I’m positive that the lack of straight line speed is due to additional drag / downforce… I don’t think that is because the team purposely was trying to go for a setup that protected the tires, but more just a function of using a very similar package for this first 5 races, therefore not having a lower drag / DF package available for this race.mwillems wrote: ↑08 May 2022, 19:42Just thinking back to the slow speed on the straights.... praying it really is because they dialled in more downforce and the tyres will subsequently last longer, and not that the car is simply draggy.SmallSoldier wrote: ↑08 May 2022, 17:52A bit concerned about the strategy for the race… Pirelli is calling it a 2 stop race, with Medium - Hard - Hard or Medium - Hard - Medium the fastest strategies… Nevertheless, McLaren only has one of each on hand and used Softs.
Expect the team to run a couple of long stints on the Medium and Hards in order to be able to bolt Softs to the finish line, not ideal if the pace has to be lower to keep the tires alive.
At the same time, the possibility of Safety Cars and even Red Flags is high given not only the nature of the circuit but the fact that there is almost no grip outside of the racing line and those situations can work for you or against you depending on their timing.
Hopefully the parts expected for Barcelona will help generate more DF from the floor itself and therefore allow for a smaller rear wing and beam wing and the lower drag package that should follow.
The difference in top speeds were massive with McLaren clearly at the bottom of those charts… But, the higher downforce configuration should help the team protect the tires during the race, the only concern is that they could be sitting ducks without DRS on the back straight
