scuderiabrandon wrote: ↑24 Sep 2024, 01:56
The launch spec SF-24 had many flaws, hidden by the fact that McLaren were slow at the start for some odd reason. Starting to think they were holding back to secure more ATR. Inherit flaws, those that only get fixed during the winter. It seemed like a good base to build from, but here we are almost in October and none of those problems have been solver. Still a big question mark over the bouncing concern.
Funny enough, around the same time his departure was announced, confirmation that there'd be a switch to pull front suspension and relocation of the cockpit. Seems like he might have vetoed against things some member wanted to implement much earlier. Could be coincidence, I don't think so though.
Truth is, it was too hit or miss with him anyway.
It's hard to gauge what was a too conservative choice and what was a choice made to prevent introducing new challenges and problems. Other than tyre warm up, which was clearly too conservative even if understandable to an extent, I don't think any other choice was too conservative. Gearbox case and pull rod rear were redesigned and it's working fine, chassis and lower SIS tube were redesigned and it seems ok. Front was redesigned, but kept as push rod and I don't think this was a bad choice seeing how many core issues SF23 turned out to have. Pull rod front and cockpit repositioning for next season are not minor details and if they think it will be an improvement it's gonna yield some non-downforce lap time gains which others don't have available.
After Canada fiasco, it was clear they were too conservative with tyre warm up and this is something Cardille was responsible for. If they planned to overcome this limit by improving downforce, and judging by their statements at the time - they did, but were blind sighted by downforce limits and return of bouncing, this is also something Cardille was responsible for. I knew we can't expect an epic car for history books from Cardille and I think they did an ok job with SF24, but now that they have a stable base they need to go all in for next season and they can't afford to be too conservative. Calculated risks with experienced anticipation of development and lap time limits is needed and Serra's experience should fit like a glove with that.
It's a very important detail that they've opened up a new development path with Monza floor and it's reassuring to see Red Bull copying it instantly for Baku floor experiments. Together with more front wing flexing and gains with pull rod front, cockpit position and better tyre warm up, the 25 car seems to have all the right ingredients for a strong and competitive start.
We shouldn't forget McLaren copied RB's floor concept approach and they seem to have hit a limit, using basically the same floor with minimal tweaks for 13 races straight, while their plan was to introduce a whole new floor in Silverstone, 7 races ago. There is no rumour, let alone official confirmation, that they will have a new floor in Austin. RB gave up on too many vertical kicks (like Ferrari) with Baku floor and we can be sure they will follow down this path as well with Austin upgrades.
For whatever reason, some people really want the kid to fail.
