2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[CjC]

I'm disappointed about today, but I agree with you. Mainly because I don't understand where all the pace went. In Australia Alonso was 0,15s off Hulk, but today he was +1s off. And that's with the updates they brought here, which one would assume would bring them closer.

Also Alonso:
"We think big upgrades will come to the car later in the season and that will hopefully put us in a more competitive group so in these first races we need to score points, that's the main priority."

Credit: http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... or-mclaren

This is more to suggest we need to wait till the latter stages of the season before we all go crazy

That and we need to be a bit more realistic with the upcoming upgrades. I doubt they'll magically gain those 1.5s and fight for podiums in the next 2 months.
That being said, I'm kind of excited for what can Alonso do tomorrow.

Precisely, it's too much to expect podiums.
People forget F1 is the best competing against the best, a good idea Mclaren might have probably won't be any better than anyone else's!
All the time Mclaren took intergrating the Renault was time Red Bull spent fine tuning an awesome machine they created!

[CjC]

I'm disappointed about today, but I agree with you. Mainly because I don't understand where all the pace went. In Australia Alonso was 0,15s off Hulk, but today he was +1s off. And that's with the updates they brought here, which one would assume would bring them closer.

Also Alonso:
"We think big upgrades will come to the car later in the season and that will hopefully put us in a more competitive group so in these first races we need to score points, that's the main priority."

Credit: http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... or-mclaren

This is more to suggest we need to wait till the latter stages of the season before we all go crazy

The thing is, Mclaren never start from a place of humility, or even modesty or restraint. They bragged about the chassis last year. I know they're trying to get sponsors, but they talk too much, too big and too loud. Fernando was already talking about leaving the midfield after a fortuitous 5th place. Less talk more action.

Maybe the chassis was one of the best and it's kinda clear LAST SEASON the Honda was the weakest engine- Mclaren were blown away by the others on the straights.

I agree, we need more action than the talk but Ron Dennis isn't the one to bring back past glories. I remember Ron in 2014 after JB and K-Mag finishing 3rd and 4th (double podium) in Auz saying the new nose in Malaysia would bring half a second to the car and in Sepang they were swallowed up by the midfield and have never been allowed to leave since! So Ron is full off BS too- just like how he described the new for 2015 Honda engine as a piece of jewellery- not really a sound description was it?..... or was it??

[Ground Effect]

The podiums talk didn't come from over enthusiastic fans, it came from Mclaren themselves. All the hype has been created by them, so it's kinda annoying. You wonder what they based their assumptions on. It's a poor showing from them.

[Alonso Fan]

The podiums talk didn't come from over enthusiastic fans, it came from Mclaren themselves. All the hype has been created by them, so it's kinda annoying. You wonder what they based their assumptions on. It's a poor showing from them.

I don't think even mclaren were expecting to be this slow here. I think they're quite baffled by it as much as we are. They lost almost a second to Renault over 2 weeks. Considering the race pace it might be a one off. Or Australia could have been a one off. We'll only find that out over the next few races

[mrluke]

I just watched some onboards from Alonso and Vandoorne. The car lacks stability in turns 11, 12 & 13 as the drivers do quite a lot of steering adjustments and also it seems that the car is twitchy on acceleration at the exit from turn 10 as well.

Out of this, I think lack of grip is evident. Is it due to the the inability to put heat in the treys for 1 lap run? (remember the radio call to Alonso before Q2 where his racing engineer advised him to do the warm up lap as they practiced, also remember pre-season where the team spent the most of their laps with hyper soft tire which has the best grip and has the best worm up properties) or simply the car has some setup issue is yet to be explained

Mclaren have had a grip - or more specifically rear traction issue for the last 2-3 seasons, its why they always look so bad at the end of the straights, they cant put the power down at the start of them. Its also why they run so much downforce ( and drag) at most circuits, to try and get traction.

The problem isn't a new one, it is just more apparent now that they cant blame Honda.

[makecry]

I just watched some onboards from Alonso and Vandoorne. The car lacks stability in turns 11, 12 & 13 as the drivers do quite a lot of steering adjustments and also it seems that the car is twitchy on acceleration at the exit from turn 10 as well.

Out of this, I think lack of grip is evident. Is it due to the the inability to put heat in the treys for 1 lap run? (remember the radio call to Alonso before Q2 where his racing engineer advised him to do the warm up lap as they practiced, also remember pre-season where the team spent the most of their laps with hyper soft tire which has the best grip and has the best worm up properties) or simply the car has some setup issue is yet to be explained

Mclaren have had a grip - or more specifically rear traction issue for the last 2-3 seasons, its why they always look so bad at the end of the straights, they cant put the power down at the start of them. Its also why they run so much downforce ( and drag) at most circuits, to try and get traction.

