2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Raleigh]

Full focus is on 2019 for quite some time now. There's a good chance they might jump some of teams that are embroiled in a development war for WCC positions like Renault and Haas. Then there's the stability factor with the power unit which is a huge plus but it's offset by lack of management stability. We'll see how it pans out next year.

The flip side is that some of the current lower-midfield teams are potentially going to be a lot stronger next year.

Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India are all going full B-spec route with the maximum allowed listed parts, considering the success Haas have had with B-spec despite having one of the smallest budgets and less F1 experience then I can't help but think at least one and possibly all three of those teams might be able to do better.

Midfield is going to be very competitive in 2019.

[M840TR]

Full focus is on 2019 for quite some time now. There's a good chance they might jump some of teams that are embroiled in a development war for WCC positions like Renault and Haas. Then there's the stability factor with the power unit which is a huge plus but it's offset by lack of management stability. We'll see how it pans out next year.

The flip side is that some of the current lower-midfield teams are potentially going to be a lot stronger next year.

Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India are all going full B-spec route with the maximum allowed listed parts, considering the success Haas have had with B-spec despite having one of the smallest budgets and less F1 experience then I can't help but think at least one and possibly all three of those teams might be able to do better.

Midfield is going to be very competitive in 2019.

Well, at least they have better resources so if they nail a good design concept they can develop faster than the midfield. Just like 2017 where the car came pretty decent in season's end compared to the start.

[Mansell89]

Does anyone know if McLaren have heavily weighted resources onto the 2019 car now?

I really, really hope so.

PS- who will head up the designing now that Goss et al have departed?

Peter Prod is head of Aero & Par Fry re-joined as Engineering Director a couple of weeks ago.

James Key (STR) has been appointed as Technical Director and will join the team as soon as his old contract allows....

That's the thing - when does James Key get to join the ship? He hasn't joined yet which means he won't head up car design. Does that mean Peter Prod will step up and lead the whole thing?

Exciting future in the design team with Key and Prodromou but a little unsure on what next year looks like.

[M840TR]

Does anyone know if McLaren have heavily weighted resources onto the 2019 car now?

I really, really hope so.

PS- who will head up the designing now that Goss et al have departed?

Peter Prod is head of Aero & Par Fry re-joined as Engineering Director a couple of weeks ago.

James Key (STR) has been appointed as Technical Director and will join the team as soon as his old contract allows....

That's the thing - when does James Key get to join the ship? He hasn't joined yet which means he won't head up car design. Does that mean Peter Prod will step up and lead the whole thing?

Exciting future in the design team with Key and Prodromou but a little unsure on what next year looks like.

He will not be fully involved till the 2020 car. Even then it's likely his design & working philosophies won't come to fruition until 2021 regulation revamp.

[Jackles-UK]

If I were to have an educated guess I would say Key will move some time around the summer break next year - in time for the 2020 MCL35 car build, too late to compromise/“be inspired by” anything from the Toro Rosso design in 2019. It doesn’t make a great deal of business sense paying someone a huge chunk of money on gardening leave for two years just to prevent them from moving teams.

[diffuser]

I think the regs say the longest they can hold him is 6 Months. I think it safe to say he'll be in the McLaren Offices before the 2019 season begins. I fully expect to see him in McLaren Colors at winter testing.

[Ground Effect]

I think the regs say the longest they can hold him is 6 Months. I think it safe to say he'll be in the McLaren Offices before the 2019 season begins. I fully expect to see him in McLaren Colors at winter testing.

Sorry if I'm being repetitive, because I believe I've asked this before, not sure I got an answer. How do teams ensure the integrity of the gardening leave? How do they enforce it? He could be communicating with Mclaren through various means. Or has he been bound and chained in an attic in Faenza?

[Jolle]

I think the regs say the longest they can hold him is 6 Months. I think it safe to say he'll be in the McLaren Offices before the 2019 season begins. I fully expect to see him in McLaren Colors at winter testing.

Sorry if I'm being repetitive, because I believe I've asked this before, not sure I got an answer. How do teams ensure the integrity of the gardening leave? How do they enforce it? He could be communicating with Mclaren through various means. Or has he been bound and chained in an attic in Faenza?

Common decency and professionalism

[Jackles-UK]

I think the regs say the longest they can hold him is 6 Months. I think it safe to say he'll be in the McLaren Offices before the 2019 season begins. I fully expect to see him in McLaren Colors at winter testing.

Sorry if I'm being repetitive, because I believe I've asked this before, not sure I got an answer. How do teams ensure the integrity of the gardening leave? How do they enforce it? He could be communicating with Mclaren through various means. Or has he been bound and chained in an attic in Faenza?

