2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[LionsHeart]

Seems like we have unlocked a decent chunk of performance in setup understanding over the last few races. If we look back to the slow speed in Bahrain we were even struggling compared to Mercedes, now we seem to be a step ahead through most range of corners.

It is incorrect to compare Bahrain with the current situation. There is increased wear on the rear tires. In Albert Park, Suzuka and Shanghai, increased load is placed on the front left tire. And the load on the rear tires is less. Last year we could see the same thing. On tracks where there is a restriction on the front end, McLaren were very strong. And vice versa, where the limit is at the rear, the chassis does not cope well.

Let's say, when it's a weekend in Montreal, maybe McLaren won't perform as brightly as we would like.

[LionsHeart]

To the person who said he is worried the team might not be evaluating their performance correctly, just look at this :

https://i.imgur.com/9ylbHO1.png

As I said, McLaren did not look good at all in comparison to Max. But Perez and Ferrari underdelivered and that flattered them a bit.

Of course, because of the difference in strategies the gaps shown here are slightly bigger because the laps where Lando was extending the first stint, both RedBulls were lapping a couple of seconds faster than him. Outliers aside, it was probably closer to 0.6s and equal-ish with Perez (or slightly better).

But nevertheless, if Ferrari had a similar gap to RedBull here that they have had during the season so far (0.3-0.5s), that puts them ahead of Lando.

EDIT : The post above mine shows a graph which calculates the pace more accurately instead of just taking the average.

This table is incorrect because the drivers had different times in the pitlane. In Suzuka it was the same, you look and see that Leclerc was slower than Lando by a few tenths, but since he made one pit then, he remained ahead of Lando on the track.

Max attacked calmly, pitted and then caught and overtook Lando before Bottas retired. This already says a lot. For 25-28 racing laps on hard tires, Max left Lando by 13.7 seconds and this was with Lando's mistake, which cost him one second. Therefore, there could not have been 30-40 sec at the finish line without safety cars and other factors. The maximum would be 25 seconds. And this is not bad, considering how much McLaren was inferior to Red Bull at the finish line in the first races.

[BMMR61]

Not to downgrade Lando's excellent drive the reason for the surprising competitiveness over race distance are partly explained by a poor performance by Ferrari. They were expected to be closer to Max at this track, far from it. Some explanation can be find in the familiar stronger performance at lower temperatures. For the first time in 2024 we outpointed Ferrari (EDIT - we equalled their 22 points) and we're running away from Mercedes.

Still leading journos refer to the BIG 3 - RedBull, Ferrari, Mercedes. Gotta laugh, the laugh will be on them at the ned of the season if we end up with clearly the second fastest car. Well it's a long way there yet. Miami is another "track that doesn't suit McLaren", I'm not sure on current form how to take that!!! The rollout of upgrades should give us some clues to the rest of the season. I wonder if the team roll out the upgrades over 3 consecutive weekends as they intended last season.

[LionsHeart]

Not to downgrade Lando's excellent drive the reason for the surprising competitiveness over race distance are partly explained by a poor performance by Ferrari. They were expected to be closer to Max at this track, far from it. Some explanation can be find in the familiar stronger performance at lower temperatures. For the first time in 2024 we outpointed Ferrari (EDIT - we equalled their 22 points) and we're running away from Mercedes.

Still leading journos refer to the BIG 3 - RedBull, Ferrari, Mercedes. Gotta laugh, the laugh will be on them at the ned of the season if we end up with clearly the second fastest car. Well it's a long way there yet. Miami is another "track that doesn't suit McLaren", I'm not sure on current form how to take that!!! The rollout of upgrades should give us some clues to the rest of the season. I wonder if the team roll out the upgrades over 3 consecutive weekends as they intended last season.

The updates have been prepared for a very long time and I think this will be a one-time large package, without divisions on race weekends. Since there will be many changes in the aero package, every detail will be worked out taking into account that everything works together as a single whole. Moreover, this upgrade package is designed to improve handling and balance in slow, long corners, as well as adding downforce in slow and a little in medium-speed corners. In theory, even a small increase in downforce will give a big boost in speed, provided that the balance and handling become much better.

Moreover, I note that this is the first update that was completely developed in the new wind tunnel. In two weeks we will see how competitive the car will be. Miami has long, slow turns, so it will be a good, curious challenge. I wouldn’t like to make any predictions, but I think 3-4 tens per lap is quite realistic. I still hope that the team will be the second best team.

[mclaren111]

Seems like we have unlocked a decent chunk of performance in setup understanding over the last few races. If we look back to the slow speed in Bahrain we were even struggling compared to Mercedes, now we seem to be a step ahead through most range of corners.

Perhaps Rob Marshall's knowledge...

[De Wet]

Great race by Lando... Well done by team with set-up changes after sprint...

Now for the upgrades...

[organic]

Seems like we have unlocked a decent chunk of performance in setup understanding over the last few races. If we look back to the slow speed in Bahrain we were even struggling compared to Mercedes, now we seem to be a step ahead through most range of corners.

