Problems for Mclaren with development

[lkocev]

I believe the McL KERS is linked in at the front, not the rear.

I don't think so, as far as I know, (I might be wrong) the KERS can only charge from the 2 rear wheel brakes. Plus the batteries and obviously the electric motor are in the rear, they would be the haviest parts in the system.

[kilcoo316]

I don't think so, as far as I know, (I might be wrong) the KERS can only charge from the 2 rear wheel brakes.

Nah - they link it throught the drivetrain, so the motor/alternator can be at the front of the gearbox or at the front of the engine.


So you have both engine braking and KERS braking running through the gearbox to the wheels.

[RacingManiac]

I believe the McL KERS is linked in at the front, not the rear.

It'd be difficult since I don't know how you'd recover the energy off the front brake....using it to boil water maybe, then spin a steam turbine?:D

[McMacca]

if that is the case then the 'easy fix' would be to rip out KERS and turn up at the first 3 races with a faster overall package, tyres that will last and improved reliability. Easy win for McLaren.

I'd tend to agree, if it’s simple weight distribution, McL would have run without KERS by now, even just to get a comparison.

Dumb Question time:

Why not create a rear wing with no curves, slits, flaps etc, simple lines based on technical regs (I know MFG / design time etc) bolt it on see what happens or is the interaction between front wing, body, engine cover and rear wing that sensitive?

[twoshots]

Yeah, sorry, bad description on my part. I believe it's linked to the driveshaft at the front of the engine.

[jddh1]

The way the question is asked, I think the answer is Yes.
Is it his fault. Not at all. The facts that they probably started late and also the engineers screwed up with calibrations and stuff are to fault.
With that said, his lack of experience will not allow Macca to get out of this hole as fast as if they had Alonso or Barichelo. Pedro will help, but it's limited testing so how much time will he get behind the wheel is anybody's guess.

[ESPImperium]

To me if hamilton had at least had a good solid couple of years testing under his belt with a drive in a lower ranked car in 2007, i think that he would be able to get some better development out of this car.

However i dont think that Hamilton is soley the one to blame, i feel that Hekkis experience is also coming into question. I feel that PdlR should be having more test time in the car as he is supposed to be the "experienced hand" of the McLaren team.

I dont really see many other less esperienced drivers in a team with a young(er) driver, Vettel has Webber; Glock has Trulli; Piquet has Alonso; Nakajimma has Rosberg (could be classed as a inexperienced lineup); Sutil has Fisi; Buemi has Bourdais diverse experience to dwell on.

The only 2 lineups on the grid id say were worth their weight in gold for experience are the Brawn and Ferarri lineups.

The BMW Sauber lineup is one that can be excluded i feel as they are a freak of nature how two diffrent styles can get allong to develop a car in the way they do, Kubica is the aggressive all or nothing style, Heidfelt is the more concervitive but gets job done style.

But i dont think that McLarens design team dosnt have anything to right with it as well, as i feel that the lack of a strong designer with a good experienced driver is to blame. I feel that the lack of performance that the moment lies at about 50/50 between the design team and driver line up.

[lkocev]

I dont know guys, this talk of driver expirience and all that, just because Hamilton and Kovalainen are only in there 3rd F1 season, they still have been racing single seaters for a long time, and its not like some of what they learnt in other formulae isn't applicable to F1 in terms of getting a good setup, and communicating with an engineer. I mean, if it is a matter of the car being difficult to set-up, for me I still think its the engineering teams' responsibilities to help drivers feel confident whilst getting maximum performance from the package they have available to them. By the same token, there is only so much feedback a driver can give, 'the rear feels like this...' 'the car feels like that under braking...' ect. but if the problems are design problems, then its not like Hamilton, Kovalainen or de la Rosa can jump in the car, take it for a lap or two, and then bring it in and say "OK, this, this, and this are wrong, here is a drawing of a rear wing that will work" ... come on guys, a drivers job is to drive and give feedback, not design and build a car

