2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[LionsHeart]

So, Ferrari cars brake at 80..75 meters before turn 11, McLaren cars brake at 110..100 meters before turn 11. I don't understand how this works. Is this related to the efficiency of the braking system, the pressure in the brake line, the size of the brake air ducts, but for now I conclude that Ferrari allows you to brake later and take more speed into the turn, while getting to the apex

Braking performance is not just about brakes, aero and especially suspension also play their part. Braking causes massive weight transfer to the front of course, so stable aero with good CoP transfer to the front will enhance the grip and allow better braking. Likewise, suspension also needs to be well aligned with aero grip for optimal braking performance. Finally, what makes suspension more important is the feel for the drivers, eg. too much anti-dive and driver has absolutely no feel what the car does while braking.

As for brakes themselves, we must not forget the basics - disc and pad material performance at high temperatures is what enables higher pressure in the line without discs and pads deteriorating. And with that, you then proceed to mechanical design for optimal braking. As usual, it's a bout many small details...

I'm puzzled by the contradiction of McLaren's performance gain at Australia relative to Ferrari. We can't lay claim to having a RedBull-like front end yet here is Checo saying Ferrari do and more so. Where were our gains found at Australia (relative to the two front runners)?

Arguably, McLaren was already a lot closer already in Jeddah. In Bahrain Piastri was 30s behind front-running Ferrari, while in Jeddah the gap was down to 13s. Norris' had a compromised strategy in Jeddah, so I'm comparing those two races with Piastri. In my view it's down to the new rear wing, it's a really good low-drag wing in the race.

In Australia Norris had the optimal strategy and Piastri moved away to save Norris some time. Sainz also had an optimal strategy, but pushed a bit too much too early in 3rd stint and had some deg at the end, losing him 3-4 seconds. Even so, Piastri was further back than he was in Jeddah, at around 18s before the Russell crash. So I think Norris would have been very close to Leclerc in Jeddah if the race went a bit different.

I understand everything about the brakes. With the suspension it's not so simple. Red Bull also has anti-dive suspension. But their braking distance is still longer than that of a Ferrari or, for example, a Mercedes. It’s just that Ferrari can bring a lot of speed into a corner, which Red Bull and McLaren cannot.

Compared to last year, Red Bull no longer has a nervous rear end. Their car is more similar in balance to McLaren. Sturdy rear end, slight understeer on corner entry. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Checo looks so confident in his new car. True, with updates, the chassis can again become what Max needs, and then Checo will again be inferior by 5-6 tenths per lap.

[mwillems]

We do brake earlier, also at turn 3 it is the same. I doubt it is performance difference in brakes though. If you recall at other tracks we'd spoken about how Mclaren bleed speed early before the bigger braking zones. Not sure if this is related.

Do we turn into the corner earlier and try and hit the apex earlier? This would fall in line with what you are saying about a better exit than Ferrari.

In answer to BMMR as to why we gained more time relative to Ferrari at this track... we are better in high speeds than Ferrari, pure and simple. Once the speed of the airflow negates our design issues, the car behaves beautifully and I'd argue is at least as good as the Red Bull. This track has less of the corners we don't like and more of the ones we do. Take away the final two corners and we'd be 3 tenths ahead of everyone at Australia.

Japan has a couple of corners that might hit us hard, but then this car seems to be great with Tyre deg and Japan is a high Deg track. Japan also will be cooler which plays to the McLaren's preferences, so I'm unsure as to what will happen here.

[BMMR61]

We do brake earlier, also at turn 3 it is the same. I doubt it is performance difference in brakes though. If you recall at other tracks we'd spoken about how Mclaren bleed speed early before the bigger braking zones. Not sure if this is related.

Do we turn into the corner earlier and try and hit the apex earlier? This would fall in line with what you are saying about a better exit than Ferrari.

In answer to BMMR as to why we gained more time relative to Ferrari at this track... we are better in high speeds than Ferrari, pure and simple. Once the speed of the airflow negates our design issues, the car behaves beautifully and I'd argue is at least as good as the Red Bull. This track has less of the corners we don't like and more of the ones we do. Take away the final two corners and we'd be 3 tenths ahead of everyone at Australia.

Japan has a couple of corners that might hit us hard, but then this car seems to be great with Tyre deg and Japan is a high Deg track. Japan also will be cooler which plays to the McLaren's preferences, so I'm unsure as to what will happen here.

Also, I think that a number of the high speed corners at Jeddah were taken flat out by most if not all teams so they aren't true corners at all. Suzuka presents more of a high speed cornering test so I think we have a chance of jumping both Ferraris if we get the setup right. This event will give us the first chance to assess the actual gain of the MCL38 over the MCL60 in what I call B-spec. Its a delicious prospect and I hope I'm not getting my hopes too high.

