2025 McLaren F1 Team

[venkyhere]

The next two tracks are purpose built tracks, super smooth. So I don't think there will be plankwear risk - one long run stint in FP1 should give enough 'reliable data' to shoehorn into their calculations for ride height, stiffness etc.

[Seerix]

It's entirely possible the track surface of the last 2 races is nothing special and they can just use the same configuration as they already did previously without much risk.
Depends how much are they affected by the Brazil TD.

[kc_f1]

Zak...man...careful what you wish for.

This is now giving me 2007 vibes. Just like Kimi..Max could win by a single point.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

I just want the title sealed before AD. I don’t think my nerves could stand it if Max is still in contention then…

[Zaamy]

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what ... dsq-shock/

I know the headline is a bit naff, but some interesting stuff in the article

[Quantum]

So should they carry margin for the final races now and risk a bit of performance, or try to optimise?

Optimise to risk another DSQ?

They only need Lando to finish 2nd in all remaining races IF Max wins them all.
After this weekend and the fallout in the championship, why should anyone have implicit trust in McLaren's decision making for car optimisation?
They could easily have run conservatively on the plank and finished 3rd at minimum.
They could even have taken an engine and finished 4th easily. Kimi started 17th and finished 3rd.

Throwing the dice at this point not requiring to win is asking for trouble.

[Farnborough]

There's this to consider in impact remember

https://press.pirelli.com/a-maximum-of- ... -in-qatar/

Quite how it will affect planning we'll have to see.

[Badger]

So should they carry margin for the final races now and risk a bit of performance, or try to optimise?

Optimise to risk another DSQ?

They only need Lando to finish 2nd in all remaining races IF Max wins them all.
After this weekend and the fallout in the championship, why should anyone have implicit trust in McLaren's decision making for car optimisation?
They could easily have run conservatively on the plank and finished 3rd at minimum.
They could even have taken an engine and finished 4th easily. Kimi started 17th and finished 3rd.

Throwing the dice at this point not requiring to win is asking for trouble.

If complacency leads to significantly reduced performance there's no guarantee he finishes in the top 3, so there's risk on both sides. I probably land on the side of optimising the ride height. With a proper long run in FP1 they should be able to optimise the floor whilst minimising risk.

As for the engine I don't think we need to rehash that, McLaren were never going to do that.

[Seerix]

they'll get good data from sprint itself, it's basically a long run on lowish fuel

[Big Tea]

The only good thing to come indirectly from it is that both cars were affected. Had it ben either one car there would have been melt down here. Its recoverable, the split this could have caused may not have been

[bauc]

If NOR or PIA manages to win the title this year, they can be proud of what they have done, and they can say it was in a roller-coaster season with a fight till the end, and that is a life long bragging rights right there

[erikejw]

The other teams got it right.

Maybe McLaren were missing data from earlier rounds to make an educated decision.

I doubt they'd take such unnecessary risks for gaining a few places.

Why they'd not have enough data is up for interpretation.


[
quote=Farnborough post_id=1311094 time=1763972648 user_id=46322]

Their plan A was two stop. If the degradation was high as they expected, they would probably not fail due to skid wear as tires would have more rubber.

Just bad data.

My guess is that they expected at least one safety car. That would have reduced the number of laps at race speed and they could have manage better the wear. And there was only one VSC, if I remember correctly. Not enough to manage the wear alongside the lift-and-coast

Just bad interpretation and risk analysis ....... given that they had substantial clearance in points gap, and now they haven't.
[/quote]

[Quantum]

If complacency leads to significantly reduced performance there's no guarantee he finishes in the top 3, so there's risk on both sides. I probably land on the side of optimising the ride height. With a proper long run in FP1 they should be able to optimise the floor whilst minimising risk.

As for the engine I don't think we need to rehash that, McLaren were never going to do that.

The risk taken with plank for instantaneous double disqualification makes the engine change idea look amazing. Even with a DSQ they still walk away with a fresher engine and no risk of failure/performance management.

I digress, McLaren need to ensure Piastri plays the team game once it's clear he is completely out of contention. That might hopefully come directly after the sprint race. Because then McLaren can focus entirely on Lando, a benefit Max has had with RB.
And given the operations are under intense scrutiny, all the best resources within that team need to be directed to their best chance at ensuring Lando at minimum finishes 2nd in sprint and main race at Qatar.
If they are aiming for a win with an aggressive set up and there's a related DSQ or engine failure, it will be unforgivable.

[Farnborough]

My thoughts were, that they just didn't need to chase it that hard at this LV race, and particularly for Lando.

3rd would have left Lando with +39 over Max, with ease and keeping those hard earned points accumulated up to that point.
Even with two 2nd places (sprint and main) in Qatar would have left him at +31 for last race. At which they could have gone fully " balls out" for the show and team pride.

Oscar, may have more justified outlook in chasing absolute points in LV to be effective in his own points situation.

It is what it is though. Thinking and acting more lucidly in Qatar should can be productive still.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

My thoughts were, that they just didn't need to chase it that hard at this LV race, and particularly for Lando.

3rd would have left Lando with +39 over Max, with ease and keeping those hard earned points accumulated up to that point.
Even with two 2nd places (sprint and main) in Qatar would have left him at +31 for last race. At which they could have gone fully " balls out" for the show and team pride.

Oscar, may have more justified outlook in chasing absolute points in LV to be effective in his own points situation.

It is what it is though. Thinking and acting more lucidly in Qatar should can be productive still.

You got me wondering something, did their desire to not favour either driver partially contribute to this. They couldn’t let Oscar take the risk without also taking it on Lando’s car?

Probably not the case, but it speaks volumes for how fair McLaren have been that it got me even wondering it lol