Not to mention that if Toro Rosso were to find out that he was working for McLaren whilst still contracted to them (and make no mistake, things like this almost always surface somehow) then they undoubtedly would sue Key for a huge sum of money for breach of contract. They would almost certainly sue McLaren for intellectual theft as well and, given McLaren’s less than spotless history with that sort of thing (*cough* Spygate *cough*), the FIA would go absolutely stratospheric with the penalties!

[mclaren111]

MCL33 Tread:

Post by M840TR » 01 Oct 2018, 11:50

It will be interesting to see how Petrobras fuel compares to BP for next season given they've been out of F1 for some time, even though 2018 was spent in development. Any horsepower deficit would be a big disadvantage given the engine is a lot weaker than the benchmark already.

I was thinking the exact same thing.... How is Petrobras currently working on it ? What PU are they using for testing...

Really hope this is not another "bad / costly" decision.

[Jolle]

MCL33 Tread:

Post by M840TR » 01 Oct 2018, 11:50

It will be interesting to see how Petrobras fuel compares to BP for next season given they've been out of F1 for some time, even though 2018 was spent in development. Any horsepower deficit would be a big disadvantage given the engine is a lot weaker than the benchmark already.

I was thinking the exact same thing.... How is Petrobras currently working on it ? What PU are they using for testing...

Really hope this is not another "bad / costly" decision.

It's a risk, Castrol is the official partner of Renault and they will have all access on the dyno, influence on design and then Petrobas, if they are really going to use that fuel and oil, have to adapt to an existing design. High costs with very small potential gains. By the way, when Petrobas was a partner of Williams, the Mercedes PU in the back still got Petronas liquids.

[M840TR]

MCL33 Tread:

Post by M840TR » 01 Oct 2018, 11:50

It will be interesting to see how Petrobras fuel compares to BP for next season given they've been out of F1 for some time, even though 2018 was spent in development. Any horsepower deficit would be a big disadvantage given the engine is a lot weaker than the benchmark already.

I was thinking the exact same thing.... How is Petrobras currently working on it ? What PU are they using for testing...

Really hope this is not another "bad / costly" decision.

Pretty much all we know:

As part of the agreement, Petrobras, through its CENPES Research Centre, will develop gasoline and engine lubricants specially formulated for the team, which will be used in races in the 2019 season. The company will have a laboratory in the McLaren team’s garage during practice sessions and races, allowing real-time analysis of fuel performance.

Probably arranging dyno sessions with Renault as well. Shell and Petronas have a big hand in the benchmark engines' performance. But Mclaren don't have a works status anymore so I'm not sure if the only good thing, at least in the short term, is the sponsorship.

[M840TR]

MCL33 Tread:

Post by M840TR » 01 Oct 2018, 11:50

It will be interesting to see how Petrobras fuel compares to BP for next season given they've been out of F1 for some time, even though 2018 was spent in development. Any horsepower deficit would be a big disadvantage given the engine is a lot weaker than the benchmark already.

I was thinking the exact same thing.... How is Petrobras currently working on it ? What PU are they using for testing...

Really hope this is not another "bad / costly" decision.

It's a risk, Castrol is the official partner of Renault and they will have all access on the dyno, influence on design and then Petrobas, if they are really going to use that fuel and oil, have to adapt to an existing design. High costs with very small potential gains. By the way, when Petrobas was a partner of Williams, the Mercedes PU in the back still got Petronas liquids.

Wasn't the case in the BMW and Cosworth era though.

[Jolle]

MCL33 Tread:




I was thinking the exact same thing.... How is Petrobras currently working on it ? What PU are they using for testing...

Really hope this is not another "bad / costly" decision.

It's a risk, Castrol is the official partner of Renault and they will have all access on the dyno, influence on design and then Petrobas, if they are really going to use that fuel and oil, have to adapt to an existing design. High costs with very small potential gains. By the way, when Petrobas was a partner of Williams, the Mercedes PU in the back still got Petronas liquids.

Wasn't the case in the BMW and Cosworth era though.

fuel was much more restricted then and Cosworth wasn't tuning their engine to a certain oil or fuel. With BMW they were the works team and had all acces.

[M840TR]

It's a risk, Castrol is the official partner of Renault and they will have all access on the dyno, influence on design and then Petrobas, if they are really going to use that fuel and oil, have to adapt to an existing design. High costs with very small potential gains. By the way, when Petrobas was a partner of Williams, the Mercedes PU in the back still got Petronas liquids.

Wasn't the case in the BMW and Cosworth era though.

fuel was much more restricted then and Cosworth wasn't tuning their engine to a certain oil or fuel. With BMW they were the works team and had all acces.

So they have a lot of catching up to do. Just like Honda in 2015. Yikes.