[axle]

I dont know guys, this talk of driver expirience and all that, just because Hamilton and Kovalainen are only in there 3rd F1 season, they still have been racing single seaters for a long time, and its not like some of what they learnt in other formulae isn't applicable to F1 in terms of getting a good setup, and communicating with an engineer. I mean, if it is a matter of the car being difficult to set-up, for me I still think its the engineering teams' responsibilities to help drivers feel confident whilst getting maximum performance from the package they have available to them. By the same token, there is only so much feedback a driver can give, 'the rear feels like this...' 'the car feels like that under braking...' ect. but if the problems are design problems, then its not like Hamilton, Kovalainen or de la Rosa can jump in the car, take it for a lap or two, and then bring it in and say "OK, this, this, and this are wrong, here is a drawing of a rear wing that will work" ... come on guys, a drivers job is to drive and give feedback, not design and build a car

^^Good Post^^

[andartop]

By the same token, there is only so much feedback a driver can give, 'the rear feels like this...' 'the car feels like that under braking...' ect.

Seriously now. Have you ever heard about a guy named Michael Schumacher? Or Fernando Alonso? Hell, even DC could do better than that..

[Chaparral]

Has anyone considered the fact that the car may actually be a dog - it happens even to the best of teams. As for Hamilton and his development talents - I or you dont know - but I suspect they are reasonable - you cannot be so successful in the junior formulae if you didnt have some sort of talent in this area to be able to convey it to your engineer or mechanics whats happening on track to the car and he drove quite brilliantly back then - please note Im not a fan of the team or driver.

[axle]

You can't compare drivers from different cars and teams on their ability to setup a car.

You can only compare team-mates and even then you don't know how much information sharing is happening.

The McLaren is, *today* a pup. MS, FA, have been in pup's before too and could only minimise the losses to the rest of the grid until they were given a better base car.

[lkocev]

By the same token, there is only so much feedback a driver can give, 'the rear feels like this...' 'the car feels like that under braking...' ect.

Seriously now. Have you ever heard about a guy named Michael Schumacher? Or Fernando Alonso? Hell, even DC could do better than that..

So you know exactly what is said in the McLaren garage when Lewis and Heikki talk with their engineers do you??? Look, I'm by no means suggesting thats exactly what they are saying to their engineers, but, it probably would be something along those lines. I get the feeling your suggesting that Michael Schumacher and Alonso tell their engineers exactly how to do their jobs and exactly what a given car needs to perform better. I mean, they might have a better understanding of engineering and mechanics, but, if their cars were bottoming out its not like there going to say to their engineers 'we need to raise the ride height by 5mm' ... rather they would suggest raising it but not give a figure, that is for the engineers to work out exactly how much to raise it by, not the driver. If we think back to 2005 when Ferrari had a poor year, are you going to say that "it was a bad year because Schumacher's feed back was out of whack?" sometimes bad design can't be side stepped by a drivers ability to help development. I really hope this is not actually the case at McLaren...

Thanks axle for the kind comment about my post

[xpensive]

Hear that, andartop.
I know some people are saying that Alonso's arrival to McLaren brought almost instant speed to the car though his set-up work, all copied by Hamilton, which was partly what pissed Alonso off later on?

[meves]

Hear that, andartop.
I know some people are saying that Alonso's arrival to McLaren brought almost instant speed to the car though his set-up work, all copied by Hamilton, which was partly what pissed Alonso off later on?

I thought that happened to begin with and was quickly stopped by Alonso which is why through that season Hamilton took longer at a number of circuits to dial the car in and I completely agree with lkocev!

Talking of McLarens issues it appears that they have found the solution

"Unofficial word from the Woking-based team at the end of the test is that the car's problem has been identified and can be fixed in the run to Melbourne."

Whether that is enough to pick up 2 seconds we'll have to see!!!!