2022 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

And what makes you say that Lando would not be able to do exactly the same?

Nothing made me say that, because I didn't say that.

I said he was a slow burner and we can't yet put him in the top category as he hasn't fought at that level yet. As much as we believe in him, he is yet to prove it at the top of F1.

He cant prove he is a top driver without a top car. To do so, you need to put him in a top car.
He did prove he can extract maximum out of non-optimal package though. And it is better to be slow burner getting better and better, than burning out right away.

None of which I disagreed with. I just said you can't put him in the elite drivers category yet. Not that he isn't capable or won't.

I think some want to put him next to Max and Lewis but he hasn't proved that yet, or had the opportunity to.

[Ben1980]

Yeah he needs to improve for sure at times particularly qualli but I think your missing the main point, its not that black and white. This new reg car being another reset this year is still relatively unnatural in some respects with his driving style and not easy to drive, even Lando said it himself. I thought it was pretty obvious to see this given he hasn't had these issues with any other teams.

Why should he try to relearn his driving style to suit a slow, uniquely quirky car that is a moving target in regards to development and philosphy and currently takes away his strengths? Thats why the team are actively working on improving it more towards his driving style and a more traditional handling car as much as possible which even Lando himself wants because its easier to drive and extract the limit from for both guys.

Until that happens he will still have struggles at times (but less as this new reg car evolution continues) but it doesn't mean the the reward at the end isn;t worth it. That reward being fighting at the front for the WCC. Thats where the bigger picture comes in and not about just getting aggro at some of the short term results. Thats how I believe the team view things at the moment and a big part of the reason why he is still there and Zak and Andreas' answers to the speculation haven't changed.

Why should he try to relearn his driving style to suit a slow, uniquely quirky car that is a moving target in regards to development and philosphy and currently takes away his strengths

I don't know, maybe it's because it's his job to get the best out of the machinery he has been given? If he just says why should I change, that's a ridiculous move.

[SmallSoldier]

Yeah I said before the last stop please not hards, but I guess they thought it was the best at the time with the remaining tyres left. DId he not have some softs left to go on? He needs more mediums until they can figure out why he has trouble making the hards work at times imo

We need to always keep context in mind… Daniel pitted in Lap 46 for his set of Hards, he pitted ahead of Stroll, Vettel and Gasly… Therefore, there was no way for the team to know which tires each one of those were planning on running.

In addition, neither Daniel nor Lando had new sets of Softs available, they had 1 new set of Mediums and 1 of Hard for the race.

Finally, Lando pitted on lap 42 for Hards and did laps of 1:24.2 and 1:23.7 while Daniel was running 1:25.0… During the last stint, Lando was running on the mid 1:23.XX while Daniel’s best lap on the Hards was a 1:24.3 and he was running really on the mid to high’s 1:24.XX… Going for the Hards wasn’t really the issue as proven by his Team Mate

They should have gambled on used softs imo, they could see other teams having trouble on the hards. They always play it too safe and more often than not Dan has trouble in the McLaren warming up the hards. Would have preferred him to go out swinging on used softs and defending near the end if need be which he is good at rather than skating around on hard tyres losing alot of time.

Again Lando came out around cars that were on 30+ lap mediums not really under any pressure and able to ideally warm up the hards. Dan came out with Stroll on new softs and Vettel on new mediums breathing down his neck and also Gasly coming at him with new softs. Not the same situation. In hindsight it was the wrong call by the team to put him on hards. Like I said a gamble every now and then would be preferable to playing it safe all the time and still screwing up strategy more often than not.

It’s easy to be General after the battle, knowing what the others would do and knowing how much the tires would last definitely helps make the right call

But, the Team had data at their disposal, they had the Soft tires they used in the first stint and that were changed in 14 laps… Maybe with the data at their disposal they didn’t think the Softs would last 24 laps?

The funny thing is that you say “Gamble with Daniel every once in a while”, if they do and he has a bad race because of it, the message is “The team is screwing Daniel”… If they play it “Safe” and the result isn’t good, then the “The team is screwing Daniel”.

At the end of the day, on the same strategy, on the same car, on the same weekend his Team Mate ended P7 and way ahead up the road… Daniel’s result is of his own doing and because of his lack of performance, not the Team’s fault or the strategy.

[runningmanz]

Yeah he needs to improve for sure at times particularly qualli but I think your missing the main point, its not that black and white. This new reg car being another reset this year is still relatively unnatural in some respects with his driving style and not easy to drive, even Lando said it himself. I thought it was pretty obvious to see this given he hasn't had these issues with any other teams.

Why should he try to relearn his driving style to suit a slow, uniquely quirky car that is a moving target in regards to development and philosphy and currently takes away his strengths? Thats why the team are actively working on improving it more towards his driving style and a more traditional handling car as much as possible which even Lando himself wants because its easier to drive and extract the limit from for both guys.

