It seems that Mclaren is back

[doorboot]

I know this is pre season testing and all that, but all the Mclaren detractors were quick to point out Mclaren's lack of pace. But now they are back with speed and for a change reliability. So what is the verdict?

"Kimi Raikkonen overcame a spate of red flags at Catalunya to post the fastest time of the day in Spain as McLaren hit the track for the first time this week.

With weather conditions showing a marked improvement from the rain which greeted the teams on Monday, Raikkonen completed just under 100 laps and posted a quickest time of 1min 15.223secs as he spent the day completing set-up work on his MP4-21 and putting more mileage on the car ahead of the opening round of the year in Bahrain in a fortnight."

http://www.crash.net/news_view~t~Barcel ... 125646.htm

[Ciro Pabón]

It seems they are in the same spot they were last year: late.

Actually, in 2005, McLaren started to get results and to have a driveable car two months after everybody did. I think Bruce McLaren would have done something different, more like Toyota: the early bird gets the worm.

But this is just a commentary. We, engineers, want numbers instead of opinions. Let's wait for the numbers.

[phantomfocus]

Even Mclaren can have two trouble free days once in a while. I'm not bashing Mclaren, if anybody wants to see them do well it's me. But I think ist's still too early to get excited, and that goes for just about all of the teams. Just 2.5 weeks and we can begin discussing this more seriously. I wait any longer!

[doorboot]

True even a blind dog can find a bone every now and then. But still it is encouraging that both car got in some laps without mayor problems. In any case all this proves is that the MP4-21 is a brilliant car with a crap engine.

[dcdabest]

Yes, at least the mercedes' reliability seems to be improving slightly, allowing McLaren to complete some mileage finally.

But Kimi's fastest lap at Barcelona was undoubtedly achieved on low fuel and perhaps one can truly gauge macca's performance by looking at Montoya's time - 1.3 secs off the pace! Renault on the other hand can get two cars right up there every time!

I would not be too surprised if the teams knew the other teams performances to the tenth of a second just by looking at their lap-times over long runs. If so, the signals being given off by the various teams could be a good measure of where they think they are in the pecking order.

If that's the case, McLaren aren't looking too good...

[mcdenife]

But Kimi's fastest lap at Barcelona was undoubtedly achieved on low fuel and perhaps one can truly gauge macca's performance by looking at Montoya's time - 1.3 secs off the pace! Renault on the other hand can get two cars right up there every time!

How did u manage deduce Kimi's fastest lap was achieved on low fuel and do we know what the fuel level of the renaults (or even montoya's) were when they set their fastest times?

[Scuderia_Russ]

True even a blind dog can find a bone every now and then.

I like it.

[DaveKillens]

How did u manage deduce Kimi's fastest lap was achieved on low fuel and do we know what the fuel level of the renaults (or even montoya's) were when they set their fastest times?

Competitors spend a lot of time and effort in watching each other. It is definitely not casual, it's serious analysis. They take sound recordings to anaylse RPM's, even try to figure out power levels. They have teams of photographers, data loggers, and even listen to every rumor and most probably have lip readers on staff. Data is accumulated, and after careful analysis, they can come with reasonably accurate info on their competitors. Every sector time is tracked, as well as length of runs. For instance, if a team makes a long run, it's safe to guess that the car started out on near full tank of fuel. Then there is a baseline, and from that point they can study lap and sector times to analyse car performance. Yes, a lot can be guesswork, but as each team accumulate data on their competitors, and as serious analysis is done, the build up a reasonably accurate picture of the levels of performance of the competitors.

[mcdenife]

Agree. But how did dcdabest deduce Kimi's fastest lap was achieved on low fuel?

[johny]

in http://www.circuitcat.com you can see how many laps they do and stints lenght

[mcdenife]

In other words, Raikkonen san comes out, Does One lap, Shatters Record.
Conclusion: was running on fumes?

[Mikacouli]

Hmmm, Renault and Button did a 1min13.9 so I don't think he was on very low fuel. BTW, Kimi went out in the last 5 min of the session but Ralf spoiled Kimi's lap by causing another red flag. I think he would get very close. We'll see in bahrain.

[jgredline]

lets hope so, but who knows.
http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/a ... /view.html

[manchild]

... but Ralf spoiled Kimi's lap by causing another red flag...

Ralf causing red flag, now that is strange


BTW, I think yesterday was "blind dog-bone" thing (Mercedes needed something to brag with after all those blow engines).

23.02.2006

Name Team Tyres Laps Time Gap

1. Button Honda M 116 1:13.935 139.992 mph

2. Fisichella Renault M 125 1:13.971 0.036

3. Alonso Renault M 113 1:13.977 0.042

4. Barrichello Honda M 119 1:14.266 0.331

5. Montoya McLaren M 131 1:14.588 0.653

6. Raikkonen McLaren M 79 1:15.475 1.540

7. Rosberg WilliamsF1 B 83 1:15.774 1.839

8. R Schumacher Toyota B 97 1:15.973 2.038

9. Coulthard Red Bull M 54 1:16.034 2.099

10. Trulli Toyota B 103 1:16.057 2.122

11. Webber WilliamsF1 B 97 1:16.128

[boydy19]

I think we can come to the conclusion that McLaren will be there or there abouts come bahrain.

One minute there in a state of emergency, down on the timesheets and lucky enough to last 20 laps and then suddenly from nowhere there back on the pace and doing more laps than most competitors.

Never undestimate Mclaren, many have written them off this season but don't be suprised if they come up with the goods on race day.