GPFans:
http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... _the_past/
Good interview with De Ferran...
I was always sure that if that chassis had a Merc in the back of it they’d have fought for podiums in 2015. Just a shame Honda didn’t make their progress that year like they did in 2018. But alas, just how things went.dp12 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 12:54In terms of Chassis wise it's like 2014 and 2015 all over again. In terms of that the 2014 chassis was like the 2018 one: terrible. But a few changes came to the team and the 2015 chassis was a sound chassis which was well balanced. I recall that D.C (imo better than the folks at Sky) said that by sound analysis the 2015 chassis was the 3rd best. This years chassis may not be third best, but its damn well better than last years.
I have the belief, or at least, I'd like to believe that McLaren will figure out, if they haven't already, a fix for their S3 struggles. The last few years, it's on tracks like Barcelona, Singapore, Hungary, etc that they show more competitiveness. So I guess it's going to be about finding the right compromise. Carlos talked about needing upgrades to fix certain things.Mansell89 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 13:08I was always sure that if that chassis had a Merc in the back of it they’d have fought for podiums in 2015. Just a shame Honda didn’t make their progress that year like they did in 2018. But alas, just how things went.dp12 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 12:54In terms of Chassis wise it's like 2014 and 2015 all over again. In terms of that the 2014 chassis was like the 2018 one: terrible. But a few changes came to the team and the 2015 chassis was a sound chassis which was well balanced. I recall that D.C (imo better than the folks at Sky) said that by sound analysis the 2015 chassis was the 3rd best. This years chassis may not be third best, but its damn well better than last years.
Hopefully this years is a real improvement.
Sector 3 at Barcelona is where Merc and Ferrari hold the aces- how can teams make headway in these slow corners to close the gap to the top teams?
It seems, according to the things being said in the pre season, that the customer parts rules will stay the same, but the rules on the chassis side will tighten as the FIA are worried about the closeness of Haas and now Sauber and Toro Rosso to their sister teams. They have zero issues on the closeness of Mercedes and their customer teams, however will keep a close eye on any future Racing Point developments.zoroastar wrote: ↑01 Mar 2019, 02:18that would be pretty awesome if it actually happened. in the past year it seemed like Zak Brown seemed fairly confident that they would be able to get the "customer team parts" rules changed to benefit teams like Mclaren and Williams though. i wonder if they are having a change of heart. regardless, im sure that customer teams will remain a big benefit for whoever has them.ESPImperium wrote: ↑01 Mar 2019, 00:46I did hear of a wild rumour that McLaren and Renault have been in discussion about a shared team for their young drivers programme. With young Mclaren guys leading the chassis side, using the spare Mclaren CFD, the spare Renault tunnel time, the Renault rear end and then running a team for €100m a year. In effect a team that Manor should have been, with it operating elsewhere. Bullier to the the lead for this possible project? I doubt it will go ahead, but more wild things have happened, as Honda is scoping out a team for their young drivers and engineers. It will give us the 12 team grid we desperately need if both cast true!
Where on Earth is all this information coming from? No way both teams are letting go of €30m EACH just for the supposed benefit of a B-team. Mclaren would kill to have that kind of investment for themselves.ESPImperium wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 19:19It seems, according to the things being said in the pre season, that the customer parts rules will stay the same, but the rules on the chassis side will tighten as the FIA are worried about the closeness of Haas and now Sauber and Toro Rosso to their sister teams. They have zero issues on the closeness of Mercedes and their customer teams, however will keep a close eye on any future Racing Point developments.zoroastar wrote: ↑01 Mar 2019, 02:18that would be pretty awesome if it actually happened. in the past year it seemed like Zak Brown seemed fairly confident that they would be able to get the "customer team parts" rules changed to benefit teams like Mclaren and Williams though. i wonder if they are having a change of heart. regardless, im sure that customer teams will remain a big benefit for whoever has them.ESPImperium wrote: ↑01 Mar 2019, 00:46I did hear of a wild rumour that McLaren and Renault have been in discussion about a shared team for their young drivers programme. With young Mclaren guys leading the chassis side, using the spare Mclaren CFD, the spare Renault tunnel time, the Renault rear end and then running a team for €100m a year. In effect a team that Manor should have been, with it operating elsewhere. Bullier to the the lead for this possible project? I doubt it will go ahead, but more wild things have happened, as Honda is scoping out a team for their young drivers and engineers. It will give us the 12 team grid we desperately need if both cast true!