Until that happens he will still have struggles at times (but less as this new reg car evolution continues) but it doesn't mean the the reward at the end isn;t worth it. That reward being fighting at the front for the WCC. Thats where the bigger picture comes in and not about just getting aggro at some of the short term results. Thats how I believe the team view things at the moment and a big part of the reason why he is still there and Zak and Andreas' answers to the speculation haven't changed.

Why should he try to relearn his driving style to suit a slow, uniquely quirky car that is a moving target in regards to development and philosphy and currently takes away his strengths

I don't know, maybe it's because it's his job to get the best out of the machinery he has been given? If he just says why should I change, that's a ridiculous move.

I'm not talking about making a few adjustments here and there which is what he is doing , I'm talking about totally changing his driving style which is completely unnatural and extremely difficult to do. Not to mention taking away from the things he is naturally good at in a normal car. It makes no sense to do that when the car is being developed anyway more towards your natural abilities which is what I'm getting at.

[runningmanz]

We need to always keep context in mind… Daniel pitted in Lap 46 for his set of Hards, he pitted ahead of Stroll, Vettel and Gasly… Therefore, there was no way for the team to know which tires each one of those were planning on running.

In addition, neither Daniel nor Lando had new sets of Softs available, they had 1 new set of Mediums and 1 of Hard for the race.

Finally, Lando pitted on lap 42 for Hards and did laps of 1:24.2 and 1:23.7 while Daniel was running 1:25.0… During the last stint, Lando was running on the mid 1:23.XX while Daniel’s best lap on the Hards was a 1:24.3 and he was running really on the mid to high’s 1:24.XX… Going for the Hards wasn’t really the issue as proven by his Team Mate

They should have gambled on used softs imo, they could see other teams having trouble on the hards. They always play it too safe and more often than not Dan has trouble in the McLaren warming up the hards. Would have preferred him to go out swinging on used softs and defending near the end if need be which he is good at rather than skating around on hard tyres losing alot of time.

Again Lando came out around cars that were on 30+ lap mediums not really under any pressure and able to ideally warm up the hards. Dan came out with Stroll on new softs and Vettel on new mediums breathing down his neck and also Gasly coming at him with new softs. Not the same situation. In hindsight it was the wrong call by the team to put him on hards. Like I said a gamble every now and then would be preferable to playing it safe all the time and still screwing up strategy more often than not.

It’s easy to be General after the battle, knowing what the others would do and knowing how much the tires would last definitely helps make the right call

But, the Team had data at their disposal, they had the Soft tires they used in the first stint and that were changed in 14 laps… Maybe with the data at their disposal they didn’t think the Softs would last 24 laps?

The funny thing is that you say “Gamble with Daniel every once in a while”, if they do and he has a bad race because of it, the message is “The team is screwing Daniel”… If they play it “Safe” and the result isn’t good, then the “The team is screwing Daniel”.

At the end of the day, on the same strategy, on the same car, on the same weekend his Team Mate ended P7 and way ahead up the road… Daniel’s result is of his own doing and because of his lack of performance, not the Team’s fault or the strategy.

Well even I called not going onto hards and I'm not working with the team, many others called it as well. It was worth a gamble as many times playing it safe it hasn't worked with strategy anyway so why not do it every now and then.

I guess we are going around in circles but you just want to put it all on Ricciardo when the circumstances around those last pitstops were totally different for both drivers which in imo is not really fair. Yes Dan could obviously do more on the hards but its not that black and white when he was dropped in the middle of a fight with cars on much better tyres and couldn't warm them up properly for a start. Not to mention where he is still not 100% comfortable in this car due to retaining some of the quirks from the previous car which is the other end of the spectrum to what he was used to previously and where he didn't have these kind of issues, it explains alot but gets largely ignored by those only concerned with the points scoreboard.

Even Seidl has mentioned previously the team are helping him find the last few tenths in the car., its an ongoing process with Dan and the development in the car. Does he have work to do, of course, but its not all on him when the car still isn't what he was promised when he joined the team and not suiting his natural driving style and strengths hence why they are working towards a better balanced car and easier to handle car. Its not an excuse just an explanation using all the facts. Having said that I believe he is improving looking overall at the last 5 races.

[djos]

lol, blind Freddy could see that the hard tires were useless! Both Ferrari and Alpine went backwards fast on them. Even the commentators were calling them “concrete tires “.

