2019 Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[adrianjordan]

It's quite hilarious listening to these commentators; when Mclaren do quick laps they're glory runs but Toro Rosso's run on C5 suddenly makes them and Honda scary fast and a threat to the top 3.

McLaren could win a race and they'd still say the team is in trouble.

I'm sure that if that would happen then it could only be a glory run...

[diffuser]

It is what it is. nothing the commentators say will change what actually happens. "Just the facts, ma'am"

[zoroastar]

The prospect of Fernando testing the car next week.
Are the Pros more than the Cons ??

I want him to test, personally, i like him and i generally consider him as one of the best up there and i follow his races closely, BUT, hearing the F1 live testing commentary the last few days, most of the guys there really against it.
They think it will do more bad than good in the team overall.
Unbalance the dynamics inside the team, psychological hit on drivers and team if he proves to engineers he is much faster, and the input he gives no matter how much technical or accurate it is,may be in conflict with the feedback from the drivers. So development direction decision will have another variable and become more complicated.
Things like that got me thinking actually, that as much as i want him to test, it may not be the best thing.

Thoughts ??

will buxton is a jackass. he doesnt say anything positive about mclaren. so naturally. hes also against that happening.

I agree, he is very biased. He always says how spectacular Ferrari is this year, and how Leclerc excites him etc etc while almost never says anything positive for Mclaren.
But i have to admit, it got me thinking a bit about Fernando testing the car.

i dont subscribe to the idea that they are timid enough to let it affect their self esteem. if anything, it may help to show them what a WDC could do in the same seat, and lando held his own in the same car at daytona 2018. he probably has a better idea of what a truely quality race car feels like. i personally dont think it will make a huge difference either way though. i just think most people, that arent hellbent on finding fault in mclaren, would like to see what alonso thinks about the new car.

[Jackles-UK]

Big Tea is spot on (see above).

Don’t forget that the MCL33 was pretty terrible in qualifying trim but fairly handy in race trim (despite the now well documented issues) which is what enabled the 6th place finish in the WCC when the car was probably only the 9th fastest on outright pace. If this trait has carried across to the MCL34 it can only be a positive given that there definitely seems to be more raw pace in the car than last year.

[FittingMechanics]

Soymotor released their stint data. https://soymotor.com/articulos/analisis ... dad-960590

So far, it seems that only Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are doing race sims where they just do a pitstop and go on. Everyone else if they are in fact doing a race sim, they stop in the pits for 10-15 minutes and then continue. So it's possible that those other teams are not doing a race sim after all, even though their stint times can reach up to 20 laps. This can also mean most other teams are still dialing in the cooling requirements and checking the car in between stints. I'd say this is positive for McLaren as it shows a degree of confidence in the reliability of the car.

Long run done by McLaren started in 1:25s, went to 1:24s in the second stint and ended in the last short stint on 1:23s.

[Ground Effect]

Soymotor released their stint data. https://soymotor.com/articulos/analisis ... dad-960590

So far, it seems that only Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are doing race sims where they just do a pitstop and go on. Everyone else if they are in fact doing a race sim, they stop in the pits for 10-15 minutes and then continue. So it's possible they are not doing a race sim after all, even though their stint times can reach up to 20 laps. This can also mean they are still dialing in the cooling requirements and checking the car in between stints. I'd say this is positive for McLaren as it shows a degree of confidence in the reliability of the car.

Long run done by McLaren started in 1:25s, went to 1:24s in the second stint and ended in the last short stint on 1:23s.

I know I've mentioned it before, but I find the pace at McLaren intriguing. Either Lando and Carlos are amazingly evenly matched or the team is working with target times. Lando and Carlos quickest time around the same time of the day on the C4 tyres are almost identical, separated by thousands of a second. Also on the long run pace, they both started on and consistently maintained 1:25s on the first stint, then again consistently on 1:24s on the 2nd stint, before moving to 1:23s. Obviously, fuel loads were dropping, but the consistency of the lap times suggest to me it was well within their control. But like I said, they could just be evenly matched and just getting the most out of the car, at whatever level of power modes they're using. But I certainly hope it's more of working with target times at the moment.

[Mansell89]

Soymotor released their stint data. https://soymotor.com/articulos/analisis ... dad-960590

So far, it seems that only Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are doing race sims where they just do a pitstop and go on. Everyone else if they are in fact doing a race sim, they stop in the pits for 10-15 minutes and then continue. So it's possible they are not doing a race sim after all, even though their stint times can reach up to 20 laps. This can also mean they are still dialing in the cooling requirements and checking the car in between stints. I'd say this is positive for McLaren as it shows a degree of confidence in the reliability of the car.

Long run done by McLaren started in 1:25s, went to 1:24s in the second stint and ended in the last short stint on 1:23s.

I know I've mentioned it before, but I find the pace at McLaren intriguing. Either Lando and Carlos are amazingly evenly matched or the team is working with target times. Lando and Carlos quickest time around the same time of the day on the C4 tyres are almost identical, separated by thousands of a second. Also on the long run pace, they both started on and consistently maintained 1:25s on the first stint, then again consistently on 1:24s on the 2nd stint, before moving to 1:23s. Obviously, fuel loads were dropping, but the consistency of the lap times suggest to me it was well within their control. But like I said, they could just be evenly matched and just getting the most out of the car, at whatever level of power modes they're using. But I certainly hope it's more of working with target times at the moment.

Agreed. I think there is reason to believe it’s the latter in that Lando said very clearly in his media comments after his day in the car that they simply are not chasing any lap times at the moment.

He’s also been clear about the fact that some of last years issues are resolved but that they are aware of improvements required over the next two weeks- they seem to be set on understanding and developing as well as they can to have the best version of their race car for Melbourne.

I think it’s fair to say that if they are chasing time then they’d be a fair way behind the front runners, but I don’t think anyone is chasing time.

Next week will reveal more.

[mclaren111]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1098493535609909248


First out of the box again... Here's on having a productive day...

[mclaren111]

10:17 - Norris is in the gravel!

[bauc]

10:17 - Norris is in the gravel!

you cursed it!

[mclaren111]

Damn

Red flag. That was one of the strangest, slowest incidents we've ever seen. Norris was touring round at very low speed, then he got to Turn 5, had a tiny twitch at the rear and then ploughed straight on into the gravel! Bizarre.

[Darth-Piekus]

Damn it Norris. What was that? We are trying to get as many miles as possible and then you go and do that. We don't have time to lose. Testing is limited and it's not like we can do private tests like Ferrari did 15 years ago.

[bauc]

Damn it Norris. What was that? We are trying to get as many miles as possible and then you go and do that. We don't have time to lose. Testing is limited and it's not like we can do private tests like Ferrari did 15 years ago.

That happens when you have a rookie driver on a cold track (4c) early in the morning. In the past 3 days there were few other similar spins as well

[Darth-Piekus]

While that is true we should avoid those things. We have limited testing time and it's not like we can do our own private tests like Ferrari did in the 2000s.

[charliesmithhd]

Seems weird to lose the rear at the speed he was doing