2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[cyclon]

Well anything about Vandoorne and the car?

I haven't seen them for quite some time again!

Ok ok my mistake we are out again !

And In again after 2 laps!

I am afraid it's another pitiful test day ....

[diffuser]

That rear jack is new ? Looks like Carbon fibre....

[proteus]

I would dare to say they are all very nervous due to the fact that 80% of hate, critisism and attention is on them. The media is just like some people on forums. They cant wait for a slip up, or a mistake and mechanical failures. Many titles of testing reports often expose their name for every problem they have, forcing them into the negative spotlight. I believe thats a morale crusher as well.

On the other hand they should exploit this hatred, work hard and prove themself.

[mclaren111]

Autosport:

15:55
Moving round to the fast Campsa right-hander, it's interesting to get a feel for the mid-corner speed. Hamilton is able to turn in decisively in the Merc and carry good speed, The Red Bull is also strong. The McLaren looking good for most of the corner, although does give up a little bit at the exit.

Edd Straw

[Jolle]

Autosport:

15:55
Moving round to the fast Campsa right-hander, it's interesting to get a feel for the mid-corner speed. Hamilton is able to turn in decisively in the Merc and carry good speed, The Red Bull is also strong. The McLaren looking good for most of the corner, although does give up a little bit at the exit.

Edd Straw

It wouldn't surprise me if they want too far (again) with the rear suspension. Having the pickup for the pull rod half way down the wishbone could have consequences for the precision of the dampening and suspension (bit of flex from the wishbone and a 2:1 ratio of the pull-rod movement)

[mclaren111]

I would dare to say they are all very nervous due to the fact that 80% of hate, critisism and attention is on them. The media is just like some people on forums. They cant wait for a slip up, or a mistake and mechanical failures. Many titles of testing reports often expose their name for every problem they have, forcing them into the negative spotlight. I believe thats a morale crusher as well.

On the other hand they should exploit this hatred, work hard and prove themself.

Agree. Far too much focus on "negative news".

[Phil]

I don't think it's fair to compare STR and McLaren. Their design teams would have had very different assignments.

For STR it's all about giving RedBull a good PU for 2019 (at the soonest). Even finishing dead last every race wouldn't be a real problem. This means they will have build in lots of room in the chassis. Also, with the drivers, they would have made the package easy to drive and predicable. Which is normally not always the fastest.

The McLaren engineers on the other hand would have had the briefing that they need to take risks. No sponsors, big driver. Being the slowest Renault team would mean at the most places 9 en 10 on the grid, with a good shot from FI or Williams even outside the points. So they had no room to play with, everything, every detail is right on or slightly over the edge. Being with a new PU and competing with RedBull directly, that is almost an impossible task. Plus, for the last three years, McLaren have been in a race against one.

You know, I remember having this discussion last year, if not even the year before. I was arguing that maybe McLaren has gone too aggressive with the size-zero everything, but some were adamant that it was the only way to beat the top contenders and challenge for the championship. I still don't get the "all or nothing" approach. Looking back, if they had gone a little more conservative, maybe the whole partnership with Honda would have turned out differently and instead of struggling to even complete a single GP on a race by race basis, we would have seen consistent improvements.

Now Honda is gone and we're seeing the same again. That McLaren looks very extreme, way more extreme than any of the Renault cars where cooling is concerned. This is scary at the same time too - if they ever make it work, who knows, it might be extremely quick. But given the problems they've been experiencing, I am more inclined to think they won't get there at all.

I must say, I like the Renault approach. When entertaining the prospect of signing Alonso for their team, they said "no, they don't expect to be fighting for wins in 2018 anyway". Meanwhile, they've been consistently making small improvements and climbing up the midfield to the point that by the end of 2017, they were easily the 4th best team. Betting on drivers like Nico and Sainz just reinforces their heads down approach. They want to win, but they are happy to build and make steady improvements to get there.

Meanwhile, McLaren seems to be pushing the limits again - only to find out that they've possibly reached too far and have to move the bar further back again. This really isn't bashing and I genuinely hope McLaren can get back to being competitive (for Alonso's sake too), but I am starting to think that their way of managing things is set up for failure.

[Alonso Fan]

Well anything about Vandoorne and the car?

I haven't seen them for quite some time again!

Ok ok my mistake we are out again !

And In again after 2 laps!

I am afraid it's another pitiful test day ....

115 laps and counting

[Xero]

Hasn't been a bad day at all. Lots of stop-go runs on the hypersofts in the morning, and some heavy fuel runs on the softs in the afternoon. Looks pretty consistent despite being fairly average on times, and the car does look to be kind to it's tyres.

