2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Benii6]

Alonso: Top teams still in "another league" to McLaren

Alonso is the only driver in the top 10 who will start with supersoft tyres, having set his fastest time in Q2 with them. His rivals all qualified with the softs.

[Ozan]

After all that development and associated costs... The car is still slower than a Haas! What the hell McLaren?!

you mean 2017 ferrari,right ?

Points are given on Sundays....and Haas does not exsist on sundays.

it was just a joke

[ringo]

Alonso says the car is improved. I think the Haas is benefiting from the very high ferrari power.

[Ground Effect]

I'm not too comfortable with Fernando starting on Supersofts, don't know how long they'll hold up. Hopefully he can. do a Valtteri-esque Baku stint, and then switch to Softs.

[BrunoH]

to be honest i think nothing has changed much, also i dont think like some people here are saying that next race they will find 0.3 seconds... to be fair looks like they made that will the entire update. There is no more to extract from this update.

they will have to keep development to improve on times but this year they can forget top 3.

hopefully this big update will be a good base for the upcoming updates ( little details they normally refine at each race)
they do seem to be a bit better in the Drag department but nothing out ot this world, but looks better for sure.

How is he loosing so much time in the middle sector!? most likely they got rid of the ´´Dirty´´ drag and that can be costing some overall stability / total downforce.
The chassis was never the best as they claimed and they just pilled tons of any kind of downforce and then blame the engine.
Because the Engine is a Renault now and they have a direct comparison, they cant just bolt whatever makes downforce and then blame the engine for not having power, so now they do have to come up with REAL good and usable downforce, hence why they are loosing out on the most critical part of the circuit that needs the most Downforce. with this update!

[Ground Effect]

to be honest i think nothing has changed much, also i dont think like some people here are saying that next race they will find 0.3 seconds... to be fair looks like they made that will the entire update. There is no more to extract from this update.

they will have to keep development to improve on times but this year they can forget top 3.

hopefully this big update will be a good base for the upcoming updates ( little details they normally refine at each race)
they do seem to be a bit better in the Drag department but nothing out ot this world, but looks better for sure.

How is he loosing so much time in the middle sector!? most likely they got rid of the ´´Dirty´´ drag and that can be costing some overall stability / total downforce.
The chassis was never the best as they claimed and they just pilled tons of any kind of downforce and then blame the engine.
Because the Engine is a Renault now and they have a direct comparison, they cant just bolt whatever makes downforce and then blame the engine for not having power, so now they do have to come up with REAL good and usable downforce, hence why they are loosing out on the most critical part of the circuit that needs the most Downforce. with this update!

I thought it was sector 3 that required the most downforce?

[BrunoH]

the chicane is mechanical grip and thats were you win or lose more time i belive in sector 3 as last corner is flat-out, and even the corner before the chicane is a bit off-camber and slow.. maybe im wrong but i think in my opinion Sector 2 is were you really need the downforce to shine because you have medium to high speed corners....

[godlameroso]

Sector 3 depends on how you get through 13 as that sets you up for 14-16.

[Xero]

Positive performance, the upgrade working as most expected. They have a solid base to build upon now with what is effectively the true start of their development push. We know it will be aggressive, and given their record, provide some steady performance gains. Holding onto 4th is a very real prospect now.

For tomorrow, I think it's going to nip tuck between Alonso and the Haas drivers, with Vandoorne locked in a battle with Sainz. Starting on the SS could allow an already fast starting Alonso to possibly get the jump on a few cars at the start. Hopefully the tyres hang on so he's not pitting out into traffic, it could ruin his race. A wet race would certainly be interesting, and provide a great opportunity.

[proteus]

to be honest i think nothing has changed much, also i dont think like some people here are saying that next race they will find 0.3 seconds... to be fair looks like they made that will the entire update. There is no more to extract from this update.

they will have to keep development to improve on times but this year they can forget top 3.

hopefully this big update will be a good base for the upcoming updates ( little details they normally refine at each race)
they do seem to be a bit better in the Drag department but nothing out ot this world, but looks better for sure.

