McLaren MP4-28 Mercedes

[wesley123]

What is the point of putting in more updates? It is obvious the car is flawed and they barely got any speed out of it, even with the updates.

There is no point at all in adding updates, it wont gain them anything plus they wont be useful for next year. And yes, they can run 2014 parts, if they want the other teams to see what they have cooking for 2014.

Pretty logical choice if you ask me

[Robbobnob]

I think running 2014 spec wouldnt be a silly idea.

Removing the beam wing and barge boards and getting data on the centre of pressure change, how that affects the characteristics. For a team which has recently struggled with correlation issues, this would be a smart use of this practice

[Huntresa]

I think running 2014 spec wouldnt be a silly idea.

Removing the beam wing and barge boards and getting data on the centre of pressure change, how that affects the characteristics. For a team which has recently struggled with correlation issues, this would be a smart use of this practice

Barge boards are still in there in the 2014 regs.

[adrianjordan]

I think what Martin Whitmarsh probably means is that they will now stop developing any new updates for the MP4-28.

I suspect they still have some planned updates that are waiting to go onto the car at the Silverstone Test and if they come up with some new things they want to try for next year then maybe they'll stick them on the car to test them - even if it's only maybe for a practise session and then they take them off again.

I do think that maybe they will be looking at improving the mechanical setup of the car for next season - and any work in that area is also valid on this year's car without being too obvious to the other teams.

[bauc]

Hello All....

I've been reading you guys for a long long time, and I've decided to join in the discussion. As you all know F1 teams are working on car updates couple of months ahead so if for example you want to bring updates to YDT at Silverstone the upgrades must be in the pipe line at least 2 months back so I don't believe that we wont see any more updates on the MP4-28 as I don't believe Mclaren gave up the MP4-28 two moths ago.

Thanks.

[Javert]

Hello All....

I've been reading you guys for a long long time, and I've decided to join in the discussion. As you all know F1 teams are working on car updates couple of months ahead so if for example you want to bring updates to YDT at Silverstone the upgrades must be in the pipe line at least 2 months back so I don't believe that we wont see any more updates on the MP4-28 as I don't believe Mclaren gave up the MP4-28 two moths ago.

Thanks.

Maybe it's a bit OT (mods should see if it's the case and move somewhere if the discussion continues)

Almost no update pieces require 2 months of pipeline

I read that building a completely new floor requires 1 month
Updates like brake ducts and small RW changes in my opinion requires less time
Don't know about FW, it's must be a complex affair with flexing etc.

[astracrazy]

Hello All....

I've been reading you guys for a long long time, and I've decided to join in the discussion. As you all know F1 teams are working on car updates couple of months ahead so if for example you want to bring updates to YDT at Silverstone the upgrades must be in the pipe line at least 2 months back so I don't believe that we wont see any more updates on the MP4-28 as I don't believe Mclaren gave up the MP4-28 two moths ago.

Thanks.

Maybe it's a bit OT (mods should see if it's the case and move somewhere if the discussion continues)

Almost no update pieces require 2 months of pipeline

I read that building a completely new floor requires 1 month
Updates like brake ducts and small RW changes in my opinion requires less time
Don't know about FW, it's must be a complex affair with flexing etc.

yep theres no fixed timescale on how long an update takes from design to track - it depends what it is. You may notice even some parts macca have brought seem to be a resin part or something to speed up the process.

i think the choice to stop the mp4-28 was made when they realised they'd been going down the wrong development path. they'd spent nearly half a season going down that wrong path. now they know they can only take that knowledge to the 29

[JDC123]

The upgrades Mclaren have brought this year simply haven't worked, or to the degree they would have liked. I don't remember in recent years them having such a problem till now

[bauc]

The upgrades Mclaren have brought this year simply haven't worked, or to the degree they would have liked. I don't remember in recent years them having such a problem till now

Yes you are correct, and it is most believed that due to wrong wind tunnel data correlation all of the updates were out of sync as well. We can only hope that Mclaren will learn more from this as Withmarsh said and will be able to produce a competitive package next term

[Jackles-UK]

I'm not sure it's entirely true that the upgrades haven't worked at all. I would imagine the majority of parts have yielded some form of improvement but when they are as far behind as they are it's difficult to accurately judge from afar just how much improvement they've made. Couple this to how everyone else is barrelling forward like never before with upgrades; Lotus, Merc & Ferrari have all been criticised in recent years for sitting back and falling behind in the development race but this year all 3 (obviously you need to add RBR to that list too - nothing new there though!) seem to be firing out the parts like there's no tomorrow! The advantage of having a good solid baseline to work from I guess ...

I think everyone (myself included it must be said) was hoping for a Germany/Hungary 2009 style leap forward in performance but with the regs so tight nowadays the second or so per lap deficit is damn near impossible to claw back mid-season.

[wesley123]

and those "some from of improvement" is pretty useless if this improvement is still less than the others around you, you would be better off not doing updates then.

They did a huge update, and it still didnt gave them anything compared to others, it just isnt worth it anymore. They are in a position where there is a decent gap behind them, and a gap in front of them. They might beat FI in a best case scenario, but I even doubt that, and for what? that time is better spent on next year than try to gain a position in the WCC and an est. of 5 mil in tv income, which their sister team needs more than they do.

[marcush.]

Mclaren always looked like development kings in recent years and MP4-28 has clearly left more questions open than woking was able to answer.

[PlatinumZealot]

Exactly what I was about to say! The scheduled updates are still on line. We just wont see any reactive updates.

[marcush.]

Exactly what I was about to say! The scheduled updates are still on line. We just wont see any reactive updates.

scheduled updates is a string of recource allocations over a season and these things are pretty much evaluated on a weekly or motnthly basis .So if the need arises or gains in the directions originally envisioned are unlikely I don´t think anyone would go on whatsoever.
I´d think they have ceased all development without significance for 2014 and beyond but where does this stop? My view is you just have to understand what went wrong and prove your point in real world by improving the beast you created .If you are unable to do so this is a bat omen for the next yeaer and those to follow as basically you lack a fundamental bit of understanding .

[stefan_]

Young Drivers Test 2013 Day 1 (Silverstone) - 17.07.2013