2022 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[diffuser]

Honestly, I’d be very surprised to see Ford back in F1. They are pivoting hard to EV’s, particularly in the U.S. so investing in ICE Tech for racing doesn’t seem to be a logical move for them.

For the 2026 PU, I think any manufacturer interested in investing in the series are really in it for the hybrid component, as far I know the ICE component will become more standardised and regulated, the hybrid regulations have far more freedom, so the real competition and intellectual gain should come from the electric component.

- obviously they would still need to invest in ICE tech, but not to the level of extent the team did in the past years

Yep, with only half of the power coming from the ICE, you're not going far if you're not generating a ton of electricity. That ICE is gonna be spinning the MGU-K a ton.

[mwillems]

Interesting, I knew they were simplifying and loosening up the regs around the Hybrid technology, dropping the MGU-H but I thought they were deliberately opening up a synthetic fuel based development path for the engines and chemistry so they could be seen to opening a path towards a non EV eco option.

I'm just not totally sure how much this tech will take off or whether synthetic fuel cars will also be banned. They produce the same CO2 but obviously in the process of making them this is CO2 that is taken from the environment, so comes closer to Net Zero. Problem is that at present it takes a lot of land to produce the fuels, so they aren't viable on a mass scale right now and I'm not sure F1 can solve that problem.

[diffuser]

Maybe we'll see 2 MGU-Ks. One that does nothing but charge the battery and power the other MGU-K. The other will be a traditional MGU-K and respond to throttle power and regenerative braking requirements.

[mwillems]

Do they have scope to use the MGU-K in any way they like or is it only under braking? It seems to be only under braking.

So what will happen at tracks with the higher percentage of full throttle? Are we going to see substantially slower cars?

[continuum16]

I was under the impression it was Herta and O’Ward rather than Palou, but with the contract situation sorted maybe this was the plan all along. Perhaps Palou was more impressive on his test days than Herta? Probably more to do with the rumored 2024 Indycar drive. Either way I am extremely intrigued to see how he does next to Lando. Palou could be a good fallback in the event Lando or Oscar leave abruptly.

[Ground Effect]

I was under the impression it was Herta and O’Ward rather than Palou, but with the contract situation sorted maybe this was the plan all along. Perhaps Palou was more impressive on his test days than Herta? Probably more to do with the rumored 2024 Indycar drive. Either way I am extremely intrigued to see how he does next to Lando. Palou could be a good fallback in the event Lando or Oscar leave abruptly.

Would have been nice for Pato to have had FP1 in Mexico though.

[Swed3121]

I was under the impression it was Herta and O’Ward rather than Palou, but with the contract situation sorted maybe this was the plan all along. Perhaps Palou was more impressive on his test days than Herta? Probably more to do with the rumored 2024 Indycar drive. Either way I am extremely intrigued to see how he does next to Lando. Palou could be a good fallback in the event Lando or Oscar leave abruptly.

Would have been nice for Pato to have had FP1 in Mexico though.

As far as I’m aware Mexico is a Pirelli tyre test for FP1 and thus McLaren want their full time drivers to benefit from this rather than the stand ins, both in terms of learning the new tyres for next year (at least in lando’s case) and the extra 30min of track time.
Why exactly pirelli have chosen FP2 in Austin but FP1 in Mexico is beyond me.

[continuum16]

I was under the impression it was Herta and O’Ward rather than Palou, but with the contract situation sorted maybe this was the plan all along. Perhaps Palou was more impressive on his test days than Herta? Probably more to do with the rumored 2024 Indycar drive. Either way I am extremely intrigued to see how he does next to Lando. Palou could be a good fallback in the event Lando or Oscar leave abruptly.

Would have been nice for Pato to have had FP1 in Mexico though.

As far as I’m aware Mexico is a Pirelli tyre test for FP1 and thus McLaren want their full time drivers to benefit from this rather than the stand ins, both in terms of learning the new tyres for next year (at least in lando’s case) and the extra 30min of track time.
Why exactly pirelli have chosen FP2 in Austin but FP1 in Mexico is beyond me.

