Mclarensenna wrote: ↑17 Feb 2021, 04:17
I have a very good feeling about this new car and just a guess but i am 70% confident (speculating sure) this car could be very quick, behind mercedes off course but not far off and closed the gap to the redbull for the following reasons. As it seems Redbull is the realistic target in my view as Merc of course will be out of reach still due to the massive advantage they already built up.
1. Mclaren have switched to the long wheelbase design of the Merc which we saw how well it worked for racing point over the shorter wheelbase higher rake setup.
2. The Mercedes engine should give them a nice boost in power which means they can stack on more wing and downforce over the previous years making the car even faster in cornering/braking, balance even hopefully.
3. The budget cap kicked in Jan 1st already so Redbull who would be throwing at this point way more money and upgrades than budget teams will be hampered. Redbull usually rocks up with a simpler design in testing then start stacking on more and more parts with bigger and more frequent upgrades than the lower budget teams come the very first race even. Also including they limiting dyno runs as well since Jan 1st. This year Redbull will be hampered significantly for the first time in a decade on how they operate come the first of January till the season starts which will play into the hands of the lower budget teams like Mclaren.
Not long to go now.
Time will tell!
They haven't made a change to the wheelbase in 2021, looks the same to me. Plus the 2nd best chassis in F1 has the shortest wheelbase. So the wheelbase length, by itself, has ZERO to do with the performance of the chassis. It's all about making the aero work. Mercedes and RBR are PRIME examples how the longest and the shortest chassis can work. While the Williams of 2020 if proof how the 2nd longest chassis can be a complete disaster.
I think this point is yet to be proven but RBR have a sister team to split costs with, while McLaren have nobody. We will start to see how much an effect this has now that the CAP has kicked in.
Also AM, Alpine,Ferrari will all have more wind tunnel time in 2021 cause they finished behind the top 3(part of the new regs).