The team has definitely closed the gap to the top 3 compared to last season at every track so far... Yes, there is still a huge task ahead, but is trending on the right direction... So far the season is shaping way better than the previous one and we are starting to expect the team to be in Q3 most often than not... Let’s keep pushing!RonDennis wrote:Forget about the top 3, without a budget cap they can't compete with them. I'm sure they are capable of closing the gap of two seconds somewhat, but fighting, nah. They are getting outspend 5:3.fouad1979 wrote: ↑28 Apr 2019, 17:42Im only regret is the gap to 3 top teams in race trim we were 2s slower per lap and its huge we need a lot more downforce we are competing against jet fighters the speed that Merc Ferra and Redb have is crasy in baku in particular lets wait for barcelona now and dream about a magic upgrade to take us closer to the 3 super teams
Absolutely agree, car has been very competitive in race trim and if the updates at BCN works as expected I think we can be 4th best team in almost every track.
Norris hit the wall coming out of his second stop, that will most probably made him go slower, not only to avoid putting stress into parts that could be cracked, but mentally you are also more cautious to prevent another issue... If we add that to the fact that the soft tires weren’t performing as expected due to temperatures and degrading fast, there is no surprise that he lowered his rhythm and managed the gap to Stroll until the end of the race (there is also engine and fuel saving involved I’m sure).zoroastar wrote:sainz mentioned after the race that perez somehow found 2 seconds per lap after the VSC, and stroll was catching norris after he switched to softs. not sure if that had to do with norris hitting the wall. but perez said that he was running full tilt for the whole race to keep the mclarens behind him. i wonder if losing the tow that our cars had before the pitstop killed our chances to get perez in the end? seems like we just ran out of steam after that. good race regardless.
I am not here to gloat or anything.... i just wanna let you see that McLaren is far from "not too far behind third"
They aren’t close to third, that’s true... But they are getting closer at every race.Capharol wrote:I am not here to gloat or anything.... i just wanna let you see that McLaren is far from "not too far behind third"
lets recap the first 4 races with the 3rd fastest car the red bull
Australia: +1 lap (so over 60 sec)
Bahrain: 39 sec.
China: +1 lap (so over 60 sec again)
Azerbadjain: 66 sec
ok I take in account that in China Sainz had a collision which had impact on his car....
but McLaren is far away from being close to third
To find a lot downforce there is 2 solutions the 1 time and money and as he said 5 years is the plan to return to the front or the 2 a genius in aero , some said that james is newey jr so lets wait and seeGround Effect wrote: ↑28 Apr 2019, 21:16Sainz after the race, from SkyF1 website.
"The car is responding, it's decent in qualifying and even better in the race. That means we can fight in the race," Sainz told Sky F1.
"The car responds well but we still need to improve every single area, there's not one area we cannot improve.
"We're still one second off the pace of where we want to be which is the leaders but at least we are in Q3 and in the points, double points finishes - the first for a long time - we are getting there."
I think it's important that they stress there's still a very long way to go. As far as I'm concerned, we're not in the same class as the top 3, for multiple reasons. We definitely won't trouble them soon. It's a big enough challenge securing 4th, which would be a solid effort, because the midfield is probably the tightest it's ever been. There's a reason Zak has a 5 year plan, that's because returning to the front won't happen this year, or next and so on.
I do believe that Mclaren dumping Honda was the right decision when it was made... And so far, I don’t think they would be better than they are if they wouldn’t have done so.Bill wrote:Mclaren fans are still trying to convince themselves that it was a great idea to damp Honda .Max was setting fastest lap after after fastest lap can Mclaren honestly match that if u think they are closer to third mclaren was racing torro rosso if kyvat didn't bin it he could have been within that midfield region. If redbull fix their tyre warmup issues they can fight for victories u can't say that for mac