I wonder if the teams lobbied to move it to FP2 in Austin because so many of them are running young drivers in FP1. I think at the moment it’s like half the grid.

[djos]

Pretty much what many of us have speculated:

https://apple.news/AB6VI7S9DTniq8OwImIxZYw

In discussing why things have turned out as they have, the 33-year-old has pointed to a couple of factors counting in the favour of the driver 11 years his junior.

“If I’m going to give you a short answer, I’ll put it down to two things,” said Ricciardo during an interview with The Race.

“One, I’ll never take credit away from him – the kid’s good. There’s no denying that. And if I say he’s not, I’m just being a bitter, sore loser.

“The kid’s good. That’s obviously one element – he can steer.

“The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he’s got no knowledge of race cars, not at all. I think he’s quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view.

“But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. Obviously, there have been variations of the McLaren. But he hasn’t driven for another team. So in a way he has got, I’m sure, used to some of the elements of this car.

“There’s probably a bit of that, where I’ve obviously got some – I hate this word, but I’ve just got to use it for a lack of better words right now – expectation of maybe what a Formula 1 car can do or should do or where some potential lies.

“He does now, because he watches onboards, and he sees what other drivers can do – ‘yeah, I wish we could do that, the rear doesn’t do what I want’.

“But ultimately, he hasn’t been behind the wheel of another car. So obviously, he’s good. And there’s an element of ‘ignorance is bliss’.”

[CjC]

Pretty much what many of us have speculated:

https://apple.news/AB6VI7S9DTniq8OwImIxZYw

In discussing why things have turned out as they have, the 33-year-old has pointed to a couple of factors counting in the favour of the driver 11 years his junior.

“If I’m going to give you a short answer, I’ll put it down to two things,” said Ricciardo during an interview with The Race.

“One, I’ll never take credit away from him – the kid’s good. There’s no denying that. And if I say he’s not, I’m just being a bitter, sore loser.

“The kid’s good. That’s obviously one element – he can steer.

“The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he’s got no knowledge of race cars, not at all. I think he’s quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view.

“But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. Obviously, there have been variations of the McLaren. But he hasn’t driven for another team. So in a way he has got, I’m sure, used to some of the elements of this car.

“There’s probably a bit of that, where I’ve obviously got some – I hate this word, but I’ve just got to use it for a lack of better words right now – expectation of maybe what a Formula 1 car can do or should do or where some potential lies.

“He does now, because he watches onboards, and he sees what other drivers can do – ‘yeah, I wish we could do that, the rear doesn’t do what I want’.

“But ultimately, he hasn’t been behind the wheel of another car. So obviously, he’s good. And there’s an element of ‘ignorance is bliss’.”

There’s so much I disagree with here…
Why is he even talking about it? Talk about trying to loose all of your dignity.
Yes they have been hard cars to drive but they have been quick enough. He’s struggled to adapt to it characteristics and that’s that. Don’t start talking about Lando and his experiences, what happens IF Lando jumps into another car with more rear end grip and dominates that team-mate??
Daniel please stop before it gets messy.

[diffuser]

I agree Zak, that should be the minimum...

https://racingnews365.com/brown-says-re ... s-cheating


Still think they need to take points off the current season.

[mwillems]

Pretty much what many of us have speculated:

https://apple.news/AB6VI7S9DTniq8OwImIxZYw

In discussing why things have turned out as they have, the 33-year-old has pointed to a couple of factors counting in the favour of the driver 11 years his junior.

“If I’m going to give you a short answer, I’ll put it down to two things,” said Ricciardo during an interview with The Race.

“One, I’ll never take credit away from him – the kid’s good. There’s no denying that. And if I say he’s not, I’m just being a bitter, sore loser.

“The kid’s good. That’s obviously one element – he can steer.

“The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he’s got no knowledge of race cars, not at all. I think he’s quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view.

“But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. Obviously, there have been variations of the McLaren. But he hasn’t driven for another team. So in a way he has got, I’m sure, used to some of the elements of this car.

“There’s probably a bit of that, where I’ve obviously got some – I hate this word, but I’ve just got to use it for a lack of better words right now – expectation of maybe what a Formula 1 car can do or should do or where some potential lies.

