This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Impressive first day. The car was fast and reliable straight out of the box. Lando and Daniel are gonna make a fantastic duo inside and outside races.
For a first proper day with new engine I think we did very well, I hope weather conditions will improve tomorrow and on Sunday so we can do a proper race & qualy sim
The McLaren floor compared to Redbull or Mercedes is underdeveloped as it looks now, i think they might have some solutions for remaining two days to test new ones. Why i am telling is because they only had flowvis test on the front end of the car and not on floor or barge boards area, also aero rake was used for diffuser only.
Can you link some pictures of Mclaren Floor compared to Red Bull and Mercedes to see?
Also I am curious to hear opinions regarding times. I know it's the first day and teams haven't shown much but I can't stop smiling seeing a car that is fast and reliable straight out of the box. Fingers crossed it's faster than the midfield competition and help us be in the mix with Mercedes and Red Bull.
Xero wrote:I'd say that was a pretty successful first day of running. Key point for me was the middle sector time was very competitive, each sector with a consistent relative gap to the Red Bull. The MCL35 struggled in that middle sector, hopefully a sign they have fixed those weaknesses.
Norris fast lap actually matched VERs middle sector... He lost a tenth on the 1st and 3rd sector.
I'd say that was a pretty successful first day of running. Key point for me was the middle sector time was very competitive, each sector with a consistent relative gap to the Red Bull. The MCL35 struggled in that middle sector, hopefully a sign they have fixed those weaknesses.
Can't really take much from the first day of testing, but really can't take much from testing in general.
The teams were definitely not pushing close to 100% , and if they were pushing at all, we can't really know which parts of the track were their primary target.
So for example, RedBull might have wanted to test something in S1 and therefore Max was instructed to go a little faster there, while McLaren might have had something to test elsewhere instead.
Nevertheless, it is still a positive day since there were no major problems encountered and the laptimes set were good relative to the competition.
Absolutely. I'm normally one of those shooting down others comparing times from testing, but even at this stage you can generally pick out points of consistency rather than outright pace. Given the limits on car development and testing time this year I think McLaren can be pretty happy with themselves.
“It was really good to get back out in the car for my first proper session with McLaren. I was able to push the car a little bit and get more familiar with it. It was a smooth morning, everything ran well and that’s all you can ask in testing – you want reliability on your side and the team back in Woking has done an awesome job of giving us a great start on day one. We got a good amount of runs and laps done, with a focus on getting more and more familiar and comfortable in the car. The plan for the next few days is similar, we’re aiming to leave here feeling ready to go for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Happy days!”
LANDO NORRIS, #4
“First of all, very happy to be back in a Formula 1 car. It’s my first time putting the MCL35M to the test in the dry. It’s quite a shock to feel the speed of a Formula 1 car again, it’s been a while since I’ve had that sensation. It was a good shock and it felt nice to be back, but not as nice with the conditions today. The second half of the day was very dusty and windy which made it tricky, so it wasn’t the easiest first day back in the car.
“We spent the session going through our test programme, making sure there are no problems with the seat and that I’m comfortable in the car. We’ve got some things to work on from that side over the next couple of days. We’ll sit down and review everything this evening, but it’s been a solid first day. Thanks to everyone both here and back at the factory for all the hard work and making it such a smooth first day's running.”
ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing
“It was a productive first day of testing. The conditions were a bit special due to the wind and sand on the track, but actually this didn’t affect the run plan very much as we could still compare data from run to run and from both drivers. We didn’t have any major issues today, only small things to fix here and there which is normal on the first day running a new car. But it’s only day one, and we’ll keep monitoring as we accumulate mileage on the car.
“We were able to run through our planned test items – Daniel running in the morning and Lando in the afternoon – with both drivers getting an early understanding of the car. We now need to optimise the remaining two days with preparation for the first race being shorter than ever, so we need to try and be as efficient as possible.”
Soymotor used to have good stat sheets for testing. I don't think they've published them yet and they are not following McLaren as strongly this year (Sainz moved to Ferrari). But in my opinion, you could learn a lot from testing even last year. You needed to look all the data in full and not just the top time and do some analysis in your head. In last two years, McLaren always looked decent in testing even though journalists were usually dismissing it (mostly due to 2018 and before). This means that I am quite happy with today. McLaren didn't seem to do any "glory runs", they usually ran a quick first lap and then did a bunch of laps afterwards. This sounds similar to what would happen for a car that qualifies to Q3 (you "burnt" the tires in the Q2, and then do a short first stint). Overall great day. Car seems decent enough. Don't want to jump to conclusions.
As a final note, from my perspective, Verstappen was going much wider in various turns trying to keep as much speed while McLaren stayed on the track more. McLaren didn't seem to be pushing as much. Could be wrong, I'm probably not objective as I am a fan.
Oh, and the best thing, Aston Martin didn't seem to be setting world on fire. Ferrari the same.
Soymotor used to have good stat sheets for testing. I don't think they've published them yet and they are not following McLaren as strongly this year (Sainz moved to Ferrari). But in my opinion, you could learn a lot from testing even last year. You needed to look all the data in full and not just the top time and do some analysis in your head. In last two years, McLaren always looked decent in testing even though journalists were usually dismissing it (mostly due to 2018 and before). This means that I am quite happy with today. McLaren didn't seem to do any "glory runs", they usually ran a quick first lap and then did a bunch of laps afterwards. This sounds similar to what would happen for a car that qualifies to Q3 (you "burnt" the tires in the Q2, and then do a short first stint). Overall great day. Car seems decent enough. Don't want to jump to conclusions.
As a final note, from my perspective, Verstappen was going much wider in various turns trying to keep as much speed while McLaren stayed on the track more. McLaren didn't seem to be pushing as much. Could be wrong, I'm probably not objective as I am a fan.
Oh, and the best thing, Aston Martin didn't seem to be setting world on fire. Ferrari the same.
It's day 1. We might get some push on Sunday ... Plus with all that sand on the road ....
RIC’s fastest lap of the morning session... Just cruising
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Any chance of getting Lando’s lap?
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