[Lucky]

BREAKING: French media AutoHebdo reports that Oscar Piastri has a pre- agreement with another Formula 1 team.
One of the teams that showed great interest was McLaren.
If this is real, Alpine would have a serious problem with Fernando's seat.
#F1 #Formula1 #Piastri #Alonso

[McL-H]

BREAKING: French media AutoHebdo reports that Oscar Piastri has a pre- agreement with another Formula 1 team.
One of the teams that showed great interest was McLaren.
If this is real, Alpine would have a serious problem with Fernando's seat.
#F1 #Formula1 #Piastri #Alonso

I don’t think he will turn his back on Alpine now. And I do not believe he has any agreement with McLaren. Even if so, I believe he would still choose Alpine over McLaren.

[runningmanz]

BREAKING: French media AutoHebdo reports that Oscar Piastri has a pre- agreement with another Formula 1 team.
One of the teams that showed great interest was McLaren.
If this is real, Alpine would have a serious problem with Fernando's seat.
#F1 #Formula1 #Piastri #Alonso

I don’t think he will turn his back on Alpine now. And I do not believe he has any agreement with McLaren. Even if so, I believe he would still choose Alpine over McLaren.

Yeah I reckon its rubbish about rumors of any serious talks between him and McLaren. Zak, Andreas and Dan have all come out yet again recently and basically said nothing has changed and they want to succeed with Dan. In Dans case he confirmed on social media his commitment to the team for 2023 not long ago. They must be sick of saying the same thing over and over to the media, but I guess it doesn;t get enough clicks to say its status quo for 2023.

For Piastri it seems like a formality that he will be racing for Alpine now. Would be amazing if he got in the seat before the end of the year but Seb would have to leave AM early obviously for Alonso to go. Piastri has been great with his achievements so far winning 3 championships in a row in his rookie seasons and is the best prepared rookie ever it seems with everything Alpine have done with him prep wise this season. Looking forward to seeing how he goes.

[Ben1980]

I would guess that Mclaren are making plans in the background for next season without Ricciardo, tabs on Piastri would have been an option. I would also assume strong talks are going on about a deal with Ricciardo.

It's still likely he stays, but if he continues with a bad second half of the season the pressure will continue to build.

I think they all want to keep him, monetary being a reason, but it's by no means a given.

[Ben1980]

lol, blind Freddy could see that the hard tires were useless! Both Ferrari and Alpine went backwards fast on them. Even the commentators were calling them “concrete tires “.

Yep, but they should have been good enough to catch up the Alpines who one stopped. But as Ricciardo himself said the softs fell off after 16 laps, the concern being 24 would have been too much

A quote from Stroll, who pitted with Ricciardo and was swapped with Vettel because his tyres.

“The soft was the wrong tyre in the circumstances, sadly, but these things happen in racing. I had fun racing into the top 10.

[Lucky]

BREAKING: French media AutoHebdo reports that Oscar Piastri has a pre- agreement with another Formula 1 team.
One of the teams that showed great interest was McLaren.
If this is real, Alpine would have a serious problem with Fernando's seat.
#F1 #Formula1 #Piastri #Alonso

I don’t think he will turn his back on Alpine now. And I do not believe he has any agreement with McLaren. Even if so, I believe he would still choose Alpine over McLaren.

Never Say Never Again

[djos]

lol, blind Freddy could see that the hard tires were useless! Both Ferrari and Alpine went backwards fast on them. Even the commentators were calling them “concrete tires “.

Yep, but they should have been good enough to catch up the Alpines who one stopped. But as Ricciardo himself said the softs fell off after 16 laps, the concern being 24 would have been too much

A quote from Stroll, who pitted with Ricciardo and was swapped with Vettel because his tyres.

“The soft was the wrong tyre in the circumstances, sadly, but these things happen in racing. I had fun racing into the top 10.

Considering the wet running in practice and qually being run on soft tires, Mclaren should have had one more set of medium tires to put Daniel on. Putting him on hards was just inexplicable!

[Lucky]

lol, blind Freddy could see that the hard tires were useless! Both Ferrari and Alpine went backwards fast on them. Even the commentators were calling them “concrete tires “.

Yep, but they should have been good enough to catch up the Alpines who one stopped. But as Ricciardo himself said the softs fell off after 16 laps, the concern being 24 would have been too much

A quote from Stroll, who pitted with Ricciardo and was swapped with Vettel because his tyres.

“The soft was the wrong tyre in the circumstances, sadly, but these things happen in racing. I had fun racing into the top 10.

Considering the wet running in practice and qually being run on soft tires, Mclaren should have had one more set of medium tires to put Daniel on. Putting him on hards was just inexplicable!

[MrGapes]

Just realized the team has split its major packages evenly through the calendar every 6 races. Bahrain - Saudi - Australia - Italy - Miami - Spain (Upgrade) - Monaco - Azerbaijan - Canada - GB - Austria - France (Upgrade) etc.... as PhillipM mentioned Singapore is the next expected package which lines up with this (if Russia was included in the calendar).