2016 McLaren F1 Team - Honda

[Webber2011]

I still speak to Wazari often.

I know a lot of you guys take great joy in criticising him, but I've actually learnt a great deal from the man.
And once again I'd like to say I believe he's 100% genuine.

Last time we spoke was just before Spa.

His comments to me regarding power are that Honda are still roughly 50hp down on Mercedes.
Fuel economy is down between 12% and 15%.

Some of the work he did on combustion chamber design was part of the Spa upgrade.
His Team's actual design is one of 3 that are being evaluated, and the best will be implemented in 2017 when the layout also changes.

[Alonso Fan]

q1 just showed us why practice times aren't representative. The engine is still the biggest problem, but I think they can pull it off

[Jef Patat]

ouch, let's hope for one of those good starts

[OviJohn]

So wheres Techman (AKA Autof1fan) now to blame Mclaren aero chasis and/or philosophy?

Could you explain how a Manor was able to split the Mclarens in Q2 with a their chasis all of a sudden? Or how RBR fell behind Williams?

Good thing about Monza is that´s its a visceral venue, as most of the weight of a team package will have to rely on how good the PU is on this track. So it becomes the ultimate PU vs Chasis test circuit.

In order for the team to get a point or two tomorrow, we´ll need someone to mess up big time at the front.

[Dipesh1995]

The majority of the time deficit is definitely coming from a lack of straight line speed, they're significantly down on all three sector speed traps : http://www.fia.com/file/47264/download?token=zmIorAv7.

Only reason they're quick on the main speed trap is due getting a tow off other cars : http://www.fia.com/file/47268/download?token=C751YxSA
If you look at the "time of day" column, Alonso got a tow off Hamilton and Button got a tow off Hulkenberg.

[Kalun]

The majority of the time deficit is definitely coming from a lack of straight line speed, they're significantly down on all three sector speed traps : http://www.fia.com/file/47264/download?token=zmIorAv7.

Only reason they're quick on the main speed trap is due getting a tow off other cars : http://www.fia.com/file/47268/download?token=C751YxSA
If you look at the "time of day" column, Alonso got a tow off Hamilton and Button got a tow off Hulkenberg.

This is very interesting. The difference between the McLaren and the Redbull are 1kph. Dont forget that the Red bull are running on even more skinny rear wing, low downforce setup.
But when we compare Fernando with Kevin Magnussen, they are about 3 kph apart. Most probably from the tow.

We can say that Honda power unit is about the same HP as Renault Power unit and well ahead of 2015 Ferrari power unit.
There is hope here. Remember that Honda haven't introduce any TJI or CVCC technology yet.

In term of aero efficiency, I think they are good, but not excellent either. McLaren still need to improve on Mechanical stability/grip such as suspension setup and FRIC (used by the Merc and Redbull).

[Xero]

"Jenson Button has announced that he will step away from Formula 1 for the 2017 season, in which he will carry out a development role at McLaren, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking over as Fernando Alonso's team-mate."

Source: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3439 ... e-in-2017/

I'm gutted! I thought he deserved another shot in a potentially front running car, so I hope it's his own decision and not the teams.

[bauc]

"Jenson Button has announced that he will step away from Formula 1 for the 2017 season, in which he will carry out a development role at McLaren, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking over as Fernando Alonso's team-mate."

Source: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3439 ... e-in-2017/

I'm gutted! I thought he deserved another shot in a potentially front running car, so I hope it's his own decision and not the teams.

Well JB will be missed, but I'm sure Vandoorne will do a good job as well. Glad to hear JB will remain in MCL

[diffuser]

So wheres Techman (AKA Autof1fan) now to blame Mclaren aero chasis and/or philosophy?

Could you explain how a Manor was able to split the Mclarens in Q2 with a their chasis all of a sudden? Or how RBR fell behind Williams?

Good thing about Monza is that´s its a visceral venue, as most of the weight of a team package will have to rely on how good the PU is on this track. So it becomes the ultimate PU vs Chasis test circuit.

In order for the team to get a point or two tomorrow, we´ll need someone to mess up big time at the front.

I got to hand it to Techman ...takes pretty big cojones to take on a whole forum.

Can we change his name to MIA ?

[Fifty]

Button out or rather the reserve driver for mclaren for 2017...

Sounds like mclaren doesn't like Alonso but is stuck with him due to Honda paying his tab and demanding it. However his contact is done after next season. It sounds like mclaren wants to hold on to Button for development and then put him back in a seat when they can get rid of FA...


This is all my opinion from listening to inflection of interviews btw...

[ctdrftna]

Yup,Looks like he has an option to drive in 2018, Alonso's contract runs out next year. He has talked to retirement. So possibly Jenson teams with stoffel in 2018.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... confirmed/

[adrianjordan]

Aren't several of the big name drivers out of contract at the end of 2018 as well? Paves the way for Button to fill in for 1 final season in 2018 and then Mclaren make a play for Hamilton, Vettel et al as they will hopefully be winning races again by then.

[mrluke]

As predicted, Monza is a pretty good circuit for Mclaren, certainly not their worst of the year.

Okay so we now have pretty definitive evidence of Honda PU vs Mclaren Chassis.

I think there is debate over whether RBR or Mercedes have the best chassis, I am going to compare to RBR because they have a known weak PU whereas Mercedes are strong everywhere.

We can take RBR as a benchmark for strong chassis, weak PU
We can take Manor as a benchmark for weak chassis, strong PU
Where does Mclaren sit in this?

Monaco 2016 Qualifying
RBR 1:13.622 (0.000)
MCL 1:15.352 (1.730)
MAN 1:17.295 (3.673)

Monza 2016 Qualifying
RBR 1:22.389 (0.000)
MCL 1:23.273 (0.884)
MAN 123.315 (0.926)

From the above you can deduce that RBR chassis is around 1.8s per lap quicker than Mclaren but the Honda PU is around 0.8s per lap quicker than the Renault.

On the other hand the Manor chassis is around 3.7s slower than RBR but their PU gains them 2.7s.

If anybody has a similarly chassis dependent circuit I can supplement Monaco with that would be appreciated, there are plenty of power tracks, Baku, Spa etc.

[Andres125sx]

"Jenson Button has announced that he will step away from Formula 1 for the 2017 season, in which he will carry out a development role at McLaren, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking over as Fernando Alonso's team-mate."

Source: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3439 ... e-in-2017/

I'm gutted! I thought he deserved another shot in a potentially front running car, so I hope it's his own decision and not the teams.

I don´t think any driver will voluntarily move out of F1 when there´s a huge rule change

[Andres125sx]

Button out or rather the reserve driver for mclaren for 2017...

Sounds like mclaren doesn't like Alonso

Some people conclusions are...