The problem isn't a new one, it is just more apparent now that they cant blame Honda.

It was an issue with MP4-31 but MCL32 solved those problems. MCL33 they went with that new rear suspension, I am not sure if this is the result of that or not.

[fellowhoodlums]

The engine integration delayed stuff, we get that. However the updates they brought to Bahrain was the one they planned for start of season. Therefore this package is where they are to be judged.

It's poor. Talk of not getting the tyres switch on isn't gonna give the 1.5s needed to get them in amongst it.

Renault had a dog of a car last year and look at them now. TorroRosso....nothing needing said and they needed to integrate a new engine too. Finally, RB , the benchmark Renault, are miles ahead.

For a team that went on and on about their chassis last year and how 2018 was a continuation of that, it's very very poor. Let's not let resource be an excuse either - Williams for years punched above themselves resource wise and are a much smaller team.

[Dipesh1995]

Talk of not getting the tyres switch on isn't gonna give the 1.5s needed to get them in amongst it.

Not making excuses for McLaren because today’s performance was appalling and embarrassing for them however being able to switch on the tyres properly can indeed give 1.5 seconds of performance. Think back to Singapore 2015 where Mercedes were suddenly 1.5 seconds off the pace in qualifying because they couldn’t get the tyres to work.

[McMika98]

Talk of not getting the tyres switch on isn't gonna give the 1.5s needed to get them in amongst it.

Not making excuses for McLaren because today’s performance was appalling and embarrassing for them however being able to switch on the tyres properly can indeed give 1.5 seconds of performance. Think back to Singapore 2015 where Mercedes were suddenly 1.5 seconds off the pace in qualifying because they couldn’t get the tyres to work.

If anything the supersoft tyres were overheating, hence every one was crawling in outlap as opposed to normal tyre warming up routine. The temperatures were similar to yesterday so no excuses for not being able to optimise tyre to conditions.
Expect similar pace in China as well. The draggy chassis has now been exposed so too have the inept bosses. Heads will roll soon. Knew they were in trouble when they came out with the #beleive mantra preseason. I for one have lost faith.

[RonDennis]

Let's stop making excuses. McLaren had a lack of pace in Barcelona, a lack of pace in Melbourne and a lack of pace in Bahrain. It's as simply as that. They now need shut up and work hard, stop talking about updates and fighting with Red Bull. It's probably not as bad as it looks now, but it's clearly not as good as a baseline of McLaren wants us to believe. Just look at the gap to Torro Rosso, it's embarrassing. I already saw interviews of Alonso and Brown pre qualifying and they looked depressed, which already gave me a feeling that this wouldn't be a good weekend for them.

[godlameroso]

In the race they weren't slower than Renault, they weren't slower than Haas, they were only slower than the top 3. It could just be McLaren sucks at qualifying, maybe Renault and Red Bull can get more out of the engine in qualifying. Could probably explain why they had such better pace in the long runs only Gasley and Alonso were capable of 35's in that mid field group. It seems fitting if TR Honda ends up being McLaren Alonso's main rival this season.

[McHonda]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

[DarkSurferZA]

In the race they weren't slower than Renault, they weren't slower than Haas, they were only slower than the top 3. It could just be McLaren sucks at qualifying, maybe Renault and Red Bull can get more out of the engine in qualifying. Could probably explain why they had such better pace in the long runs only Gasley and Alonso were capable of 35's in that mid field group. It seems fitting if TR Honda ends up being McLaren Alonso's main rival this season.

What? If I recall correctly Haas were in front of McLaren and they weren't exactly running away from the Renaults either. They were quicker, but the gap between Merc and Ferrari (prior to on track incidents) was more convincing than the one between McLaren and Renault.

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[godlameroso]

Haas were in front but they were pulling away from the Renaults which McLaren was stuck behind. The McLaren Alonso was the fastest midfield runner in the race in clean air. The car doesn't hold a candle to the top 3 but it's enough to beat everyone else in the race in Alonso's hands. McLaren is still cranking out parts for this car, did this side pod endplate help? Who knows, some teams have taken a step forward it seems, and what McLaren has introduced hasn't been enough.

The performance of the team always fluctuates through the season as development parts are fitted to the car.

[Ground Effect]

They can't get heat into the tyres to get them into the optimal range for 1 lap pace, they've been struggling with it all year and I doubt it's unconnected to the new rear suspension. They'll work on it but it'll be tough to turn around.

In the race the inability to get it in that range actually helps wear over a stint so they'll be stronger in the race but quali pace could hurt for a while but it could also be track dependent. Both Australia and Bahrain can be funny, look at the swing between Merc-Ferrari, so China will offer better insight but it's clearly not good but it's far from terminal at this stage.

I'm scared China could be worse