[mwillems]

We do brake earlier, also at turn 3 it is the same. I doubt it is performance difference in brakes though. If you recall at other tracks we'd spoken about how Mclaren bleed speed early before the bigger braking zones. Not sure if this is related.

Do we turn into the corner earlier and try and hit the apex earlier? This would fall in line with what you are saying about a better exit than Ferrari.

In answer to BMMR as to why we gained more time relative to Ferrari at this track... we are better in high speeds than Ferrari, pure and simple. Once the speed of the airflow negates our design issues, the car behaves beautifully and I'd argue is at least as good as the Red Bull. This track has less of the corners we don't like and more of the ones we do. Take away the final two corners and we'd be 3 tenths ahead of everyone at Australia.

Japan has a couple of corners that might hit us hard, but then this car seems to be great with Tyre deg and Japan is a high Deg track. Japan also will be cooler which plays to the McLaren's preferences, so I'm unsure as to what will happen here.

Also, I think that a number of the high speed corners at Jeddah were taken flat out by most if not all teams so they aren't true corners at all. Suzuka presents more of a high speed cornering test so I think we have a chance of jumping both Ferraris if we get the setup right. This event will give us the first chance to assess the actual gain of the MCL38 over the MCL60 in what I call B-spec. Its a delicious prospect and I hope I'm not getting my hopes too high.

We had an advantage in the High Speeds at Jeddah too, if I recall, but there wasn't as much time to find in either the number of them relative to low speed, or the complexity of them. Turns 9/10 were of particular benefit to the Mclaren where the balance was fantastic and the front and rear doing everything asked of them.

[mwillems]

It's worth looking at whether the team are avoiding braking under turn in. Perhaps the front end prevents effective trailbraking so we need to scrub more speed before we turn.

Edit: I recall us taking about this corner entry issue in high braking zones at Monza last year. The rear was mentioned, and I'm sure it was part of it, but I'm wondering about how easy it is to get the car to turn under heavy braking in low speed corners, when we already have issues with less intensive braking and getting the front to hit the apex.

[Tomsky]

[De Wet]

The one thing I’m pleased about is we aren’t prepared to let any structural ideals compromise the influence of Peter Prodromou- especially given how previous leadership and seemingly limited his input.

He seems to be someone we really want to enable to create and contribute and that can only be a good thing.

Fully Agree... Can't wait to see what PP and his team produce with the new tunnel...

[De Wet]

Very strange indeed. All of the statements just use corporate speak. Hopefully we'll discover nuggets of the truth over time

Formu1a Uno who may still have contacts close to Sanchez seem to be suggesting the decision was made more from Sanchez's side, being unhappy with the position

When first was announced the move of Sanchez I wondered how would Sanchez and Prodromou will work together since basically they do the same thing and now I got my answer.
In Andrea we trust!!!

Amen...

[LionsHeart]

What an interesting rake. I can imagine if at Miami-Imola we see a similar chassis update with the chassis tilted forward.

[K1Plus]

The one thing I’m pleased about is we aren’t prepared to let any structural ideals compromise the influence of Peter Prodromou- especially given how previous leadership and seemingly limited his input.

He seems to be someone we really want to enable to create and contribute and that can only be a good thing.

Fully Agree... Can't wait to see what PP and his team produce with the new tunnel...

Pete Prod was the main guy behind the naturally aspirated V8 Red Bull cars aerodynamics.
Maybe there was a misalignment in the direction the two TDs wanted to take.
I mean now Rob Marshall is no longer TD Engineering, he's now gone to his best role - CHIEF DESIGNER, at McLaren and Neil Houldey, the guy who worked with PP on the MCL60 Austria spec is now engineering TD. These three are gonna be good. And Andrea Stella will himself fill the TD performance position until a replacement can be found. Maybe bring Mike Elliott in? He could be good.

[AR3-GP]

I think 2026 will be very exciting times for Mclaren from a chassis/aero point of view. Apparently the Mercedes engine is doing well also...

[Vanja #66]

I think 2026 will be very exciting times for Mclaren from a chassis/aero point of view. Apparently the Mercedes engine is doing well also...

Unless Toto is faking the numbers he shared with Max and his team. But why would he do that, right...

[CjC]

Looks like they have abandoned the overbite sidepod inlet and switched back to the under bite

[Emag]

Looks like they have abandoned the overbite sidepod inlet and switched back to the under bite

Can't be sure from renders used for marketing purposes. Have to wait for pictures of the real car tomorrow.

[onewingedangel]

The livery reveal was on an old car.