More details about McLaren's technical leadership changes are becoming public as it has now become clear that Toro Rosso's highly valued technical director, James Key, is set to join McLaren in the same role.
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The McLaren package is very good for the most part, their aero design just needs some tweaks to become a lot better, granted slapping on parts isn't as easy as it sounds, but they're not in a hopeless situation like some other teams. I'm sure they understand which direction to go in, or they wouldn't have bothered with the new nose.
Rear suspension is a problem(mechanical point of view) and will stay until new crashtested gearbox arrives.
When is that likely to be?
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
The McLaren package is very good for the most part, their aero design just needs some tweaks to become a lot better, granted slapping on parts isn't as easy as it sounds, but they're not in a hopeless situation like some other teams. I'm sure they understand which direction to go in, or they wouldn't have bothered with the new nose.
Rear suspension is a problem(mechanical point of view) and will stay until new crashtested gearbox arrives.
I honestly think mechanically the car is good, the problem is aero, what's happening is that last year's car is shedding it's skin so to speak. It was interesting hearing Norris' feedback on the car, that the downforce was there but it wasn't as stable as last year's car. What this tells me is that the new nose is an upgrade despite not fitting in with the pieces made for the old concept(hence the lack of apparent mechanical grip). The aero isn't kicking on in a predictable way because the rest of the car isn't optimized to the new nose. They're putting on the parts optimized for the new nose methodically.
The next step is hard to manufacture even with McLaren's facilities, and that's just making it, the design is still ongoing. When they find the shape that works for them they'll start making prototypes to run CFD and wind tunnel models to validate, and then it's off to manufacturing, and considering it would be a rush job, they'd have to worry about parts breaking off like the Haas. Although I rate McLaren quite a bit higher in terms of craftsmanship so I doubt they'd be floundering with fragile pieces that break when they hit the curbs.
The fact these pieces break when they hit the curbs goes to show how powerful they can be. If you think about it with a raked car the bargeboard foot plate is as close to the ground as the tea tray under the nose. The amount of downforce this area can produce on it's own is already greater than anything save the rear diffuser, and the fact that it can strengthen the rear diffuser if you pull it off right is even more reason to focus on this area.
Maybe that's why Ferrari was forced to raise the ride height to stabilize the car. Their mid wing was stalling with too much rake.
If you think about it with a raked car the bargeboard foot plate is as close to the ground as the tea tray under the nose.
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I thought the lowest extremity of the barge boards was on the step plane, whereas the T-tray is on the reference plane, 50mm lower. Am I wrong?
Fortune favours the prepared; she has no favourites and takes no sides.
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty : Tacitus
Seems you're right. I wonder if it's closer to the ground than the front wing.
The front wing starts 75 mm above the reference plane. The front wing tip is 1.6 m in front of the T-tray leading edge. The rear axle is, convenientl, around 3.2 m behind the same point. So it would take around, 50 mm “rake” at the rear axle to bring them into similar height from the track. Any more and the wing has it.
Fortune favours the prepared; she has no favourites and takes no sides.
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty : Tacitus
Seems you're right. I wonder if it's closer to the ground than the front wing.
The front wing starts 75 mm above the reference plane. The front wing tip is 1.6 m in front of the T-tray leading edge. The rear axle is, convenientl, around 3.2 m behind the same point. So it would take around, 50 mm “rake” at the rear axle to bring them into similar height from the track. Any more and the wing has it.
That is extremely interesting, the plot thickens, as they say. Rake of the McLaren Ferrari and Red Bull tend to be around 50mm +/-10mm are they not?
Mercedes tried a more raked car this year as well perhaps for this reason, to get the front and mid wing working together at similar ride heights.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/44358987
Team expect tough weekend in Canada; characteristics of circuit, i.e slow speed corners and long straights, main weaknesses of car
The only thing I know for sure is some new brake tins and ducts went out last week, there's been quite a few flight cases shipped out so maybe we'll see some more parts supposrting the nose, but nothing really large enough to suggest anything big like floor or sidepods. Not yet anyway.
Not in any way casting doubt on what you say, but just curious how you're seeing stuff going out? Do you live/work near Woking?
Favourite driver: Lando Norris
Favourite team: McLaren
Turned down the chance to meet Vettel at Silverstone in 2007. He was a test driver at the time and I didn't think it was worth queuing!! 🤦🏻♂️
Seems you're right. I wonder if it's closer to the ground than the front wing.
The front wing starts 75 mm above the reference plane. The front wing tip is 1.6 m in front of the T-tray leading edge. The rear axle is, convenientl, around 3.2 m behind the same point. So it would take around, 50 mm “rake” at the rear axle to bring them into similar height from the track. Any more and the wing has it.
That is extremely interesting, the plot thickens, as they say. Rake of the McLaren Ferrari and Red Bull tend to be around 50mm +/-10mm are they not?
Mercedes tried a more raked car this year as well perhaps for this reason, to get the front and mid wing working together at similar ride heights.
The front wing starts 75 mm above the reference plane. The front wing tip is 1.6 m in front of the T-tray leading edge. The rear axle is, convenientl, around 3.2 m behind the same point. So it would take around, 50 mm “rake” at the rear axle to bring them into similar height from the track. Any more and the wing has it.
That is extremely interesting, the plot thickens, as they say. Rake of the McLaren Ferrari and Red Bull tend to be around 50mm +/-10mm are they not?
Mercedes tried a more raked car this year as well perhaps for this reason, to get the front and mid wing working together at similar ride heights.
Same as Monaco, their low speed traction isn't great.
I agree with the mech grip ...
Worst sector at Monaco was S3, .4 off Ricardo's pace in a sector that took only 18.7s. The 3ird sector had 3 corners below 100Kms and a sprint to the finish line(coming off of a slow corner) where we were clocked at 272.1. Too slow of a speed to be from drag, more from lack of Mech grip.
If their weakness is long straights and low speed corners, then it's an aero issue through and through. It's not because of the suspension, although the weight distribution probably isn't ideal, I still think aero will solve their major problem. Right now it doesn't come on in a predictable way. At low speeds it's inconsistent and draggy at high speeds. It seems to work well in mid and high speed corners, as the McLaren isn't too shabby in sector 1 in Barcelona.
