2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[mwillems]

Quite promising after FP2! Will be interesting to compare the long runs. Lots of high degradation, so could be a plus for McLaren who seem to be lighter on their tyres.

Yes looks good indeed. Alonso had a tow on his lap though and karun on c4 calculated it to be worth around 4 tenths

Edit: I don't think they'll get into q3

Maybe, they have a lot of practice giving each other towes over the last couple of years. Still, i think whatever they have done between china and now has helped.
Will buxton is saying that their spain update will bring a new front end that is “different from anything we have seen on an f1 car so far”. Im curious as to what its going to be.

Do you have a link for this?

[Alonso Fan]

Yes looks good indeed. Alonso had a tow on his lap though and karun on c4 calculated it to be worth around 4 tenths

Edit: I don't think they'll get into q3

Maybe, they have a lot of practice giving each other towes over the last couple of years. Still, i think whatever they have done between china and now has helped.
Will buxton is saying that their spain update will bring a new front end that is “different from anything we have seen on an f1 car so far”. Im curious as to what its going to be.

Do you have a link for this?

From 14:14 onwards

[Ground Effect]

Race pace anyone?

[nirvaand]

Race pace anyone?

From Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comme ... _longruns/

McLaren look slow, but can't read too much into these times. Stints too short, engine mode and fuel load unknown, let's wait for Autosport and F1 Official Website for proper race pace data.

[Nuvolari]

Race pace anyone?

From Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comme ... _longruns/

McLaren look slow, but can't read too much into these times. Stints too short, engine mode and fuel load unknown, let's wait for Autosport and F1 Official Website for proper race pace data.

Yeah not sure taking the median is the right way. Most of these long run analyses fail to take in to account the degradation rate, tyre age and stint length. The teams do these stints on tyres that have had quite a few push laps which again has an impact.

Factoring all of these in, FI and Renault are much quicker than McLaren on the ultra soft. We are on the same pace as Haas. Points will be tough unless it's a chaotic race. I think if we gain positions we can defend.

[godlameroso]

Times without context are meaningless, Alonso was stuck in traffic during his long runs, in clear air he could do 46's, which slaps up anyone in the midfield.

[nirvaand]

Times without context are meaningless, Alonso was stuck in traffic during his long runs, in clear air he could do 46's, which slaps up anyone in the midfield.

True, they have had very strong race pace, but it has been masked by their terrible qualifying pace, looks better this weekend though, the low downforce setup is working for them. But I expect FI to turn up their engines for quali, let's just hope we get into Q3 or at least P11.

[McHonda]

I'd rather be P11 than get into Q3 to be honest. Free tyre selection,Alonso's starts and there's bound to be some attrition in the race so you could end up in the P7-10 spots relatively quickly anyway one way or another.

Free tyre choice and how Alonso starts make P11 the best spot on most tracks if your car is where it is now imo. As long as your strategy is on point and your race pace is good (For the 4-8 wcc fight) like both have been thus far anyway.

Obviously if both of those slip or it's a tough track to pass on then it gets tricky and you'd rather be in P7-10.

[godlameroso]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

[makecry]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

keeping it is kinda hard.

I wonder if the drag issue is because of the internal aero vs the external stuff we see. The bargeboard area and all doesnt look all that complex with a million winglets like Mercedes (Which "visibly" looks like the car with most drag but idk), maybe it's the internal aero that's a struggle for them.

[carisi2k]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

In what universe. Did you see how strong all the other cars were on the tow and how effective that tow is from quite a distance back. Look at Bottas on stroll at the end of the GP last year.

Also the Mclaren is still one of the slowest in a straight line even with a tow.

[McHonda]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

Not outside of Oz,Monaco,Hungary and Singapore he won't I don't believe. Not with the current gap between the top 3 and the Macca. Bring the gap down a bit and you could add Spain,AD and Japan.

Bring it down a bit further and then we'd be somewhere you could defend from a Red Bull/Merc or Ferrari because of dirty air even on the tracks you can pass but not with this gap currently unfortunately so I think 11th is preferable on the tracks you can pass.

[zoroastar]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

In what universe. Did you see how strong all the other cars were on the tow and how effective that tow is from quite a distance back. Look at Bottas on stroll at the end of the GP last year.

Also the Mclaren is still one of the slowest in a straight line even with a tow.

Alonso didnt catch a good towe until past the speed trap. He did 315kph which was 10th and only 1 kph slower than kimi. When he caught the towe from hulk he was doing 330 for the last few seconds of the straight. If you watch the sky broadcast it shows it pretty clearly. He was almost a second back from the renault when he clocked the 315. Their top speed was a lot better than it has been in the previous races.

[fellowhoodlums]

But if he starts 7th he can snatch a 4th and keep it.

yup, agree that's possible.

[mclaren111]

MotorsportWeek:

Alonso:

“Ours was a comfortable car to drive today – that’s always important on a street circuit, where you have to attack the corners and feel confident in the car,” he said.

“Today, we had a that car performed well in all three sectors, each of which is fairly unique.

“This weekend’s updates were introduced in order to help deal with the circuit’s characteristics, and seem to be working as we expected.

“It feels like we’ve found a little bit of speed compared to the last few races, so I’m fairly happy, as we weren’t compromised in either the corners or the slow speed sector"

Positive news.