[SmallSoldier]

I feel our car looks very basic now I’ve seen the Merc…

Still early to tell what the right approach is… If one looks at Ferrari and Mercedes they are in the opposite sides of the spectrum… McLaren is kind of in the middle of both… Every design will have a compromise, who is compromising less? We will find out soon enough.

At the same time, is it really surprising that Mercedes brought a very radical design? They have won the WCC 8 times in a row for a reason

[101FlyingDutchman]

It’s just the packaging that seems quite a bit more extreme. Our just looks bulky. I appreciate that the concept at the front is to push front tyre wake away but there is no downslope/high pod and the back “in comparison” doesn’t tighten up much either. But it doesn’t porpoise at least!

[SmallSoldier]

It’s just the packaging that seems quite a bit more extreme. Our just looks bulky. I appreciate that the concept at the front is to push front tyre wake away but there is no downslope/high pod and the back “in comparison” doesn’t tighten up much either. But it doesn’t porpoise at least!

The MCL36 could have smaller sidepods based on the “under skin” pictures we’ve seeing… If it looks bulky, is by design

[101FlyingDutchman]

For sure. Intrinsically we are closer in philosophy than most other teams anyway so if the Merc way is the way to go we should be able to move in that direction reasonably quickly. But the proof is in the eating. Let’s see what the clock says

[SmallSoldier]

If anything… The one thing that bothers me (not that it matters) is the fact that they have lost the first 40 minutes of testing without having the car on track… Images showed the mechanics working on the front suspension, without a baseline, it means that they weren’t ready to hit the ground running

[_cerber1]

Why is Lando not on the track?

[djos]

Kyle (former Mercedes’ aero engineer) has a positive view of the MCL36 aero concepts. So I’m optimistic Mclaren will be competitive.

[SmallSoldier]

Why is Lando not on the track?

I guess there was a last minute change on the seat (Daniel was expected to drive), but they showed footage of the team working on the suspension (which I don’t understand what they could be doing if the car hasn’t hit the track yet and they have some information from yesterday’s film day)