2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

Sorry if this was mentioned before but from the McLaren website, James Key talked about the inability to exploit chassis change fully due to homologation.

"When modifying the chassis, we worked very closely with the FIA to ensure we were only changing what we needed to, but this meant we couldn’t exploit the chassis change as much as we would have liked in the pursuit of performance. Although we spent our development tokens on the power unit installation, it’s not fully optimised because of the rules around homologation. We would have done it differently were it not for the restrictions put in place for 2021"

I also read ( https://the-race.com/formula-1/six-key- ... -answered/ ) that only the aero side can be developed in-season.

Therefore the change to Mercedes, whilst having the advantages of the best unit, has compromised improving the chassis for 2021.

RBR and Ferrari are in a similar but not as significantly the same position due to new engine designs for 2021 which leaves Mercedes able to spend tokens all on chassis improvement. Have I understood that right?

Each team has 2 tokens, so it’s doubtful any team will be able to make all the changes or improvements they’d like to. The thing about stable rules, is that there’s so much data collected over the course of the previous season, and you learn so much and therefore, there’s a big potential to make significant improvements. But with the token, there’ll be a limit to what teams can fix, so they’Il have to choose. Personally, I don’t think McLaren will be that much worse off than other teams. The nose box job last season took out one potential headache, since their 2 tokens were utilised for the Mercedes PU installation. The aero work done and how teams respond to the floor changes could be a big factor though.

I feel like we got the good end of the bargain on this one. Longer wheelbase, an engine upgrade and a radically slimmer car, it feels like we have the potential to make more time than other teams, who can make some cooling changes or upgrade their rear suspension for example.

I'm excited for the season but than that may be my hopeless optimism.

[the EDGE]

I guessing by how happy this pair & Zac appear everything went well at the 2 day filming event (test)

If so that’s a great start for the team and will give them plenty of data to crunch before Bahrain. With a good 5 weeks to the first race that’s plenty of time to react from what they’ve learnt with thing like cooling so I’m sure there’ll be some improvements to the bodywork along with the usual updates for race 1

[f1rules]

Sorry if this was mentioned before but from the McLaren website, James Key talked about the inability to exploit chassis change fully due to homologation.

"When modifying the chassis, we worked very closely with the FIA to ensure we were only changing what we needed to, but this meant we couldn’t exploit the chassis change as much as we would have liked in the pursuit of performance. Although we spent our development tokens on the power unit installation, it’s not fully optimised because of the rules around homologation. We would have done it differently were it not for the restrictions put in place for 2021"

I also read ( https://the-race.com/formula-1/six-key- ... -answered/ ) that only the aero side can be developed in-season.

Therefore the change to Mercedes, whilst having the advantages of the best unit, has compromised improving the chassis for 2021.

RBR and Ferrari are in a similar but not as significantly the same position due to new engine designs for 2021 which leaves Mercedes able to spend tokens all on chassis improvement. Have I understood that right?

Each team has 2 tokens, so it’s doubtful any team will be able to make all the changes or improvements they’d like to. The thing about stable rules, is that there’s so much data collected over the course of the previous season, and you learn so much and therefore, there’s a big potential to make significant improvements. But with the token, there’ll be a limit to what teams can fix, so they’Il have to choose. Personally, I don’t think McLaren will be that much worse off than other teams. The nose box job last season took out one potential headache, since their 2 tokens were utilised for the Mercedes PU installation. The aero work done and how teams respond to the floor changes could be a big factor though.

I feel like we got the good end of the bargain on this one. Longer wheelbase, an engine upgrade and a radically slimmer car, it feels like we have the potential to make more time than other teams, who can make some cooling changes or upgrade their rear suspension for example.

