2022 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Mansell89]

James key should be sacked.

I'm sorry there is no excuse. More than 1 year into feedback from Dan saying this philosophy won't bring championships. We are now basically the weakest in low speed. Same bull crap direction as last car. Not only that now we have a trash draggy car that isn't even dominant in high and medium speed. Basically slightly above midfield.

What has this clown been doing for two years. Supposed to be challenging ferrari

What a load of nonsense.

Couldn’t agree more- James Key will come good. Remember he hasn’t got all the tools he needs yet.

I think he will do some very good things once the baseline convergences begin to happen - there were always teams who would have gone in a “wrong direction” to start with and it’s sad that it’s McLaren, but this team will sort it out and catch back up.

The last thing we need is the chaos of 2015 and hotheaded decisions.

Thankfully in Seidl and Brown we have calm heads to allow us to navigate the storm.

Do we have any upgrades pencilled for Melbourne or will it be after that because of the brake issue taking priority?

[mwillems]

This is JKs fiest design and he is one of many to add to the me handicap aspects of this car. He is primarily there to ensure the designers of the various aspects work in synergy along with production which he did very well.

As for low speed grip it seems we might need some folks in who are better at it than us. Perhaps offering a wedge of cash to Merc suspension designers.

Let's see how we press on.

[BMMR61]

Zak and Andreas knew fundamental truths over last few months when they played down the team’s chances and said the new wind tunnel was an important missing link. Aero and a weak PU seem to be the deficiencies at the moment but at least Jeddah showed they are getting a handle on the car. We ended up being similar to Alpine for race pace so P4 in constructors is still a target.

[djos]

James key should be sacked.

Throwing ppl under the bus for failures does not help anyone - I'm the head of Major Incident Management for a leading SaaS Software company and we hold "blameless retrospectives". This allows us to figure out what went wrong and how we can do a better job next time - and that includes improving tools, processes and training if required.

As a result our staff arent afraid to discuss what really happened, even if it means they call out their own human error. I can assure you this produces much better results than a culture that fires ppl for making mistakes.

We call it "failing forward" and I can assure you that modern F1 teams have similar approaches to learning from mistakes for the same reasons. Being afraid to fail, means being afraid to inovate.

[PhillipM]

That's also a big part of why Merc did so well and Ferrari were dismal until they got away from the 'sacking anyone for any mistake' culture they had till recently.

Honestly this thread has become laughable.

[genarro]

We are using the Toyota Cologne wind tunnel and thats probably a little outdated. Why isnt McLaren using Merc's windtunnel like Aston is? Not like a B Team but it's closer in England and probably more modern. Would that reveal their designs to Merc?Is the threat of loosing intelectual property too big of a risk for McLaren?

[djos]

That's also a big part of why Merc did so well and Ferrari were dismal until they got away from the 'sacking anyone for any mistake' culture they had till recently.

Honestly this thread has become laughable.

Nailed it.

[billamend]

[mclaren111]

James key should be sacked.

Throwing ppl under the bus for failures does not help anyone - I'm the head of Major Incident Management for a leading SaaS Software company and we hold "blameless retrospectives". This allows us to figure out what went wrong and how we can do a better job next time - and that includes improving tools, processes and training if required.

As a result our staff arent afraid to discuss what really happened, even if it means they call out their own human error. I can assure you this produces much better results than a culture that fires ppl for making mistakes.

We call it "failing forward" and I can assure you that modern F1 teams have similar approaches to learning from mistakes for the same reasons. Being afraid to fail, means being afraid to inovate.

Spot On...

[Vasco]

We are using the Toyota Cologne wind tunnel and thats probably a little outdated. Why isnt McLaren using Merc's windtunnel like Aston is? Not like a B Team but it's closer in England and probably more modern. Would that reveal their designs to Merc?Is the threat of loosing intelectual property too big of a risk for McLaren?

I think Aston Martin have some form of strategic collaboration agreement with Mercedes where they use the merc engine, gearbox and rear suspension as well the windtunnel. McLaren want independence and I don't think Mercedes are in the movie of renting out their windtunnel, unless it is underpinned by a strategic partnership with benefits to Mercedes and might require McLaren to play a more supporting role.

I suppose technically there are also issues like the calibration of the windtunnel and instruments etc which will be hard to manage in a fair and objective manner. Aston Martin are not doing any better with the Merc windtunnel. Going at it alone is the most costly option but makes the most sense in the long term for Mclaren.

[Emag]

It's puzzling how Lando says they lack a significant amount of downforce to most teams, yet their strengths are on high-speed corners which require downforce.

They were very bad in off-camber medium speed corners and low speed corners in general at Bahrain. But apart from the medium to high speed stuff, the lack of downforce should have nothing to do with those types of corners. McLaren were losing ~0.4-0.5s in T10 at Bahrain.

Surely the car must have other mechanical weaknesses besides the lack of downforce that they are reporting. And in that area, a better wind tunnel would not have helped them.

[JPower]

It's puzzling how Lando says they lack a significant amount of downforce to most teams, yet their strengths are on high-speed corners which require downforce.

They were very bad in off-camber medium speed corners and low speed corners in general at Bahrain. But apart from the medium to high speed stuff, the lack of downforce should have nothing to do with those types of corners. McLaren were losing ~0.4-0.5s in T10 at Bahrain.

Surely the car must have other mechanical weaknesses besides the lack of downforce that they are reporting. And in that area, a better wind tunnel would not have helped them.

Key said its missing aero and mechanical grip, so they've got some work to do on that end as well.

[Mansell89]

That's also a big part of why Merc did so well and Ferrari were dismal until they got away from the 'sacking anyone for any mistake' culture they had till recently.

Honestly this thread has become laughable.

Hey Philip- any whispers around the phases of a development plan and the races they may look to target to try them?

And secondly- any real word about the Mercedes PU performance? A very suspect lack of discussion from the customers so far despite the headline grabbing speed trap data.

Almost pinch yourself to believe it stuff!! (When you think about PU performance last season)

[PhillipM]

So far they think it's not much more than conservative mapping for reliability while they see what wear is like on the PU's, and the teams, merc included, running more wing because they don't have enough downforce through the tunnels, so might pick up after things have been checked over from the first sets of engines. Kinda like what they were doing with Bottas at the end of last year.

[Mansell89]

So far they think it's not much more than conservative mapping for reliability while they see what wear is like on the PU's, and the teams, merc included, running more wing because they don't have enough downforce through the tunnels, so might pick up after things have been checked over from the first sets of engines. Kinda like what they were doing with Bottas at the end of last year.

Thanks very much Phillip- very interesting indeed. So we probably thinking after Miami at least before we start to see any turning up of performance then I’d have thought? When we see them all “getting a sighter” of performance of these engines and ensuring reliability, is this because of managing the E10 fuel and the potential for a Gasly in Bahrain situation?

Be really interesting to see what the Mercedes powered teams go when it comes to upgrades, philosophies, and balancing downforce and drag.

Hope to see them unlock it and take the fight to the others.