How is he loosing so much time in the middle sector!? most likely they got rid of the ´´Dirty´´ drag and that can be costing some overall stability / total downforce.
The chassis was never the best as they claimed and they just pilled tons of any kind of downforce and then blame the engine.
Because the Engine is a Renault now and they have a direct comparison, they cant just bolt whatever makes downforce and then blame the engine for not having power, so now they do have to come up with REAL good and usable downforce, hence why they are loosing out on the most critical part of the circuit that needs the most Downforce. with this update!

I wonder what is STR doing wrong with their monstrous engine then...same comments over and over again and again and again...How on earth cant we leave the past behind and focus what is happening now? The progress is aparent, the cause of their disastrous results in last 3 years as well, but bashing is still going on and on and on...

In the end, u people are same as EB, or ZB or some other guy who claimed they had the best chasis. But youre statements are about the best drag in the field, and not enough progress, and not Hondas fault, and all about Mclarens fault, and terrible chasis, etc....

Just stop it, for the sake of the forum. Or atleast make a new tread and rant over there with people with similar or same interests, while i (and probably some of other people as well) will be enjoying a tread without same posts after every update and result....

[makecry]

to be honest i think nothing has changed much, also i dont think like some people here are saying that next race they will find 0.3 seconds... to be fair looks like they made that will the entire update. There is no more to extract from this update.

they will have to keep development to improve on times but this year they can forget top 3.

hopefully this big update will be a good base for the upcoming updates ( little details they normally refine at each race)
they do seem to be a bit better in the Drag department but nothing out ot this world, but looks better for sure.

How is he loosing so much time in the middle sector!? most likely they got rid of the ´´Dirty´´ drag and that can be costing some overall stability / total downforce.
The chassis was never the best as they claimed and they just pilled tons of any kind of downforce and then blame the engine.
Because the Engine is a Renault now and they have a direct comparison, they cant just bolt whatever makes downforce and then blame the engine for not having power, so now they do have to come up with REAL good and usable downforce, hence why they are loosing out on the most critical part of the circuit that needs the most Downforce. with this update!

I wonder what is STR doing wrong with their monstrous engine then...same comments over and over again and again and again...How on earth cant we leave the past behind and focus what is happening now? The progress is aparent, the cause of their disastrous results in last 3 years as well, but bashing is still going on and on and on...

In the end, u people are same as EB, or ZB or some other guy who claimed they had the best chasis. But youre statements are about the best drag in the field, and not enough progress, and not Hondas fault, and all about Mclarens fault, and terrible chasis, etc....

Just stop it, for the sake of the forum. Or atleast make a new tread and rant over there with people with similar or same interests, while i (and probably some of other people as well) will be enjoying a tread without same posts after every update and result....

TBH, if it was so easy for people to understand, they wont be barking up the same tree again and again and again. It's pathetic tbh and it doesnt even make any sense lol.

[Alonso Fan]

In the end, u people are same as EB, or ZB or some other guy who claimed they had the best chasis

Well said

[Monster Hesh]

Four and half races down and this McLaren thread already has over half the amount of the McLaren thread from last year!

[godlameroso]

Can't help it, McLaren has become people's favorite underdog. A team capable of so much that has basically had to rewrite it's whole story and start from scratch. Gone are the engine works deals of the past, gone are the huge title sponsors. A lot of people want to focus on the fact that some of it is McLaren's own doing and a certain amount of hubris was involved.


The price has been paid, the damage dealt, this package is more than just a few tenths up the order. It represents the Phoenix that has metaphorically risen out of the ashes of the last 6 years. I said it would be a modest bump up the order and it has, and there's still more to come, a lot more it won't happen all at once.

On a related note I am extremely annoyed by next year's forced regulation change.

[adrianjordan]

This is their best time from the Spanish pre-season test, no improvement whatsoever. Can someone care to explain this ? I'm surprised none of you have taken note!

Ps- introductions are in order. I am a lawyer with an unhealthy obsession with F1. I have been visiting this forum for years, but only now have I taken the active step to contribute. Best.

I haven't compared the times of the other teams, but it is not unusual for the times in winter testing at Circuit de Catalunia to be quicker than those at the race weekend.