I'm excited for the season but than that may be my hopeless optimism.

yep im with you, because of the above reasons, plus how on top of things they seem to be, always planning well ahead, nosebox update last year, for this year, etc etc and now, how well prepared they are, spending three days at silverstone with complete setup, and two days of running. In a season that is over, before it almost even begins, due to the teams allocating ressources for next year, a good start will be crucial. Further how many teams will actually change for a longer wheelbase and or make as big alterations as mcl, in an interim year? not many im thinking, rb and merc will do, cause they fight at the front, fer and ren, will give it a goo, but give up early and shift focus if they dont succeed early on, so in my opinion, that mclaren where forced into so many changes can actually turn out to help them greatly, but im also a hopeless optimist..again, because until recently i was not, but seidl, brown changed that

[mwillems]

Each team has 2 tokens, so it’s doubtful any team will be able to make all the changes or improvements they’d like to. The thing about stable rules, is that there’s so much data collected over the course of the previous season, and you learn so much and therefore, there’s a big potential to make significant improvements. But with the token, there’ll be a limit to what teams can fix, so they’Il have to choose. Personally, I don’t think McLaren will be that much worse off than other teams. The nose box job last season took out one potential headache, since their 2 tokens were utilised for the Mercedes PU installation. The aero work done and how teams respond to the floor changes could be a big factor though.

I feel like we got the good end of the bargain on this one. Longer wheelbase, an engine upgrade and a radically slimmer car, it feels like we have the potential to make more time than other teams, who can make some cooling changes or upgrade their rear suspension for example.

I'm excited for the season but than that may be my hopeless optimism.

yep im with you, because of the above reasons, plus how on top of things they seem to be, always planning well ahead, nosebox update last year, for this year, etc etc and now, how well prepared they are, spending three days at silverstone with complete setup, and two days of running. In a season that is over, before it almost even begins, due to the teams allocating ressources for next year, a good start will be crucial. Further how many teams will actually change for a longer wheelbase and or make as big alterations as mcl, in an interim year? not many im thinking, rb and merc will do, cause they fight at the front, fer and ren, will give it a goo, but give up early and shift focus if they dont succeed early on, so in my opinion, that mclaren where forced into so many changes can actually turn out to help them greatly, but im also a hopeless optimist..again, because until recently i was not, but seidl, brown changed that

Yeah it is a complete throwaway season in many respects. Mercedes have already won it (Only mild humour there - now watch Mclaren fight them to the end! - Lot's of humour there) and unless your a little crazy, focus will be almost entirely on next year.

The only caveats I'd add are that RP will be fast out of the box and Ferrari have a new engine IIRC, as well as a much better car that they ended the year with so realistically, a tough year with tough opposition. That said, if Danny Ric could get the Renault to podiums, then if this car is as fast as it looks, can we take it to Red Bull? That's my hope.

Testing will be fun. Will teams "sandbag"? How will the strategies play out? How many mistakes will be made in 3 days of condensed testing? I wonder if we will be able to learn more from the shortened testing than we ever normally do.

[djos]

I know I’m being highly optimistic here, but I genuinely think Daniel now has the car to fight for places on the first two rows of the grid and be a regular podium finisher. I think Lando will be up there too.

Daniel is great at maximising opportunities, so I fully expect he can steal a Grand Prix win during the season too.

[Big Tea]

I feel like we got the good end of the bargain on this one. Longer wheelbase, an engine upgrade and a radically slimmer car, it feels like we have the potential to make more time than other teams, who can make some cooling changes or upgrade their rear suspension for example.

I'm excited for the season but than that may be my hopeless optimism.

yep im with you, because of the above reasons, plus how on top of things they seem to be, always planning well ahead, nosebox update last year, for this year, etc etc and now, how well prepared they are, spending three days at silverstone with complete setup, and two days of running. In a season that is over, before it almost even begins, due to the teams allocating ressources for next year, a good start will be crucial. Further how many teams will actually change for a longer wheelbase and or make as big alterations as mcl, in an interim year? not many im thinking, rb and merc will do, cause they fight at the front, fer and ren, will give it a goo, but give up early and shift focus if they dont succeed early on, so in my opinion, that mclaren where forced into so many changes can actually turn out to help them greatly, but im also a hopeless optimist..again, because until recently i was not, but seidl, brown changed that

Yeah it is a complete throwaway season in many respects. Mercedes have already won it (Only mild humour there - now watch Mclaren fight them to the end! - Lot's of humour there) and unless your a little crazy, focus will be almost entirely on next year.

The only caveats I'd add are that RP will be fast out of the box and Ferrari have a new engine IIRC, as well as a much better car that they ended the year with so realistically, a tough year with tough opposition. That said, if Danny Ric could get the Renault to podiums, then if this car is as fast as it looks, can we take it to Red Bull? That's my hope.