It does seem that Zak Brown and Cyril Abiteboul have been discussing the options on a possible joint project team with a Renault power unit, gearbox and rear suspension supply with a McLaren Chassis, power steering and front suspension supply. They would use the spare time in the Renault wind tunnel, approx 45 hours a week, and use other resources from McLaren as well. They have been discussing investing €30m each into the project with the other funding coming from a future redistribution on the F1 prize fund, and sponsorship. Id recon they would get a team circa 450-500 staff, as its now being talked about that any future resource restriction won't be financial, it will be on physical personnel to 1,000 on the chassis side. That means Mercedes will have to loose 250-300 staff, Red Bull would loose 150-200 and Ferrari about 100-150 staff on their chassis side. Theres going to be a glut of staff floating about for jobs. If a Mclaren/Renault junior team works, it would be a ideal way for both teams to provide a way into F1 with their young drivers, and would have been a great way for Renault to have attracted Ocon away from Mercedes and McLaren to have placed Vandoorne a few years back, with both being readied for a Renault and Mclaren seat there. And I'm sure that Alonso would still be at Mclaren alongside Sainz with Norris going to that Junior team with Sirokin this year.
It seems to be that Renault and Mclaren are working together, arguably better than when the French marque was with Red Bull/Toro Rosso, and that can only be good for F1. However one thing for any new team or teams coming into F1 needs to see, is where those two new teams (rumoured for 2022) can do unlimited testing within Europe for a year before they hit F1 on the current Pirellis. It will give them a much better data bank and reference to come to F1 with, and a car that will not be stillborn that way the 2010 teams came into F1 with. All we would need to see is a third Honda powered car as this will give the grid symmetry on manufacturers. However if any new manufacturers come along, the 12th entry may be reserved for them, or a new team powered by them, as they may wish to take over a lower down team in F1 like Williams.
Where on Earth is all this information coming from? No way both teams are letting go of €30m EACH just for the supposed benefit of a B-team. Mclaren would kill to have that kind of investment for themselves.Ground Effect wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 20:47It seems to be that Renault and Mclaren are working together, arguably better than when the French marque was with Red Bull/Toro Rosso, and that can only be good for F1. However one thing for any new team or teams coming into F1 needs to see, is where those two new teams (rumoured for 2022) can do unlimited testing within Europe for a year before they hit F1 on the current Pirellis. It will give them a much better data bank and reference to come to F1 with, and a car that will not be stillborn that way the 2010 teams came into F1 with. All we would need to see is a third Honda powered car as this will give the grid symmetry on manufacturers. However if any new manufacturers come along, the 12th entry may be reserved for them, or a new team powered by them, as they may wish to take over a lower down team in F1 like Williams.
Would be cool too see how Renault compare with this datanirvaand wrote: ↑03 Mar 2019, 00:52Here is a race stint comparison of teams that did a race sim. All from day 3 or 4 from this week's testing. Ferrari and Mercedes still probably running conservative so not the best representation but it does give a good idea of the relative pecking order. It's calculated as a cumulative gap against Leclerc. Pit stop delta I used was 20 seconds. (It's usually around 22 seconds in Spain) Since all teams apart from McLaren did 2 stops the pit stop delta is same for everyone, so it won't affect the gap. For McLaren, just add +2s to the final gap. Unfortunately no data on Renault or RBR. Didn't include Racing Point, because they're not really running their 2019 car. Williams were far too slow, so no point adding them either.
https://i.imgur.com/EcwBpCO.png
Not too bad for McLaren, but Haas look very strong.
McLaren's wonderful winter
This is the best-prepared McLaren have been heading into a new season since their days with Mercedes engines. The Woking team completed 874 laps, more than they have ever managed over two weeks in Barcelona, and even topped the timesheets on two of the eight days with Carlos Sainz finishing with the seventh-quickest time overall.
Now, while we're not about to suggest McLaren will be back on the podium in Australia, a trouble-free and surprisingly speedy winter was just what the team needed as they look to begin their journey back to the top.
It's difficult to gauge where they stand in an extremely tight midfield battle, but sporting director Gil de Ferran summed up McLaren's mood aptly.
"We came here wanting to do a lot of laps, put in a lot of miles to ensure reliability - and I think we ticked the box. We came here wanting to understand our new car and make sure it was doing everything it said on the tin - and we accomplished that. We wanted to integrate our new drivers into the team and prepare them the best we could for the season - and I think we ticked that box too.
"On those three categories, do we get a 10 out of 10? I wouldn't give ourselves that, but I think we got a decent score."
Mission accomplished in terms of F1 Testing for McLaren.