At the time of writing they've just completed 115 laps, which is 4 more than Williams, so it's been a really productive afternoon. Currently on the Mediums doing longer runs.

[Alonso Fan]

Hasn't been a bad day at all. Lots of stop-go runs on the hypersofts in the morning, and some heavy fuel runs on the softs in the afternoon. Looks pretty consistent despite being fairly average on times, and the car does look to be kind to it's tyres.

At the time of writing they've just completed 115 laps, which is 4 more than Williams, so it's been a really productive afternoon. Currently on the Mediums doing longer runs.

I wonder if they're doing the same thing as Ferrari. Qualy sim in the morning then race sim in the afternoon. If this is the case I'm pretty worried about their pace

[Xero]

I wonder if they're doing the same thing as Ferrari. Qualy sim in the morning then race sim in the afternoon. If this is the case I'm pretty worried about their pace

They haven't ran a qually sim yet. The quick times came in 6-10 laps bursts, in a hot lap followed by cooling down lap pattern. Don't think we'll see McLaren's ouright pace until tomorrow afternoon when Alonso will turn the engine up and go for it.

[Jolle]

I don't think it's fair to compare STR and McLaren. Their design teams would have had very different assignments.

For STR it's all about giving RedBull a good PU for 2019 (at the soonest). Even finishing dead last every race wouldn't be a real problem. This means they will have build in lots of room in the chassis. Also, with the drivers, they would have made the package easy to drive and predicable. Which is normally not always the fastest.

The McLaren engineers on the other hand would have had the briefing that they need to take risks. No sponsors, big driver. Being the slowest Renault team would mean at the most places 9 en 10 on the grid, with a good shot from FI or Williams even outside the points. So they had no room to play with, everything, every detail is right on or slightly over the edge. Being with a new PU and competing with RedBull directly, that is almost an impossible task. Plus, for the last three years, McLaren have been in a race against one.

You know, I remember having this discussion last year, if not even the year before. I was arguing that maybe McLaren has gone too aggressive with the size-zero everything, but some were adamant that it was the only way to beat the top contenders and challenge for the championship. I still don't get the "all or nothing" approach. Looking back, if they had gone a little more conservative, maybe the whole partnership with Honda would have turned out differently and instead of struggling to even complete a single GP on a race by race basis, we would have seen consistent improvements.

Now Honda is gone and we're seeing the same again. That McLaren looks very extreme, way more extreme than any of the Renault cars where cooling is concerned. This is scary at the same time too - if they ever make it work, who knows, it might be extremely quick. But given the problems they've been experiencing, I am more inclined to think they won't get there at all.

I must say, I like the Renault approach. When entertaining the prospect of signing Alonso for their team, they said "no, they don't expect to be fighting for wins in 2018 anyway". Meanwhile, they've been consistently making small improvements and climbing up the midfield to the point that by the end of 2017, they were easily the 4th best team. Betting on drivers like Nico and Sainz just reinforces their heads down approach. They want to win, but they are happy to build and make steady improvements to get there.

Meanwhile, McLaren seems to be pushing the limits again - only to find out that they've possibly reached too far and have to move the bar further back again. This really isn't bashing and I genuinely hope McLaren can get back to being competitive (for Alonso's sake too), but I am starting to think that their way of managing things is set up for failure.

That’s their big problem, they can’t afford another transition or troubled year again. They must attract attention from sponsors to remain among the top teams to be a valuable partner for whoever comes after the Renault contract. If this season goes wrong, teams like Williams and Sauber will join the fight for the sponsor dollars and a “works” PU.

I still believe the partnership with Honda was (at the time) the only way to go. You’re just in such a disadvantage being a customer team. Look at RedBull, ever since Renault has the ambition to run their own team, the partnership turned sour. For them Honda will come at the best time possible.

Short term doesn’t look good, but mid-long term looks even bleaker if Brown keeps walking backwards.

[Andres125sx]

Lol, yea, its a 2$ bolt that failed, or hose for 0.1$, cutting the engine cover is minor too.
No need to overreact, but fact is - Mclaren badly NEEDED good mileage during tests. loosing 3 days is NOT acceptable whatever the spin. It makes so much harder to be prepared for Melburn.
I'm ok with early integration problems. I fully expected Mc to use first 4 races for fixing small gremlins.
But I can't accept the bullshit with "minor problems". Who needs these stupid remarks?!


PS:
Eric Boulier must be sacked.

What 3 days?

Yesterday, despite the problems, they managed to do 100 laps

[GoranF1]

[media]https://twitter.com/f1debrief/status/97 ... 47361?s=19[/media]

[McHonda]

That's better...