It is incorrect to compare Bahrain with the current situation. There is increased wear on the rear tires. In Albert Park, Suzuka and Shanghai, increased load is placed on the front left tire. And the load on the rear tires is less. Last year we could see the same thing. On tracks where there is a restriction on the front end, McLaren were very strong. And vice versa, where the limit is at the rear, the chassis does not cope well.

Let's say, when it's a weekend in Montreal, maybe McLaren won't perform as brightly as we would like.

Shanghai was rear limited this weekend. Shanghai is typically front limited but that wasn't the case this time (due to weather, surface and wind)

[bauc]

Great Race by Lando, I was quite suppressed how good he & the car was today. Poor Oscar, cant get to have one ''win'' this season so far.

[Dunlay]

Great Race by Lando, I was quite suppressed how good he & the car was today. Poor Oscar, cant get to have one ''win'' this season so far.

The gap between Lando and Oscar is getting bigger with every race. Oscar seems like a flash in the pan with a few decent races last year and a Sprint win. This year, he is really struggling in the races.

[SilviuAgo]

Not to downgrade Lando's excellent drive the reason for the surprising competitiveness over race distance are partly explained by a poor performance by Ferrari. They were expected to be closer to Max at this track, far from it. Some explanation can be find in the familiar stronger performance at lower temperatures. For the first time in 2024 we outpointed Ferrari (EDIT - we equalled their 22 points) and we're running away from Mercedes.

Still leading journos refer to the BIG 3 - RedBull, Ferrari, Mercedes. Gotta laugh, the laugh will be on them at the ned of the season if we end up with clearly the second fastest car. Well it's a long way there yet. Miami is another "track that doesn't suit McLaren", I'm not sure on current form how to take that!!! The rollout of upgrades should give us some clues to the rest of the season. I wonder if the team roll out the upgrades over 3 consecutive weekends as they intended last season.

The updates have been prepared for a very long time and I think this will be a one-time large package, without divisions on race weekends. Since there will be many changes in the aero package, every detail will be worked out taking into account that everything works together as a single whole. Moreover, this upgrade package is designed to improve handling and balance in slow, long corners, as well as adding downforce in slow and a little in medium-speed corners. In theory, even a small increase in downforce will give a big boost in speed, provided that the balance and handling become much better.

Moreover, I note that this is the first update that was completely developed in the new wind tunnel. In two weeks we will see how competitive the car will be. Miami has long, slow turns, so it will be a good, curious challenge. I wouldn’t like to make any predictions, but I think 3-4 tens per lap is quite realistic. I still hope that the team will be the second best team.

Do you think in Miami McLaren will have upgrade package on both cars or they will choose only one (I assume Lando) and the other car to have the old package? If would have been a normal weekend, with 3 FP's this approach I think was the correct one. And in FP2 to decide how to continue. But having a sprint race would be wise to upgrade both cars?

[bauc]

Great Race by Lando, I was quite suppressed how good he & the car was today. Poor Oscar, cant get to have one ''win'' this season so far.

The gap between Lando and Oscar is getting bigger with every race. Oscar seems like a flash in the pan with a few decent races last year and a Sprint win. This year, he is really struggling in the races.

Agreed, the gap between Oscar and Lando is bigger this year, which worries me.

[Mansell89]

Awesome result at a track we expected to be behind Alonso and the Mercs.

Great drive from Lando.

Just a shame that Max is in another league in his Red Bull - amazing job to get ahead of Perez however!

[SilviuAgo]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/rank ... /10601664/

Citing the plethora of low-speed corners and long-radius turns, McLaren anticipated a struggle in China - "damage limitation", as team principal Andrea Stella termed it. But Norris and McLaren put together an incredibly strong race to secure second; although it looked as though the team might have missed the boat on stopping Norris under the virtual safety car, the delay in removing Valtteri Bottas' stranded Sauber offered a second bite at the cherry.

When Red Bull stopped again, this handed Norris second in the order. Crucially, his race pace was a snip above the pursuing Perez, allowing him to maintain a five-second gap over third place to bag a surprise podium.

Oscar Piastri initially struggled in relation to Norris and could not keep tabs on his more experienced team-mate, but did an admirable job in keeping Lewis Hamilton behind despite diffuser damage sustained in the first restart congestion.

[Tomsky]

Today's result is the best way to archive the first part of the season, with the MCL38 showing up at the next round in Miami with the first big update of 2024: “I think the update will help us, but I don't think it will particularly help us in Miami – said Norris about it – This is because there are so many low-speed zones there and the updates are not directed so much on that, although that is where we should earn more. However, we always welcome an update, I'm excited, the team is working hard to get us these updates“. Norris was also honored by F1 fans who voted him Driver of the Day.
https://formu1a.uno/it/norris-le-condiz ... o-gp-cina/

[organic]

Can anyone compare gap vs fastest car from each race?