2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[SmallSoldier]

My prediction was top 8 and both drivers in top 10 and its not a bad result.

We were pushing more than others or were lighter as I was saying yesterday, FP2 times were nowhere near representative. For those who think we always are taking it easy on Fridays, please take note.

Sadly I think k with the lower wing that we will not score points tomorrow, let's hope I'm wrong.

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

[Darth-Piekus]

I think whatever happens tomorrow we should be grateful so far this year. This upgrade catapulted the team who was from 7th to 9th into 2nd to 3rd giving us almost a second. With the old car the team would have never been in Q2 and in the race they would have been fighting for 15th-16th.

[LionsHeart]

Hmmm. I knew it was going to be a tough weekend. I am even somewhat surprised that both cars reached the third segment. Given the unimportant pace, tomorrow we may not score points. But mentally I'm ready.

They chose the wing suited for one lap pace. But maybe we will be ok. With so few turns to scrub the tyres all is not lost, but I think it will be tough to score some points.

Right. This factor with the rear wing will also have an impact. I'm even surprised that last year's wing was taken as the best solution. Anyway. Not so critical, given that the car has had problems in the fast lanes in the last two seasons.

[LionsHeart]

LionsHeart I would say let's wait and see. The car seemed much better than Spa and hopefully we can play games with a DRS train. Let's also count the fact that Monza usually has lots of incidents in the first lap between the top 6.

Anyone has top speeds to compare?

I always hope for the best, I try to be realistic. But we must soberly assess the capabilities of McLaren in these conditions. For example, I don't believe that with Ferrari's increased tire consumption, they can take the win. Max will do his job, his car will help.

[mwillems]

My prediction was top 8 and both drivers in top 10 and its not a bad result.

We were pushing more than others or were lighter as I was saying yesterday, FP2 times were nowhere near representative. For those who think we always are taking it easy on Fridays, please take note.

Sadly I think k with the lower wing that we will not score points tomorrow, let's hope I'm wrong.

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

I hope you are right. I'm not totally convinced that we will be doing much overtaking and to be honest if we do I suspect we will cook the tyres trying and we'll just be caught back and drop back. I guess it is tight between the wings and the team have taken a more aggressive approach, let's hope it's a good one tomorrow!

[Szabi1112]

Which version of the rear wing was used?

[mwillems]

[LionsHeart]

My prediction was top 8 and both drivers in top 10 and its not a bad result.

We were pushing more than others or were lighter as I was saying yesterday, FP2 times were nowhere near representative. For those who think we always are taking it easy on Fridays, please take note.

Sadly I think k with the lower wing that we will not score points tomorrow, let's hope I'm wrong.

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

Usually a less loaded wing is suitable for racing if there is something to compensate for the lack of grip in the slow sections. With a more loaded wing, the chassis is more stable, allowing for later braking, less skidding in corners and saving tires. McLaren does not yet have a car that saves tires well.

Monza is usually a one-stop race. It is also a train race with DRS enabled. It will be difficult to overtake the opponent in front, because he will also open DRS.

Top speed is not much higher with a less loaded wing. True, I am only talking here about the maximum speed before braking the first turn and I don’t know what speeds the McLaren cars reached at the cutoff point of the beginning of the circle, and there the DRS turns on. What is the difference in the two rear wings specs at near the start of the circle.

[mwillems]

In FP2, the cutout wing with the bigger tray started the lap faster.

But peak speed favoured the loaded wing.

[SmallSoldier]

My prediction was top 8 and both drivers in top 10 and its not a bad result.

We were pushing more than others or were lighter as I was saying yesterday, FP2 times were nowhere near representative. For those who think we always are taking it easy on Fridays, please take note.

Sadly I think k with the lower wing that we will not score points tomorrow, let's hope I'm wrong.

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

I hope you are right. I'm not totally convinced that we will be doing much overtaking and to be honest if we do I suspect we will cook the tyres trying and we'll just be caught back and drop back. I guess it is tight between the wings and the team have taken a more aggressive approach, let's hope it's a good one tomorrow!

