2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

So this was posted in the Car thread and seems to be relevant here. We are the fastest out of 3 of the corners and onto the straights. 2 of them are corners where the rear looked slippy on the exit. So clearly the car has pace, despite the issues. With the caveat being fuel loads and engine modes, of course.
Now this is subsectors, which isn;t that reliable and can be taken from different setups and different lines, so they aren't necessarily compatible. But we have some pace for sure.

from fp2, analysis



https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Exb-G55XMAk ... name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ExcADvZWUAQ ... me=900x900

Again merc and rb fastests in the corners, rb especially impressive since max went for the lower df rw in fp2, but still looking good for mclaren

confirmed by f1 graph
https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

[diffuser]

Ricciardo said it well. If both drivers are unhappy and they are P2 and P6, that's good news.

Hopefully they can have good step forward today, just like last year they used to make big steps overnight.

It's neither good nor bad. Nobody know what they don't know. Let's just hope for the best.

[FittingMechanics]

Ricciardo said it well. If both drivers are unhappy and they are P2 and P6, that's good news.

Hopefully they can have good step forward today, just like last year they used to make big steps overnight.

It's neither good nor bad. Nobody know what they don't know. Let's just hope for the best.

I'd say it's good that they are not happy and the car is fast. I think we all can agree that it is better to be fast and unhappy then slow and unhappy.

It's debatable if it is better to be fast and happy or fast and unhappym I'd say the second is better as it implies you have room for improvement, but I guess that is very situational. If the car is very peaky in performance that might be worse than a stable but slightly slower car.

[Darth-Piekus]

You know I notice a trend here. Remember 1995 to 1997? Mclaren was building a team year by year and gaining places catching the first two Williams and Ferrari year by year. At 1997 they had the third best car closer to the first two like they seem to be this year and winning two times exploiting problems of the first two teams. What happened next year? A big reset happened, Mclaren had Andrian Newey from 1997 and in 1998 they destroyed the competition lapping everyone but themselves in Australia.

We got James Key the so called new Andrian Newey last year, we cooperated with Mercedes again using their brake and oil partners. This year he found a good loophole and we became innovators again. Will 2022 with the big reset and the budget cap to Red Bull and Mercedes bringing them on par with Mclaren be a repeat of 1998? Circumstances show that it might happen again. What do you think?

[Emag]

Hopefully they were just taking it easier today because the times were quite disappointing to be honest.

[FittingMechanics]

Hopefully they were just taking it easier today because the times were quite disappointing to be honest.

Yeah. First runs both had lockups and aborted laps so they were on semi used tires by the time they did them. Those times weren't that bad, close to Mercedes. Second runs seemed to be very bad, no idea why, Sky was on commercials.

[geogate]

I was at mclaren in 97/98. The thing i remember most about that was the absolute feeling of confidence going into and coming out of the winter. I dont just mean from management, but from everybody. The 97 car was actually pretty darn good, but the engine was unreliable. Mercedes were pushing more and more cash and resources into Ilmor and it was just felt it was a matter of time. Absolutely no one at Mclaren was surprised with the performance at the first race

[Emag]

Hopefully they were just taking it easier today because the times were quite disappointing to be honest.

Yeah. First runs both had lockups and aborted laps so they were on semi used tires by the time they did them. Those times weren't that bad, close to Mercedes. Second runs seemed to be very bad, no idea why, Sky was on commercials.

Yeah, I don't expect them to be 1.9s off Max when qualifying comes but still, it doesn't feel nice to see them so far down the order just before Q1 hits. It makes the qualifying anticipation even more difficult from a fan point of view.

[FittingMechanics]

Hopefully they were just taking it easier today because the times were quite disappointing to be honest.

Yeah. First runs both had lockups and aborted laps so they were on semi used tires by the time they did them. Those times weren't that bad, close to Mercedes. Second runs seemed to be very bad, no idea why, Sky was on commercials.

Yeah, I don't expect them to be 1.9s off Max when qualifying comes but still, it doesn't feel nice to see them so far down the order just before Q1 hits. It makes the qualifying anticipation even more difficult from a fan point of view.

At least it reduces expectations. If they were top of the charts in FP3, we'd implode from expectations .

[CjC]

On odd FP3 all round, Norris’ first run of the session would have been a decent time compared to the rest.
Gasly looks immense but it’s a track that he and Alpha/ Torro Rosso historically do well at.
Then look at the Ferraris on mediums....
Throw in the unrepresentative track conditions of the session and we are back to square one again.

Similar to what I said yesterday

Yea I was going to say the long runs in FP2 will start to clear the picture but with the inevitable set up changes from Friday to Saturday from each team will muddy the waters again

[proteus]

I was at mclaren in 97/98. The thing i remember most about that was the absolute feeling of confidence going into and coming out of the winter. I dont just mean from management, but from everybody. The 97 car was actually pretty darn good, but the engine was unreliable. Mercedes were pushing more and more cash and resources into Ilmor and it was just felt it was a matter of time. Absolutely no one at Mclaren was surprised with the performance at the first race

It would be nice to hear more about that period, what you saw and what was going on. Consider opening a thread about it, i would sure love to read it.

[Szabi1112]

Whats the problem? Wind?
We’re still slower than yesterday...

[FittingMechanics]

Whats the problem? Wind?

Alpha Tauri did their laps lap or two later. I think there is a serious amount of track evolution as the temps are falling.

[Darth-Piekus]

We are indeed way slower than yesterday on this first Q1 and that picture contradicts what Mclaren has shown us so far. Surely we are way faster than that.

A little better but I am sure we can find 2 more tenths than that still. First target to get to Q3 and then open the engine to full.

[Xero]

It's so tight, as expected! Definitely not the clear 3rd fastest as some have touted. In a straight up fight with Ferrari and AT it seems this season.