Testing will be fun. Will teams "sandbag"? How will the strategies play out? How many mistakes will be made in 3 days of condensed testing? I wonder if we will be able to learn more from the shortened testing than we ever normally do.

Its only worth teams sandbagging if there is something to gain. What is to gain for who?
Turn up for the first test with something that is blitzquick and bolt on, and by race one everyone will have it.
Worth sandbagging.

A new design worth sandbagging? probably not. If its new, it will not be well understood by the team so it needs to be tested to the full extent. Not much point pretending it does not work, in case it really does not and the team is 2 months behind. If it is not fully understood, then any other team thinking of using it is going to be some time considering if it is worth having instead of whet they intended to have, then made, fitted and trimmed and its well into the year.

Something that is marginally legal and gives a small advantage? Yes, worth keeping it dark until the first race.
It will be seen, but until it proves to be an advantage will probably not be contested. By the time this goes through procedure it could be 4 or 5 races in before it is ruled for or against, and may have bagged several points and positions. If its ruled out, worst thing to happen is it is not available for the next race. If it is accepted, it can take weeks to months for everyone else to get it on the car, then they have to learn how to use it to best effect, as per D.A.S. and it may not be worth doing before its banned.

Sandbagging just for the sake of not showing your hand is not really worth while these days with the lack of testing etc, unless you have something to hide. Maybe the way Ferrari did it in 19 would be best. Make everyone think you have better than you do so they run on the edge and possibly win by reliability?

[diffuser]

The gap for the top 10 in Bahrain Q1 was .8 sec and included 6 different teams. Often temperature changes caused huge swings in car performance, why sandbag?

[f1rules]

About sandbagging, i agree it dont make that much sense anymore for the reasons mentioned, nevertheless mclaren admitted to doing so last year,
Offcourse that doesnt mean theydont push the car, its more a matter of how much fuel you take out, engine modes etc

[f1rules]

Yeah rp will be strong, they spend their tokens on upgrading the sidepod crash structure which, when merc did they gained greatly according to Allison. Add to that i think i read they can get mercs news gearbox and rear susp for free or something like it, so definitly theyll be strong. Same goes for ferrari, new pu and at times their chassis was not that bad, AND maybe the strongest of all driver lineups, in my opinion

Yeah it is a complete throwaway season in many respects. Mercedes have already won it (Only mild humour there - now watch Mclaren fight them to the end! - Lot's of humour there) and unless your a little crazy, focus will be almost entirely on next year.

The only caveats I'd add are that RP will be fast out of the box and Ferrari have a new engine IIRC, as well as a much better car that they ended the year with so realistically, a tough year with tough opposition. That said, if Danny Ric could get the Renault to podiums, then if this car is as fast as it looks, can we take it to Red Bull? That's my hope.

Testing will be fun. Will teams "sandbag"? How will the strategies play out? How many mistakes will be made in 3 days of condensed testing? I wonder if we will be able to learn more from the shortened testing than we ever normally do.

[the EDGE]

Bahrain testing will be unique for teams this year, in the fact that it’s the first time teams have ever tested at a track they will be racing on less than 2 weeks later & It’s also the first time teams have had such little pre-season testing

Couple this with the new tyre, and throw in things like carry-over chassis but with new aero rules & for McLaren a new PU & Chassis and a new driver to settle-in, I think it’s fair to say it will be an interesting long weekend with teams running a variety of different programs depending on their own individual needs.

I’m sure McLaren will be first & foremost focusing on reliability, so they will want to cover a lot of miles, and they must of course carry out the usual correlation work and get an understanding how the chassis responds to setup changes whilst getting an understanding of the new rubber too

That’s an awful lot to fit into 3 days, so there certainly won’t be any ‘sandbagging’ but i very much doubt there will be time for show-boating either, and I doubt there will be any quali -sims either. They will save that for Bahrain FP

They’re certainly off to a good start, I’m sure they’ve already ticked as many boxes on their to-do list that they could and wanted to this week so hopefully they can hit the ground running because McLaren will certain face the biggest challenge of all teams this year

[FittingMechanics]

Yeah rp will be strong, they spend their tokens on upgrading the sidepod crash structure which, when merc did they gained greatly according to Allison. Add to that i think i read they can get mercs news gearbox and rear susp for free or something like it, so definitly theyll be strong. Same goes for ferrari, new pu and at times their chassis was not that bad, AND maybe the strongest of all driver lineups, in my opinion

For Aston Martin, this season will show how well a team can understand a car they copied over and how well can they develop it. I believe that they won't be able to match performance gains by teams that developed their own solutions and I expect them to fall behind McLaren in pace.

