This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Could it be possible that they entirely close off the side gills on their engine cover and solely rely on the outlet by the exhaust, considering they have a superior cooling solution?
I hope the car has enough speed or some good set up to give him another win and finish the title decider there. It will be the perfect gift for him for staying so many years in the team.
As has already been pointed out to you. The title cannot be decided in Vegas. Even if Lando wins and Max and Piastri fail to finish, Oscar would still have a mathematical chance of winning. In that scenario, Lando would be 49 points ahead with 58 still available.
"From success, you learn absolutely nothing. From failure and setbacks, conclusions can be drawn." - Niki Lauda
Also my opinion when I saw the news. Is a decision in Max favor: fresh engine that can be pushed and no worries about heat and tire degradation cause this decision cancels McLaren advantage on tire wear.
Wet??? It’s already incredibly cold. That could be a recipe for disaster for everyone
I hope will not be the case, and to be like in Brazil, just outside competitive sessions.
I don’t get why they are doing Las Vegas so late in the year! And even Austin.
Driver comfort? I mean, they already have to race in Vegas of all places, in a parking lot, after being forced to watch cringe pop music acts and fake clap for all the non entertainment trackside. Would be cruel to combine that with hot weather.
I hope will not be the case, and to be like in Brazil, just outside competitive sessions.
I don’t get why they are doing Las Vegas so late in the year! And even Austin.
Driver comfort? I mean, they already have to race in Vegas of all places, in a parking lot, after being forced to watch cringe pop music acts and fake clap for all the non entertainment trackside. Would be cruel to combine that with hot weather.
What in the clickbait... Where outside of Europe does this account post from?
simple answer - Logistics. Combine 'southwest US' & south america , to help with shipping/transport. EU tracks are in one cluster. Eastern Asia & Oceania are in one cluster. The middle east ones are in two clusters. The only thing 'sticking out like an anomaly' is Miami.
An interesting visual of the quali gap between Lando and Oscar.
Is clear that the change from Canada had a positive impact in Lando's trimmings, and although the score from that race on is "only" 7-4 for Lando (with last 3 races with a huge gap) the races where Oscar was in front was just marginal, no gaps like in the first part of the season (when Oscar had a massive advantage) were shown.
In other news. The name Hakkinnen is back to Mclaren as Ella Hakkinnen the 14 year old daughter of Mika Hakkinnen is signed on the Mclaren Youth Development program. Daniel Hakkinnen the youngest son of Mika is set to follow. Hopefully both of them can be just as talented as Mika and if possible even better.
And just to go back to some of the quali sessions this year.
China -> Lando messed up the hairpin at the end of the straight (multiple times)
Japan -> Lando with one of the most conservative chicane runs. Mega lap by Max, but it shouldn't have been on pole if Lando had replicated Oscar's Chicane performance.
Bahrain -> Lando struggling pretty much the entire weekend with traction out of 1-2-3. Couldn't put the power down properly.
Saudi -> Lando bins it out of nowhere in the first runs of Q3 while being faster than Oscar all weekend
Miami -> Lando again messed up the "real" last corner. Went onto the entry kerbs and ruined the lap with a poor exit (should have been pole).
Imola -> Complete disaster of a Q3 for Lando. Really slow Sector 1 and Sector 2.
Spain -> Lando overpushes in Q3 and ends up some way behind Oscar's benchmark.
Canada -> New suspension, but some funny business with the tires. Perhaps car behavior changed and Lando had to "relearn" things again. Quite slow in Q3.
After Canada, the difference between them neutralizes a bit. Lando doesn't make costly mistakes as often as he was doing before and in general tide begins to shift. Tires have been all over the place and that's disrupted some of the sessions with changeable weather (like Hungary), but in general Lando looked more "on it" since Canada. He did mess up Singapore though. Should have been P3 at least with a clean Q3 run, and could've even maybe gotten P2 from Max.
Austin - Mexico - Brazil have been bad tracks for Oscar before and although he improved this year, the gap has still been quite substantial. Oscar also had the spotlight on him as the championship leader this time around so the lack of pace has been "punished" more by the public.
Honestly, Lando since last year hasn't been the most "reliable" driver out there. But qualifying, he could deliver most of the time. The fact that he has messed up so many times this season is proof in my opinion that something did change with the MCL39 feeling-wise that took Lando too long to adapt. The Canada change does seem to have helped. After that the "error level" has been pretty much what you would expect from Lando based on his performance in the previous years.
Oscar's youthfulness might have played a factor in his drop off. These are the longest seasons of all time. Only two full months off. A more experienced driver might weather the grind better.