Most of us came to this weekend with low expectations, so far it is not as horrible as some may have thought… Let’s enjoy the race tomorrow, it won’t be one to fight for podiums, but I believe it could be an enjoyable one

[SmallSoldier]

My prediction was top 8 and both drivers in top 10 and its not a bad result.

We were pushing more than others or were lighter as I was saying yesterday, FP2 times were nowhere near representative. For those who think we always are taking it easy on Fridays, please take note.

Sadly I think k with the lower wing that we will not score points tomorrow, let's hope I'm wrong.

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

Usually a less loaded wing is suitable for racing if there is something to compensate for the lack of grip in the slow sections. With a more loaded wing, the chassis is more stable, allowing for later braking, less skidding in corners and saving tires. McLaren does not yet have a car that saves tires well.

Monza is usually a one-stop race. It is also a train race with DRS enabled. It will be difficult to overtake the opponent in front, because he will also open DRS.

Top speed is not much higher with a less loaded wing. True, I am only talking here about the maximum speed before braking the first turn and I don’t know what speeds the McLaren cars reached at the cutoff point of the beginning of the circle, and there the DRS turns on. What is the difference in the two rear wings specs at near the start of the circle.

How have we determined that this is the lesser downforce configuration of the car? I’m not convinced that the wing they are using is the one with the lowest downforce configuration.

[mwillems]

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

Usually a less loaded wing is suitable for racing if there is something to compensate for the lack of grip in the slow sections. With a more loaded wing, the chassis is more stable, allowing for later braking, less skidding in corners and saving tires. McLaren does not yet have a car that saves tires well.

Monza is usually a one-stop race. It is also a train race with DRS enabled. It will be difficult to overtake the opponent in front, because he will also open DRS.

Top speed is not much higher with a less loaded wing. True, I am only talking here about the maximum speed before braking the first turn and I don’t know what speeds the McLaren cars reached at the cutoff point of the beginning of the circle, and there the DRS turns on. What is the difference in the two rear wings specs at near the start of the circle.

How have we determined that this is the lesser downforce configuration of the car? I’m not convinced that the wing they are using is the one with the lowest downforce configuration.

The better minimum corner speeds were achieved with the wing that achieved less top speed, the wing we didn't run today.

They are both relatively close though and it is characteristics of the DRS State which also separates them.

The team think they can hang in and use DRS.

[LionsHeart]

I believe you may be a bit surprised tomorrow, the choice of rear wing has been taken with the race in mind more than qualifying… This is one of those races where Race Pace is way more important than single lap pace… Improving a couple of positions in the race is not impossible and I believe there is enough to stay in the points

Usually a less loaded wing is suitable for racing if there is something to compensate for the lack of grip in the slow sections. With a more loaded wing, the chassis is more stable, allowing for later braking, less skidding in corners and saving tires. McLaren does not yet have a car that saves tires well.

Monza is usually a one-stop race. It is also a train race with DRS enabled. It will be difficult to overtake the opponent in front, because he will also open DRS.

Top speed is not much higher with a less loaded wing. True, I am only talking here about the maximum speed before braking the first turn and I don’t know what speeds the McLaren cars reached at the cutoff point of the beginning of the circle, and there the DRS turns on. What is the difference in the two rear wings specs at near the start of the circle.

How have we determined that this is the lesser downforce configuration of the car? I’m not convinced that the wing they are using is the one with the lowest downforce configuration.

Unfortunately, I don't have telemetry data. But if you look blankly, you can imagine that the modified Spa-Canada-Austria-Silverstone specification rear wing develops more downforce than the option they chose. And they chose last year's option for Monza.

The difference between these two specifications of the rear wing is also minimal because two variants of the beam wing were used. I will only hypothetically assume that the rear wing for the Monza used a loaded beam wing. And vice versa in the case of the modified Spa rear wing.

I still don’t understand whether the team used an updated front wing with a clipped top flap or not. I watched the qualification and could not understand it.

[LionsHeart]

It’s this wing from last year with an ineffective DRS system that worries me.

[LionsHeart]

McLaren gained 0.8 seconds compared to last year. Not a bad increase. Perhaps this is the only positive moment for me, which gives some positive outlook for the race.