2022 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[diffuser]

In regards to Alonso and Norris:

Alonso was definitely faster in Qualifying, but yesterday was more about driver confidence than car pace (of course there is a relationship between them, but Alonso did Alonso things and had an amazing lap… He was consistently on great pace and that brings confidence

Nevertheless, from a Race Pace perspective, it wasn’t a matter of Alonso not been able to overtake Norris, it was simply pace differential between the cars.

That’s why I mention that it isn’t about the P4-P5, but most importantly about race pace… Which was up there and way faster than the rest of the midfield (AT, AM, AR)… And of course Alpine


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Alonso doesn't hustle for nothing. He knew the race was gonna be long and the only guy he really needed to pass was Norris. He didn't need to stay that close behind him, every race at Singapour has had atleast 1 safety car. He was biding his time trying to keep his inters fresh and Max behind.

That’s your opinion… Watching the lap times through the whole race, the delta was created from very early in the race and Norris was also protecting his (and increasing the gap while doing so)… Not acknowledging that fact is just a bit myopic… Even when Alonso was pushing to keep Max behind him, Lando was either matching or increasing the gap.

We simply watched two different races apparently… Good thing is, we will get a better understanding in Japan


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Think we watched the same race but you're disregarding the qualifying time in the rain but feel the race lap times in the rain are important and I'm disregrading both.

We both agree that Japan should tell us more.

[Ground Effect]

Alonso doesn't hustle for nothing. He knew the race was gonna be long and the only guy he really needed to pass was Norris. He didn't need to stay that close behind him, every race at Singapour has had atleast 1 safety car. He was biding his time trying to keep his inters fresh and Max behind.

That’s your opinion… Watching the lap times through the whole race, the delta was created from very early in the race and Norris was also protecting his (and increasing the gap while doing so)… Not acknowledging that fact is just a bit myopic… Even when Alonso was pushing to keep Max behind him, Lando was either matching or increasing the gap.

We simply watched two different races apparently… Good thing is, we will get a better understanding in Japan


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Think we watched the same race but you're disregarding the qualifying time in the rain but feel the race lap times in the rain are important and I'm disregrading both.

We both agree that Japan should tell us more.

Or it could be that the Alpine updates delivered better qualifying pace, while McLaren's delivered better race pace. The good news is we'll find out in just under a week.

[Mostlyeels]

Great race for the Team… P4 and P5… That’s why you don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

I had mentally written-off this race and decided to just watch the highlights this morning when I woke up. Now going back to watch the full race and savour the whole thing

[bauc]

Great race for the team, both drivers did not put one foot wrong all night and got lucky (finally) with the SC.

Bravo team, now LETS GO BIG IN JAPAN!

[SmallSoldier]

Great race for the Team… P4 and P5… That’s why you don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

I had mentally written-off this race and decided to just watch the highlights this morning when I woke up. Now going back to watch the full race and savour the whole thing

Every once in a while you get a nice surprise… I enjoyed the race, Lando’s defense against Max had me a bit on edge!

[runningmanz]

The usual fantastic drive from Lando today again, amazing result for the team. Great to see Dan have a good race and get some praise as well. Andreas seems stoked at the result.

"Daniel and Lando both had superb drives today in tricky conditions."

“They did not put a wheel wrong on a day when many of their peers went off – but equally they benefitted from great teamwork and clear communication from their strategists, engineers and the pit crew, who once again delivered.”

"Special mention for Daniel. From P16 to P5 is a magnificent achievement. Both he and everyone on his side of the garage have worked so hard and shown so much commitment this year, it makes me very happy to see his best result of the season so far."

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2022 ... -the-game/

[djos]

How did Danny end up 31 seconds behind lando

He was on the soft tires and had to make them last for ~30 mins of racing. I suspect McLaren decided to split their tire strategy just because it wasn't clear how much the track would evolve.

[djos]

The usual fantastic drive from Lando today again, amazing result for the team. Great to see Dan have a good race and get some praise as well. Andreas seems stoked at the result.

"Daniel and Lando both had superb drives today in tricky conditions."

