2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Ben1980]

In my opinion, it is unacceptable when a team like McLaren, with their history, experience and capabilities, disrupts pre-season testing for the second year in a row, but even worse, they did not even predict these problems. As a result, they couldn't run the simulation race and identify the reliability issues we had during the Grand Prix. I can understand when there are any problems on the tests, but they should be resolved within an hour, a maximum of half a day, and not disrupt all sessions. Obviously, the technical staff should reconsider their approach to work.

But Ferrari ran 100s of laps and didn't pick up the issue that caused their car to breakdown.

And, not sure if you recall last years race, RB both had big issues, and they ran loafs of laps at testing.

Like, maybe, it's not as straightforward as you nay think.

[haza]

I have hope for the development of the mcl60 an when it works it doesn’t have bad pace for what is basically last seasons car (similar story for Mercedes), call me bold but my gut tells me this car is going to come alive mid season and really start to pressure the front, Red bull will drop in pace eventually when the cost cap penalty kicks in an with the field so converged now I can really see a titanic battle at the end of the year a battle I feel McLaren will be involved in (again call me bold)

[_cerber1]

But Ferrari ran 100s of laps and didn't pick up the issue that caused their car to breakdown.

And, not sure if you recall last years race, RB both had big issues, and they ran loafs of laps at testing.

Like, maybe, it's not as straightforward as you nay think.

Ferrari's problems are mainly related to the power plant, the most difficult part of modern Formula 1, it is really difficult to identify problems here without driving a real race or even several. But they don't have the same deletan chassis problems that McLaren has, while our chassis is also a lot slower. I would understand if the obvious outsiders of the peloton had such problems, but this is McLaren, a multiple world champion. I'm not saying it's easy, but it should be if the team wants to fight for high places.

[Lucky]

In my opinion, it is unacceptable when a team like McLaren, with their history, experience and capabilities, disrupts pre-season testing for the second year in a row, but even worse, they did not even predict these problems. As a result, they couldn't run the simulation race and identify the reliability issues we had during the Grand Prix. I can understand when there are any problems on the tests, but they should be resolved within an hour, a maximum of half a day, and not disrupt all sessions. Obviously, the technical staff should reconsider their approach to work.

But Ferrari ran 100s of laps and didn't pick up the issue that caused their car to breakdown.

And, not sure if you recall last years race, RB both had big issues, and they ran loafs of laps at testing.

Like, maybe, it's not as straightforward as you nay think.

ferrari has a broken control module, which McLaren makes

[Mansell89]

Today, 14:20
Ride height ruling change scuppered McLaren

It turns out this caused big issues for McLaren. Key said that while a 15-millimeter change "sounds very small," the importance of the floors in generating downforce means it had a “massive" impact. "When we did that in our car, it actually gave us a much bigger loss than anticipated," Key explained. "When we took that step, it was a really big knock for us." It left McLaren moving in a different direction with its floor concept about a month too late to get it resolved for the start of the season. "It is frustrating, because to be honest, the route we're on now seems to be pretty prolific," said Key. "Had the reg been earlier, or had we clocked the fact that you need to do a different thing with it four weeks earlier, we wouldn't be talking about it right now, to be honest. It's a bit of a shame. We are where we are."

By Race 4 in Baku, it should have the fixes in place to make it more competitive again.



Source: Luke Smith Senior Writer, F1

https://theathletic.com/tag/f1/



Read this on another forum.

Caught my eye this did- for James Key to call out the development direction they are on as “prolific” is very bold by his usually measured standards.

Here’s hoping!

[mclaren111]

I have hope for the development of the mcl60 an when it works it doesn’t have bad pace for what is basically last seasons car (similar story for Mercedes), call me bold but my gut tells me this car is going to come alive mid season and really start to pressure the front, Red bull will drop in pace eventually when the cost cap penalty kicks in an with the field so converged now I can really see a titanic battle at the end of the year a battle I feel McLaren will be involved in (again call me bold)

I Like your thinking...

[Arcanum]

Andrea Stella may be low balling the Baku upgrade improvement (assuming this refers to the Baku upgrade and not the small upgrade that have been suggested for Saudi/Australia), but it sounds like the best case is that McLaren closes in on the Mercedes/Aston/Ferrari battle.

