2025 McLaren F1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

I don't think people were too pessimistic, they were just commenting what they (and me) feel were mistakes by the team.

But as most here say, this is sprint qualy so better to make a mistake there.

[Jdn1327]

Guys what is the reason for this dramatization right away? We have a nervous car when pushed to the max, both NOR and PIA made a mistke in Q3 in Australia, here the same this morning, it's the race tomorrow and on Sunday where it counts, calm down please.

Correct me if I'm wrong...this car is pinpoint accurate but a little bit of wind seems to unsettle it...seems like that to me.

[mwillems]

I think it was very overconfident to qualify with fuel for 6 laps and reuse the tyres for the second fast lap. I think this is more the fault of the team than the drivers. In any case, it was also a useful experience, it is good that we found out in the second race.

Even so, Norris was slower than his time on Meds in SQ2. Oscar showed the car could be up there. Pole was up for grabs even with an odd fuel strategy.

But it's only sprint.

[mwillems]

Guys what is the reason for this dramatization right away? We have a nervous car when pushed to the max, both NOR and PIA made a mistke in Q3 in Australia, here the same this morning, it's the race tomorrow and on Sunday where it counts, calm down please.

Correct me if I'm wrong...this car is pinpoint accurate but a little bit of wind seems to unsettle it...seems like that to me.

It was pretty windy in Australia i think.

[michl420]

3 days ago it was 24/24 . After 3 lock ups we are back to almost no chance for the championship. Some people should think (and write) more realistic.

[Farnborough]

3 days ago it was 24/24 . After 3 lock ups we are back to almost no chance for the championship. Some people should think (and write) more realistic.

Agree, frustrating that some come on to "spill their guts" after one oversteer and a brake snatch

Tyre life in stint is valuable around here, if up against another car that has it's tyres giving up, then the contrast is dramatically in favour of long stint good tyre performance.

There's a lot more in the fabric of this season to be woven into place. More interesting contrasts to come in this weekend.

[geogate]

Im looking forward to the sprint. Piastri is aggressive as hell in the first couple of laps of any race .... here if his tyres are switched on as quickly as we expect, it should be quite a show.
Norris may have given himself too much to do.
I do still believe we will come away from China with another 2 wins

[Emag]

Guys what is the reason for this dramatization right away? We have a nervous car when pushed to the max, both NOR and PIA made a mistke in Q3 in Australia, here the same this morning, it's the race tomorrow and on Sunday where it counts, calm down please.

Correct me if I'm wrong...this car is pinpoint accurate but a little bit of wind seems to unsettle it...seems like that to me.

It was pretty windy in Australia i think.

Not on the quali. Race was pretty windy yes. But qualifying here in China was 3-4 times more windy (3-4 m/s winds compared to 0.5-1.5). Which isn’t as much as it sounds because there was barely a breeze in Austrlia, however it might have been a factor in affecting driver confidence.

Lando tends to overdrive when he is under pressure. Sometimes it works out and you get great laps, but sometimes you get laps like today. The sprint format probably played a role too, because he had no time to go to the pits, study the telemetry, reset and go again.

We will see what their pace is on the sprint tomorrow, but to be honest the sprint quali today paints a picture similar to what I expected after testing.

Ferrari (and Max because Max is a beast on that RedBull) with good pace on quali, but McLaren having an edge on race trim. Lets see if it plays out that way tomorrow.

[FittingMechanics]

Maybe the thoughts about being very anti dive are true. If that is the case, one of downsides was that the drivers lose the feel for the car. This could explain these mistakes at the limit of the car.

If that is the case, Oscar and Lando will learn the car better and adapt with more time.

[nitrotech]

Lando doesn't seem to belong to the category of Max, Lewis or George. He simply cannot manage a clean Q3. Throughout his career, this has been an issue. Last time out in Melbourne, he wasted first run and then managed to put together 2nd run. Tomorrow he gets another chance at it, but before that, he has to aggressively jump cars ahead of him in Sprint and take control of lead as early as possible. Oscar would try to do the same thing. I won't be surprised if Oscar jumps Max by turn 2 or 3. Not sure if Lando can do that.

[Seerix]

I think he is doing quite well, considering Osc has 0 poles.

[SilviuAgo]

Lando doesn't seem to belong to the category of Max, Lewis or George. He simply cannot manage a clean Q3. Throughout his career, this has been an issue. Last time out in Melbourne, he wasted first run and then managed to put together 2nd run. Tomorrow he gets another chance at it, but before that, he has to aggressively jump cars ahead of him in Sprint and take control of lead as early as possible. Oscar would try to do the same thing. I won't be surprised if Oscar jumps Max by turn 2 or 3. Not sure if Lando can do that.

Here we go again!

[SilviuAgo]

Some race pace prediction based on FP1 "long runs". This should be valid for tomorrow Sprint Race, after teams will implement all the learnings image for Main Race may change.



Ferrari didn't do any long runs.

Everyone used Mediums: McLaren and Mercedes were quickest (Excluding ALO/OCO who did just 3 valid laps). Mercedes' degradation was high.

VER was slowest: RBR used very low PU modes and a lot of fuel (slow in the fast corners)

[ringo]

Maybe the thoughts about being very anti dive are true. If that is the case, one of downsides was that the drivers lose the feel for the car. This could explain these mistakes at the limit of the car.

If that is the case, Oscar and Lando will learn the car better and adapt with more time.

Keep in mind also that the higher tyre pressures here in China exacerbates the lack of feel.
High pressures may be a weakness for this car in terms of ease to drive.

[mwillems]

Correct me if I'm wrong...this car is pinpoint accurate but a little bit of wind seems to unsettle it...seems like that to me.

It was pretty windy in Australia i think.

Not on the quali. Race was pretty windy yes. But qualifying here in China was 3-4 times more windy (3-4 m/s winds compared to 0.5-1.5). Which isn’t as much as it sounds because there was barely a breeze in Austrlia, however it might have been a factor in affecting driver confidence.

Lando tends to overdrive when he is under pressure. Sometimes it works out and you get great laps, but sometimes you get laps like today. The sprint format probably played a role too, because he had no time to go to the pits, study the telemetry, reset and go again.

We will see what their pace is on the sprint tomorrow, but to be honest the sprint quali today paints a picture similar to what I expected after testing.

Ferrari (and Max because Max is a beast on that RedBull) with good pace on quali, but McLaren having an edge on race trim. Lets see if it plays out that way tomorrow.

Yeah but there were no signs of it in the race. The car had more twitches in SQ than it did in drying and windy conditions. So im not convinced, but the wind could be a factor.


Also, the poster said a little bit of wind, hence my reply, it's definitely not that sensitive.


I just read the reports and Lando does mention a tailwind at the last corner, but the issues today were all over the track. But i think today was at least as much driver as car, and not helped by wind.

I'm sure they can get a better setup to give a more settled car, and that Lando will be on it.