2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[mwillems]

It’s you who see what you want to see; you take the laps in free air as an absolute point of reference for pace on Hards, when in some of those laps the car that has executed the overtake recharges the battery and the tyres have overheated because of the overtake and need to cool down.
Really, I will say that Mclaren was untouchable even by Leclerc in an hypothetical head to head, if that’s what pleases you.

Was Lando not using his battery??

As I've now stated a multitude of times. That .2s was when neither driver was overtaking or in traffic. It is a real and representative example of the pace of the two cars on the same compound. Leclerc was nowhere near his rivals for the bulk of the Hard stint. He was racing for many laps in the same conditions as Lando. He was .2s faster on average, a number that is less than the 6 lap delta and on tyres needing to do 6 laps less and so can be pushed more.

The Ferrari was not on Mclarens pace yesterday.

Are you saying that the battery is used in the same way during overtaking/defending and the regular laps?
That’s news to me.

My last post here, I’ll go down to your logic and compare lap 43-48, both in free air, 0,5s/lap advantage Leclerc (62.5s gap on lap 43, 60s on lap 48).
Lap 51-56, after Leclerc had to overtake Hamilton (overheated tyres in dirty air, depleted battery for 1-2 subsequent laps), gap went down 0.4s/lap.
Accounting for the race time he lost with Alonso and the 2 Mercedes I have 0,6s, so it’s more or less that.
And you have 0.2s, so I give up.

I reiterate I have never said Leclerc was fastest, but he would have pressured Norris, I’ve no doubt on that.

"Are you saying that the battery is used in the same way during overtaking/defending and the regular laps?
That’s news to me."

No, you made specific mention of recharging the battery. When and how they use the battery doesn't change how much they recharge, both cars will recharge the same.

He breezed by Hamilton and was barely impacted, Sainz let him by, he breezed past Alonso, something he couldn't do on mediums because amongst other reasons, the car was not performing as well on mediums. The idea his tyres had overheated with each overtake is fabricated, because he went straight by all but Russell. After overtaking Hamilton to go into clean air, the delta was much lower. After Hamilton Charles did not get the same pace that you cherry picked out from his hard stint. From his hard stint to near where he caught Russell, he was .166s a lap faster than Lando. You can clearly see in the chart that he was minimally impacted by the overtakes

Better we give up, it does seem like you very much want introduce all sorts of "assumed" factors as to why the Ferrari was just being held up, when in reality, it was very far from being held up on the hards. He just wasn't as fast as you seem to suggest.

You've no doubt he'd have pressured Lando, but he could barely pressure Alonso and Hulkenberg let alone mount a credible challenge on softs.

[mwillems]

Has any consideration been taken for Lando loosing time lapping over half of the field on his hard tyre stint?
Verstappen at one point was 29.3 seconds behind Lando but officially finished 20.9 seconds behind- gaining a whopping 8.4 seconds in 9 laps!!! Maybe Red Bull wasn’t as slow as we thought?

Also when Lando wasn’t lapping cars or setting the fastest lap on his hard stint he was consistently lapping in the mid 1:36s which would suggest to me he was driving to a delta because he didn’t need to drive flat out to gain as many positions as possible.

I mean, he was literally told to drop the pace and bring the car home to avoid and mishaps around lap 50. But the good Doctor knows better.

And yes, dirty air from backmarkers, of which Lando came across more, will also affect the car.

And if there's still any misguided belief that Lando was pushing on the hards...

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclar ... /10657334/

"In fairness, in the second part of the second stint, our attention was drawn on the fact that as soon as you got behind the backmarkers, the car started to feel tricky,” he explained.

“So, it was all about no issues, no mistakes, no lock-ups. We had seen already in practice that as soon as you are behind a slow car, things look like there's something wrong with the car: it's just the effect of the dirty air.

“The focus was entirely on bringing the car home. We suggested to Lando to have an attempt at the fastest lap, which he achieved. But after that, we didn't want to talk about fastest lap anymore.”

[BMMR61]

Strange times.

Being top dog isn't a familiar position but it brings out all sorts of weird stuff from strangers to the thread. My only complaint is it clogs the pages with long threads that don't bring any clarity.

So looking ahead to the end of another summer break (LOL) we have expectations of a different pecking order as we go to conventional circuits and low downforce aero packages. Do we expect that regardless of their "upgrade" at COTA, Red Bull will assume superiority in the battle to beat the McLarens? The COTA circuit is notorious for bumps which could provide RB with challenges to the balance of their platform.

My expectation of Lando mounting a serious challenge to Max in the drivers is "wait and see, too early to expect the unexpected"! Ferrari and Mercedes seem to have been tripping over themselves a lot lately which lessens the chance of Lando getting a big points advance - if he continues in winning ways. Oscar looks to be the best hope of him gaining more than 7 or 8 points in a round to Max.

