2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Mostlyeels]

Any damage, would likely have come when he went wide against Perez, and ge wad already struggling at that point.

But, he is young and learning. Lando was hardly the finished article in his debut year.

Piastri is a more complete driver compared to Year 1 Lando, who also took till year 3 to find real confidence in his racecraft and to find his elbows.

It just seems like Piastri is pretty close to challenging Lando already.

Yeah, I had forgotten that in the first couple of years Lando wasn't as good as he is now e.g. obviously fast, but more timid, especially at the start. I reckon Sainz (who was obviously a more complete driver at the time) helped a lot in that regard, so hopefully the same will happen for Lando and Piastri.

Regarding Piastri's pace in the last stint, I thought for sure it was floor damage from the off with Perez that caused the drop off in times, but I can't find any mention of that in the McLaren app race commentary, only Oscar saying "Not sure why I couldn't hang on to the tyres. Something to review." Any post-race interviews or commentary on it?

E: just found Zak saying it was floor damage. Also, P2 and P5 on merit, that's pretty bloody good!

[Balalu]

I am hearing that the rules regarding tyres changed and many claim that many teams gained something from that with Mclaren getting the most and others like Red Bull and Aston Martin losing ground. Do you think that is the case or is it because of our upgrade?

Take whatever Alonso says about his competition with a MASSIVE pinch of salt. He also said in another interview that Austria (or Silverstone?) was a one off for McLaren.

You don't think tyre construction will affect the performance of the cars?

Wasn't there an instance in recent memory of an in season change that did indeed help certain teams? Didn't i impact Merc and Ferrari in particular?

Seems odd to suggest outright that amount of doubt, given how important tyres are, being the only bridge between car and ground and the fact it made a difference the last time it happened.

I never said that it dosen't, but the upgrades are clearly the main contributing factors. They've been on about these upgrades since the begining of the season. The vibes comming from the team regarding these upgrades were something else.

[LionsHeart]

Any damage, would likely have come when he went wide against Perez, and ge wad already struggling at that point.

But, he is young and learning. Lando was hardly the finished article in his debut year.

Piastri is a more complete driver compared to Year 1 Lando, who also took till year 3 to find real confidence in his racecraft and to find his elbows.

It just seems like Piastri is pretty close to challenging Lando already.

Yeah, I had forgotten that in the first couple of years Lando wasn't as good as he is now e.g. obviously fast, but more timid, especially at the start. I reckon Sainz (who was obviously a more complete driver at the time) helped a lot in that regard, so hopefully the same will happen for Lando and Piastri.

Regarding Piastri's pace in the last stint, I thought for sure it was floor damage from the off with Perez that caused the drop off in times, but I can't find any mention of that in the McLaren app race commentary, only Oscar saying "Not sure why I couldn't hang on to the tyres. Something to review." Any post-race interviews or commentary on it?

E: just found Zak saying it was floor damage. Also, P2 and P5 on merit, that's pretty bloody good!

On the team's official twitter, where there is a video of the race results, Oscar confirmed that he had damaged the floor and apologized to the team.

[mwillems]

Take whatever Alonso says about his competition with a MASSIVE pinch of salt. He also said in another interview that Austria (or Silverstone?) was a one off for McLaren.

You don't think tyre construction will affect the performance of the cars?

Wasn't there an instance in recent memory of an in season change that did indeed help certain teams? Didn't i impact Merc and Ferrari in particular?

Seems odd to suggest outright that amount of doubt, given how important tyres are, being the only bridge between car and ground and the fact it made a difference the last time it happened.

I never said that it dosen't, but the upgrades are clearly the main contributing factors. They've been on about these upgrades since the begining of the season. The vibes comming from the team regarding these upgrades were something else.

Ahh OK, the way I read your post you were throwing doubt on the assertion that the tyres have helped Mclaren. I'm not sure Alonso was questioning the impact of the upgrades, it is plain for everyone to see. But I think the tyres work a bit better with our package too and I suspect this has brought some time. It just happened to come at around the same time as the upgrade.

I'm sure Stella or Norris will say something about these tyres soon enough, but I think they have helped us find some of the time that heve helped us head to the front of the grid.

[mwillems]

Any damage, would likely have come when he went wide against Perez, and ge wad already struggling at that point.

But, he is young and learning. Lando was hardly the finished article in his debut year.

Piastri is a more complete driver compared to Year 1 Lando, who also took till year 3 to find real confidence in his racecraft and to find his elbows.

It just seems like Piastri is pretty close to challenging Lando already.

Yeah, I had forgotten that in the first couple of years Lando wasn't as good as he is now e.g. obviously fast, but more timid, especially at the start. I reckon Sainz (who was obviously a more complete driver at the time) helped a lot in that regard, so hopefully the same will happen for Lando and Piastri.

Regarding Piastri's pace in the last stint, I thought for sure it was floor damage from the off with Perez that caused the drop off in times, but I can't find any mention of that in the McLaren app race commentary, only Oscar saying "Not sure why I couldn't hang on to the tyres. Something to review." Any post-race interviews or commentary on it?

E: just found Zak saying it was floor damage. Also, P2 and P5 on merit, that's pretty bloody good!