“I think if we race well, if we can improve the car by a few tenths like we plan to do, then we can have some enjoyable races.”

https://the-race.com/formula-1/the-enco ... are-start/

Since Mercedes are targeting a 0.3-second improvement in Italy, McLaren might be sitting just behind Mercedes/Aston/Ferrari.

One of the problems of having 4 competitive teams in front of McLaren is that the fight is going to be over 2-points (9th) or 1-point (10th), if there's no unreliability or accidents in the top four teams. McLaren could end the year with 60-80 points, which would be disappointing.

Hopefully the Baku upgrade is worth more than a few tenths as it doesn't seem enough for McLaren to take the step forwards into the Mercedes/Aston/Ferrari fight. Red Bull look like they are on another level.

[organic]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how- ... /10440908/

Has this been posted before?

James key talks a lot about how the 15mm change caused them to have to rethink their whole philosophy in that area

Absolutely, I mean, it is frustrating because, to be honest, the route we're on now seems to be pretty prolific, it's doing what we hoped it would do. There's still some work to do.

"The development rate on that is so much higher than what we had.

[genarro]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how- ... /10440908/

Has this been posted before?

James key talks a lot about how the 15mm change caused them to have to rethink their whole philosophy in that area

So all in all the Baku spec will be the B-car in all truth. it maybe wont look that much different but the whole aerodinamic properties will mean a new car concept... i think we are in a good place. The new wind tunnel will be in operation in the middle of the season so they will be able to develop it and focus on next year's car that will finaly be developed in the new wind tunnel & simulator

[mwillems]

We aren't in a good place yet, but we seem to be positioned well to move into one. The existing car was better than we thought at this track but still not great. We have the potential to be much faster at Baku but other teams will also become faster with upgrades during this time. The team suggest there is a very prolific path to follow and this gives us optimism that we can be biting the heels of 3rd fastest at the seasons end, or maybe even challenge for podiums, but all of that remains to be seen.

I'll enjoy the racing over the next few weeks but really I'm waiting for Baku to understand about this development path.

Bear in mind that Aston has more tunnel and CFD time than us this year, and have already done a stellar job, so it isn't going to be simple, by any stretch of the imagination.

[billamend]

This is what McLaren gets for fighting Mercedes fights. Had they not pushed for the change on behalf of Mercedes, maybe they would have been in a better position.

[Xero]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how- ... /10440908/

Has this been posted before?

James key talks a lot about how the 15mm change caused them to have to rethink their whole philosophy in that area

So all in all the Baku spec will be the B-car in all truth. it maybe wont look that much different but the whole aerodinamic properties will mean a new car concept... i think we are in a good place. The new wind tunnel will be in operation in the middle of the season so they will be able to develop it and focus on next year's car that will finaly be developed in the new wind tunnel & simulator

To me a B-car indicates a new chassis, which we aren't getting, but it certainly does sound like a big shift in floor philosophy, most of which will be hidden from view. We might see small adjustments to the front wing, front floor fences and diffuser on the surface. I don't think a top F1 engineer would use the word "prolific" lightly.

[ort895]

This is what McLaren gets for fighting Mercedes fights. Had they not pushed for the change on behalf of Mercedes, maybe they would have been in a better position.

There is no indication McLaren pushed for the floor rise on behalf of Mercedes.

[billamend]

There is no indication McLaren pushed for the floor rise on behalf of Mercedes.

No, we are happy with the decisions and the leadership from the FIA side regarding that topic,

In the end, when all of this started regarding the technical directive, the FIA made it clear it is based on safety. That’s why I think it’s very important now to follow through and not give way in any direction. So, very happy with that.

Again, we’re supportive of the lead here from the FIA. It’s still an ongoing discussion which is also normal. But in the end, I guess we will have clarity soon and just focus on that and go ahead.

[Balalu]

There is no indication McLaren pushed for the floor rise on behalf of Mercedes.

No, we are happy with the decisions and the leadership from the FIA side regarding that topic,

In the end, when all of this started regarding the technical directive, the FIA made it clear it is based on safety. That’s why I think it’s very important now to follow through and not give way in any direction. So, very happy with that.

Again, we’re supportive of the lead here from the FIA. It’s still an ongoing discussion which is also normal. But in the end, I guess we will have clarity soon and just focus on that and go ahead.

That is more "going along" than "pushing".