“They did not put a wheel wrong on a day when many of their peers went off – but equally they benefitted from great teamwork and clear communication from their strategists, engineers and the pit crew, who once again delivered.”

"Special mention for Daniel. From P16 to P5 is a magnificent achievement. Both he and everyone on his side of the garage have worked so hard and shown so much commitment this year, it makes me very happy to see his best result of the season so far."

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2022 ... -the-game/

I must say, that was an epic drive from Daniel, yes he had some good luck, but he made iirc ~3 places at the start and just did not make a single mistake all race.

A very good drive from Lando too!

McLaren just nailed the strategy with perfect timing for the pit stop - brilliant to see them getting it so right for both drivers.

[runningmanz]

Yeah really nice for everything to come together with some luck too , but often you make your own luck as well. Keeping the car on track in those tricky conditions goes a long way towards that and being right there to capitalise on safety cars etc.

In the immortal words of the A-Team lol

[Mostlyeels]

Every once in a while you get a nice surprise… I enjoyed the race, Lando’s defense against Max had me a bit on edge!

Even though I knew what was going to happen, I kept thinking "is it now?"

Dan keeping the gap to Stroll while preserving the Softs was great too.

And now McLaren are 4 points ahead of Alpine. I can't imagine that'll last, so I'm basking in the glory now.

[Mostlyeels]

McLaren just nailed the strategy with perfect timing for the pit stop - brilliant to see them getting it so right for both drivers.

Yep, when strategy works, it's a beautiful thing!

[FittingMechanics]

Great result.

Honestly when the team was staying out I was thinking they are making a mistake but now I think it was a smart move (and probably understood by the strategy team).

This is a race where the walls are all around, anyone making a mistake on slicks on a damp track will bring out the safety car (which happened). So effectively by staying out, you are taking a bit of a risk but not that much, Ricciardo was not going to overtake a bunch of cars if he pitted earlier and Lando was not going to end up on the podium by doing the same. Only one close to him was Verstappen who we expected to overtake us regardless of what we do and the other one was Hamilton that lost 10+ seconds in the pit (meaning Lando can lose couple of seconds waiting to see what happens).

Good job team!

[SmallSoldier]

Every once in a while you get a nice surprise… I enjoyed the race, Lando’s defense against Max had me a bit on edge!

Even though I knew what was going to happen, I kept thinking "is it now?"

Dan keeping the gap to Stroll while preserving the Softs was great too.

And now McLaren are 4 points ahead of Alpine. I can't imagine that'll last, so I'm basking in the glory now.

I keep my expectations low… If it’s a bad weekend, it doesn’t bother me much because I didn’t expected a good one and if they have a good weekend (like yesterday) I enjoy it twice as much

[SmallSoldier]

Great result.

Honestly when the team was staying out I was thinking they are making a mistake but now I think it was a smart move (and probably understood by the strategy team).

This is a race where the walls are all around, anyone making a mistake on slicks on a damp track will bring out the safety car (which happened). So effectively by staying out, you are taking a bit of a risk but not that much, Ricciardo was not going to overtake a bunch of cars if he pitted earlier and Lando was not going to end up on the podium by doing the same. Only one close to him was Verstappen who we expected to overtake us regardless of what we do and the other one was Hamilton that lost 10+ seconds in the pit (meaning Lando can lose couple of seconds waiting to see what happens).

Good job team!

Good assessment! In addition to not been anything to gain, the switch to Softs also carried an overcut risk… Leclerc loss 10-11 seconds to Perez on his outlap with Brand New mediums… Even though slicks ultimately were faster, it was taking a couple of laps for them to come to temperature and the track was still greasy

[FittingMechanics]

Good assessment! In addition to not been anything to gain, the switch to Softs also carried an overcut risk… Leclerc loss 10-11 seconds to Perez on his outlap with Brand New mediums… Even though slicks ultimately were faster, it was taking a couple of laps for them to come to temperature and the track was still greasy

I do feel that the team is often quite cautious in strategy. Something that is boring when you are a midfield team, sometimes you need to take a gamble to get the big payoff.

But here it does make sense to stay out, but for example if it was Paul Ricard, it is a different story.