“He does now, because he watches onboards, and he sees what other drivers can do – ‘yeah, I wish we could do that, the rear doesn’t do what I want’.

“But ultimately, he hasn’t been behind the wheel of another car. So obviously, he’s good. And there’s an element of ‘ignorance is bliss’.”

There’s so much I disagree with here…
Why is he even talking about it? Talk about trying to loose all of your dignity.
Yes they have been hard cars to drive but they have been quick enough. He’s struggled to adapt to it characteristics and that’s that. Don’t start talking about Lando and his experiences, what happens IF Lando jumps into another car with more rear end grip and dominates that team-mate??
Daniel please stop before it gets messy.

F1 drivers tell themselves what their confidence and ego needs to hear, I don't begrudge him that.

[djos]

There’s so much I disagree with here…
Why is he even talking about it? Talk about trying to loose all of your dignity.
Yes they have been hard cars to drive but they have been quick enough. He’s struggled to adapt to it characteristics and that’s that. Don’t start talking about Lando and his experiences, what happens IF Lando jumps into another car with more rear end grip and dominates that team-mate??
Daniel please stop before it gets messy.

He's an 8 time Grand prix winner, so imo he's entitled to his opinion. Remind me how many GP wins Lando Has again?

The car clearly needs a lot of work if McLaren are to compete for WDC's and WCC's again:

He explained the situation to The Race, saying: “You’re approaching a corner, and in a way, [normally] your mind is already on the exit of the corner.

“But a lot of the time, it’s like ‘OK, I’m driving in the braking zone’, ‘now I’m driving in the turn-in area’, ‘now I’m driving in the throttle phase’.

“It’s like I’m taking the corner in five steps, when in a way you should approach it like one.

“But I’m waiting, reacting, and it’s been hard for me to know what I’m going to get by the time I get to the apex.

“And the times where I do try to put the trust in it and not overcomplicate it, I’ll get to the apex, and be like, how the f**k’s that happened? Why am I here? Why is my trajectory that?”

https://apple.news/AOUdw4lsfQpyXdkjpuBf0Lw

I'm a long time Macca fan and I want to see them be a top 3 team again, but they need to fix their flawed car philosophy before that is possible.

[Zynerji]

Maybe we'll see 2 MGU-Ks. One that does nothing but charge the battery and power the other MGU-K. The other will be a traditional MGU-K and respond to throttle power and regenerative braking requirements.

Then just keep the H!

[Zynerji]

There’s so much I disagree with here…
Why is he even talking about it? Talk about trying to loose all of your dignity.
Yes they have been hard cars to drive but they have been quick enough. He’s struggled to adapt to it characteristics and that’s that. Don’t start talking about Lando and his experiences, what happens IF Lando jumps into another car with more rear end grip and dominates that team-mate??
Daniel please stop before it gets messy.

He's an 8 time Grand prix winner, so imo he's entitled to his opinion. Remind me how many GP wins Lando Has again?

The car clearly needs a lot of work if McLaren are to compete for WDC's and WCC's again:

He explained the situation to The Race, saying: “You’re approaching a corner, and in a way, [normally] your mind is already on the exit of the corner.

“But a lot of the time, it’s like ‘OK, I’m driving in the braking zone’, ‘now I’m driving in the turn-in area’, ‘now I’m driving in the throttle phase’.

“It’s like I’m taking the corner in five steps, when in a way you should approach it like one.

“But I’m waiting, reacting, and it’s been hard for me to know what I’m going to get by the time I get to the apex.

“And the times where I do try to put the trust in it and not overcomplicate it, I’ll get to the apex, and be like, how the f**k’s that happened? Why am I here? Why is my trajectory that?”

https://apple.news/AOUdw4lsfQpyXdkjpuBf0Lw

I'm a long time Macca fan and I want to see them be a top 3 team again, but they need to fix their flawed car philosophy before that is possible.

Lando could have won Monza ahead of Daniel if the team didn't call him off.

Lando>Daniel. There is a reason Ric was replaced. I love the guy, but complaining about having to break down cornering into its multiple facets and phases to be competitive is unbecoming of a pro driver.