2019 Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[chrisgr]

Off topic but wishing the very best to the F2 drivers involved. Puts all of our silly discussions into perspective...

very very bad news for Anthoine Hubert...

[Capharol]

Off topic but wishing the very best to the F2 drivers involved. Puts all of our silly discussions into perspective...

very very bad news for Anthoine Hubert...

please can we keep the subject of Hubert out of the normal threads

here you can place your thought for now:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28413

[Jackles-UK]

One would assume that Spa and Monza would be very strong races for McLaren since the MCL34 seems to have very low drag and alongside with the Renault engine it gave us the impression that both of those races would be some great opportunities, however the opposite happened. Pretty strange. Also as far as aero philosophy goes, McLaren's is similar to Ferrari's but that didn't show here. Obviously Ferrari has way more power available but still. On the other hand indeed strange stuff since Merc is very far behind in qualy pace to Ferrari.

Was thinking the very same thing. Earlier in the season the Mclaren appeared to be very aero efficient and good on the straights. Baku and other places showed that. Ricciardo even commented on that. Yet somehow, something went wrong this weekend. Could be tire related as well as not getting an optimal time in from either of the drivers. Still expecting Norris and Sainz to go forward in the race.

They have been good on straights compared to others who generally run with more downforce (and therefore drag), Spa is a track where everybody sheds downforce as much as possible and the Renault engine doesn’t have the grunt of the Ferrari or Mercedes that is sitting in the back of the RP, Haas or Alfa cars. Renault were strong in Canada (another power track) so it makes sense to be behind them here too.

Still, Norris was within a tenth of both Haas cars in Q2 and only a few tenths from Hulkenberg in 7th, Sainz set his Q1 banker on used tyres and got unlucky with the red flag for Giovinazzi. Not the desperate disappointment it looked like it might be after FP3.

[diffuser]

One would assume that Spa and Monza would be very strong races for McLaren since the MCL34 seems to have very low drag and alongside with the Renault engine it gave us the impression that both of those races would be some great opportunities, however the opposite happened. Pretty strange. Also as far as aero philosophy goes, McLaren's is similar to Ferrari's but that didn't show here. Obviously Ferrari has way more power available but still. On the other hand indeed strange stuff since Merc is very far behind in qualy pace to Ferrari.

Was thinking the very same thing. Earlier in the season the Mclaren appeared to be very aero efficient and good on the straights. Baku and other places showed that. Ricciardo even commented on that. Yet somehow, something went wrong this weekend. Could be tire related as well as not getting an optimal time in from either of the drivers. Still expecting Norris and Sainz to go forward in the race.

They have been good on straights compared to others who generally run with more downforce (and therefore drag), Spa is a track where everybody sheds downforce as much as possible and the Renault engine doesn’t have the grunt of the Ferrari or Mercedes that is sitting in the back of the RP, Haas or Alfa cars. Renault were strong in Canada (another power track) so it makes sense to be behind them here too.

Still, Norris was within a tenth of both Haas cars in Q2 and only a few tenths from Hulkenberg in 7th, Sainz set his Q1 banker on used tyres and got unlucky with the red flag for Giovinazzi. Not the desperate disappointment it looked like it might be after FP3.

Yeah, my money is not on a lack of power...

Ricardo was .5 of second faster than us. Sounds like what the other guy said... we didn't get the setup right....

Hopefully it comes to us with the cooler weather.

[Andres125sx]

Sainz said he went back to spec B PU, what's the reason?

The Renault drivers did as well. The plan was to always to race it at Monza not here, as Cyril said before the weekend

Thanks, didn´t know

[search]

Sainz got another couple of new engine parts (ES and MGU-K) for the race. Shouldn't make much of a difference in terms of his starting spot, if I understand the rules correctly (Kubica is last anyway and Sainz was quickest from the 5 cars with a 15+ penalty, which should mean P15)

edit: I mixed things up there I think. Should be P18 for Sainz

[martinbeiker]

Sainz got another couple of new engine parts (ES and MGU-K) for the race. Shouldn't make much of a difference in terms of his starting spot, if I understand the rules correctly (Kubica is last anyway and Sainz was quickest from the 5 cars with a 15+ penalty, which should mean P15)

edit: I mixed things up there I think. Should be P18 for Sainz

Fabrega just said he's going to be P15

Edit: Official confirmation, Sainz will start the GP P15

[Darth-Piekus]

Let's just hope that it was only a set up mistake and they actually went for a race focus set up to gain a lot of positions today. Also since the championship is still not over how are updates going on the car? Are we gonna keep going for 2018 or are we gonna sacrifice it for 2019? This 4th place is a big bet and an achievement for climbing back to the top. We got to conquer it.

[mclaren113]

Let's just hope that it was only a set up mistake and they actually went for a race focus set up to gain a lot of positions today. Also since the championship is still not over how are updates going on the car? Are we gonna keep going for 2018 or are we gonna sacrifice it for 2019? This 4th place is a big bet and an achievement for climbing back to the top. We got to conquer it.

You mean 2019/2020?

[Darth-Piekus]

Yeah. Are we gonna keep going bringing updates until we secure the 4th championship position or risk the 4th place to close the difference to the top even more in 2019 by starting early development of the next car?

[Darth-Piekus]

Oh god. Are we lucky or what? All of our competitors are out in one turn. Sainz though seem to have problems. Why did the car not start? I haven't seen that from 2001.

[mwillems]

What a downbeat qualifying and now we are 5th after 10 seconds.

[mclaren113]

Norris from p11 to p5 at turn 1

[Darth-Piekus]

Let's see how this goes. Interesting start. It has been so much time since I saw a Mclaren not starting in the starting line. Back from 2001. Fingers crossed guys for Lando to be able to finish 5th. It's an opportunity.

[Darth-Piekus]

Anyone knows what is going on with Sainz? Is it possible that one of the new parts of the engine was faulty?