[proteus]

Yeah rp will be strong, they spend their tokens on upgrading the sidepod crash structure which, when merc did they gained greatly according to Allison. Add to that i think i read they can get mercs news gearbox and rear susp for free or something like it, so definitly theyll be strong. Same goes for ferrari, new pu and at times their chassis was not that bad, AND maybe the strongest of all driver lineups, in my opinion

For Aston Martin, this season will show how well a team can understand a car they copied over and how well can they develop it. I believe that they won't be able to match performance gains by teams that developed their own solutions and I expect them to fall behind McLaren in pace.

You dont know how much external help from Mercedes they will get. Remember Williams in 2014,?

[mwillems]

yep im with you, because of the above reasons, plus how on top of things they seem to be, always planning well ahead, nosebox update last year, for this year, etc etc and now, how well prepared they are, spending three days at silverstone with complete setup, and two days of running. In a season that is over, before it almost even begins, due to the teams allocating ressources for next year, a good start will be crucial. Further how many teams will actually change for a longer wheelbase and or make as big alterations as mcl, in an interim year? not many im thinking, rb and merc will do, cause they fight at the front, fer and ren, will give it a goo, but give up early and shift focus if they dont succeed early on, so in my opinion, that mclaren where forced into so many changes can actually turn out to help them greatly, but im also a hopeless optimist..again, because until recently i was not, but seidl, brown changed that

Yeah it is a complete throwaway season in many respects. Mercedes have already won it (Only mild humour there - now watch Mclaren fight them to the end! - Lot's of humour there) and unless your a little crazy, focus will be almost entirely on next year.

The only caveats I'd add are that RP will be fast out of the box and Ferrari have a new engine IIRC, as well as a much better car that they ended the year with so realistically, a tough year with tough opposition. That said, if Danny Ric could get the Renault to podiums, then if this car is as fast as it looks, can we take it to Red Bull? That's my hope.

Testing will be fun. Will teams "sandbag"? How will the strategies play out? How many mistakes will be made in 3 days of condensed testing? I wonder if we will be able to learn more from the shortened testing than we ever normally do.

Its only worth teams sandbagging if there is something to gain. What is to gain for who?
Turn up for the first test with something that is blitzquick and bolt on, and by race one everyone will have it.
Worth sandbagging.

A new design worth sandbagging? probably not. If its new, it will not be well understood by the team so it needs to be tested to the full extent. Not much point pretending it does not work, in case it really does not and the team is 2 months behind. If it is not fully understood, then any other team thinking of using it is going to be some time considering if it is worth having instead of whet they intended to have, then made, fitted and trimmed and its well into the year.

Something that is marginally legal and gives a small advantage? Yes, worth keeping it dark until the first race.
It will be seen, but until it proves to be an advantage will probably not be contested. By the time this goes through procedure it could be 4 or 5 races in before it is ruled for or against, and may have bagged several points and positions. If its ruled out, worst thing to happen is it is not available for the next race. If it is accepted, it can take weeks to months for everyone else to get it on the car, then they have to learn how to use it to best effect, as per D.A.S. and it may not be worth doing before its banned.

Sandbagging just for the sake of not showing your hand is not really worth while these days with the lack of testing etc, unless you have something to hide. Maybe the way Ferrari did it in 19 would be best. Make everyone think you have better than you do so they run on the edge and possibly win by reliability?

Edit: Mis read this post. Good points.

[godlameroso]

Last year they had a best race pace of 1:33.5ish, they started in 36's 35's, I'm sure there's no point in hiding anything with only 3 days you better make sure your car is up to snuff right away. If they're roughly in the same ballpark , it means they're more or less as fast as last year.

[ringo]

I dont think this pairing will be good. Lando seems more serious and worried since the arrival of Daneil. He will over conpensate to establish himself as team leader.
I am expecting fireworks. It will bevlike Max vs Daniel again. Daniel may also be underestimating Norris. He seems like he already thinks Lando is a pushover and only redbull and mercedes he needs to think about. He may be wrong.