I recall when Norris had his first great Austria GP in 2020 and he was chasing down Hamilton who'd got a 5 second penalty. He was getting instructions at every stage of those last couple of laps of which settings and which gears to use at every corner. The car was almost remote control! I can't imagine Oscar needing the same help at any point.

[Szabi1112]

I'm very proud of McLaren. I was careful before Hungarian knowing that this is a very different circuit comparing to Silverstone. The team, drivers really deserve praises.
I can't wait Spa. What do you think there will be some updates for Spa?

[Mostlyeels]

I recall when Norris had his first great Austria GP in 2020 and he was chasing down Hamilton who'd got a 5 second penalty. He was getting instructions at every stage of those last couple of laps of which settings and which gears to use at every corner. The car was almost remote control! I can't imagine Oscar needing the same help at any point.

Haha, he's almost too calm in the cockpit! Did he even say anything after Lando managed the undercut? It is an excellent driver pairing.

[Mostlyeels]

On the team's official twitter, where there is a video of the race results, Oscar confirmed that he had damaged the floor and apologized to the team.

Cheers for that, I saw something similar on Oscar's IG account.

[BMMR61]

A great result once we calm down from highest expectations (that qualifying pace somehow will translate to race pace) and we can take our positives and learn from weaknesses. Winding back the clock to before Friday we expected a degree of damage limitation due to circuit and temperature. These surfaced (no pun intended!) in the race in slightly unusual form. Overall race pace versus degradation was similar to or slightly worse than Mercedes. In the first stint during conservation mode we looked good, once the pressure went on we did work the tyres especially the hards less efficiently than Mercedes. We come away from a less optimal track with great points - in the WCC we aren’t looking back, but eying Ferrari and Aston for a mugging. The holding back of stage 3 was a good one to gain more understanding and time in this exciting evolution. I shouldn’t need to excuse Piastri, this was another good step in his evolution - in F2, how many laps in 35 degree heat and tyre management would he have done? 25? It’s a huge step up to the major league with these huge and cumbersome cars and today he found that out. I liked the feistiness of his little battle with Perez because he took it to but not over the line. In 12 race weekends he has only one (qualifying) crash and is learning how important it is to look after the underside. I’m really looking forward to the next race at Spa where Lando has performed really well and maybe the teal can play in some more evolutionary parts.

[BMMR61]

On the team's official twitter, where there is a video of the race results, Oscar confirmed that he had damaged the floor and apologized to the team.

Cheers for that, I saw something similar on Oscar's IG account.

He’s a very mature and grounded young man and knows success will come to him in the right time. Also understands that good relationship with your teammate and everyone in your corner is all important.

[Slahinki]

Just saw someone on the subreddit go through the period Norris was stuck behind Tsunoda to see how long he was held up. 17 blue flag panels. He let Norris by as they were passing the 18th panel. Meanwhile he let Perez by in 5... Must be really nice to have 2 additional cars in the race you can use as speed bumps when you need it. No idea why the FIA tolerates this crap.

[LionsHeart]

I'm very proud of McLaren. I was careful before Hungarian knowing that this is a very different circuit comparing to Silverstone. The team, drivers really deserve praises.
I can't wait Spa. What do you think there will be some updates for Spa?

Assuming that the team already has the ability to bring two sets of new suspension for each driver, it is not certain that he will arrive at Spa. Good reason: race weekend with a sprint, one hour practice. Minimum time to find the optimal settings. I assume that the update will arrive at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands and in Italy. True, the team seemed to be checking some experimental settings and small modifications in the bottom or diffuser area, which allow adding peak downforce, but to the detriment of the appearance of jumps. Lando in the second practice noted to the engineer that the bottom constantly hits the asphalt and he did not say anything about the ground clearance. I think the team really found something else that allows you to add downforce locally. Will this apply to Spa is a good question. There are long straights, speeds on straights are higher, ground clearance is adjusted differently. If they can apply these developments, they will be able to unload the front and rear wing, which will allow them to go faster on straight lines without sacrificing turns.

[LionsHeart]

Just saw someone on the subreddit go through the period Norris was stuck behind Tsunoda to see how long he was held up. 17 blue flag panels. He let Norris by as they were passing the 18th panel. Meanwhile he let Perez by in 5... Must be really nice to have 2 additional cars in the race you can use as speed bumps when you need it. No idea why the FIA tolerates this crap.

Disqualify Yuki for one race so that he doesn't do nonsense.

[Mostlyeels]

We come away from a less optimal track with great points - in the WCC we aren’t looking back, but eying Ferrari and Aston for a mugging.

Indeed, now 40 points clear of Alpine (thanks to some unreliability, and some really poor bad luck). If Ferrari don't reverse their current trend, even with the current 80 point deficit, I can see McLaren edging ahead (I am cautious )

The holding back of stage 3 was a good one to gain more understanding and time in this exciting evolution.

Excellent point, timing-wise this really worked out well.

[DiogoBrand]

I was wondering if Oscar had damage, because Norris was able to keep his distance to Perez and even gain at the end, the only time Perez made some ground was when Norris got held up by backmarkers. Meanwhile Oscar was losing to Hamilton and even the Ferraris. Sad about the result, but good to know his poor pace was caused by floor damage.