[geogate]

I expect Mclaren to have a significant upgrade come COTA, so it could be pretty difficult to call - so far as the wdc, we need Ferrari and Mercedes to be just the right amount of rubbish - its not in Mclarens hands.
The wcc on the other hand is absolutely in Mclarens hands - its not a done job yet.

[selvam_e2002]

don't forgot surprise from AMR... they are taking a while i.e ~4 month to deliver next upgrade in Austin.... so I think they also be in the mix....

[selvam_e2002]

Norris deserved this year WDC... My inner feeling saying that it will go on the wire till last race and this time we can expect repeat of 2021 but other way around...

[Emag]

The upgrade at Cota is very important. If it’s another minor thing, I would be worried for 2025 because it seems like they are running out of ideas.

If it is a big change (e.g floor), then if it doesn’t work as expected it would be a disaster for next year as well.

[bauc]

Has any consideration been taken for Lando loosing time lapping over half of the field on his hard tyre stint?
Verstappen at one point was 29.3 seconds behind Lando but officially finished 20.9 seconds behind- gaining a whopping 8.4 seconds in 9 laps!!! Maybe Red Bull wasn’t as slow as we thought?

Also when Lando wasn’t lapping cars or setting the fastest lap on his hard stint he was consistently lapping in the mid 1:36s which would suggest to me he was driving to a delta because he didn’t need to drive flat out to gain as many positions as possible.

Lando hit traffic (Backmakers) at the last 5-6 laps, thus the lead was ''cut'' by 9 seconds.

[PapayaFan481]

Strange times.

Being top dog isn't a familiar position but it brings out all sorts of weird stuff from strangers to the thread. My only complaint is it clogs the pages with long threads that don't bring any clarity.

So looking ahead to the end of another summer break (LOL) we have expectations of a different pecking order as we go to conventional circuits and low downforce aero packages. Do we expect that regardless of their "upgrade" at COTA, Red Bull will assume superiority in the battle to beat the McLarens? The COTA circuit is notorious for bumps which could provide RB with challenges to the balance of their platform.

My expectation of Lando mounting a serious challenge to Max in the drivers is "wait and see, too early to expect the unexpected"! Ferrari and Mercedes seem to have been tripping over themselves a lot lately which lessens the chance of Lando getting a big points advance - if he continues in winning ways. Oscar looks to be the best hope of him gaining more than 7 or 8 points in a round to Max.

Of course all it takes in a DNF from Max and a win from Lando in that race and that points gap narrows massively. How many PU do each driver have left?

[FittingMechanics]

Has any consideration been taken for Lando loosing time lapping over half of the field on his hard tyre stint?
Verstappen at one point was 29.3 seconds behind Lando but officially finished 20.9 seconds behind- gaining a whopping 8.4 seconds in 9 laps!!! Maybe Red Bull wasn’t as slow as we thought?

Also when Lando wasn’t lapping cars or setting the fastest lap on his hard stint he was consistently lapping in the mid 1:36s which would suggest to me he was driving to a delta because he didn’t need to drive flat out to gain as many positions as possible.

Lando hit traffic (Backmakers) at the last 5-6 laps, thus the lead was ''cut'' by 9 seconds.

He backed off when he reached them. Then he would get through when they got 3 blue flags. So it took a while.

Without traffic (or on a normal track) he would probably have +40s at the end over Max.

[Seerix]

Hmm, are we getting help in strategy department? Just a rumor thus far.

News: Another important pawn is leaving Red Bull after many years. Chief strategist Will Courtenay is going to the big competitor McLaren and will become Sporting Director there. Red Bull will keep him on contract until mid-2026

[Macklaren]

Confirmed! Will report to Randy Singh. Huge for the team esp if they can secure early release

[SilviuAgo]

Yes, new signing, Will Courtenay to join McLAREN Formula 1 Team as Sporting Director

McLaren Racing today announces that Will Courtenay will join the McLaren Formula 1 team as Sporting Director.

Reporting into Randeep Singh, Racing Director, the role will help grow the team’s sporting operations as the team continues its pursuit of success in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Will joins McLaren after 20 years at Red Bull Racing, where he is currently in the role of Head of Race Strategy, bringing with him a wealth of experience. Will’s expertise will add further depth to the team’s sporting operation and will help drive performance within the racing team.

[mwillems]

So that was why Dr Obbs retracted his tweet about the move? Seemed to suggest that there was also bad news for someone.

[Jurgen von Diaz]

You're welcome, you guys enjoy Courtenay. You can thank Mr. Horner for not keeping his snake in the cage, which initiated the toxic work environment.