2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[SmallSoldier]

The track is honestly similar to Baku, but shorter. Yes, there's a lot of fast / medium corners, but the slow ones are brutal as well as they usually are followed by a straight. Ferrari should be more than decent here.

We have also had such bad luck lately. Austria seems like an eternity ago now.
Belgium seemingly suited McLaren a lot more than Ferrari, and the race doesn't even get going. We got only 3 points on Ferrari where it could have easily been 20+ (I must admit, it could have gone the other way around too, not guaranteed on mixed conditions).

Now here, where Ferrari is stronger, McLaren doesn't look too good, and the sun is shining. To add to that, Pirelli has gone cautious with the tire choice being unfamiliar with the track. So there's no point in even hoping bad tire wear in the race for Ferrari.

Once again, Friday’s pace may not be as representative of McLaren’s overall pace, so I wouldn’t discount them just yet…

According to “The Race”, the long run pace of McLaren (Norris) was actually pretty good, making the short lap pace look deceiving, running at a similar pace as Bottas and Perez, from The Race:

“But in the long runs he and the Ferraris were shaded by Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and – especially – Lando Norris’ McLaren.

Norris looked significantly quicker than either Ferrari or Alpine in the long runs and was nip and tuck as fast as Bottas and Perez. He’d also been extremely quick on the medium tyres in the morning, shading even Verstappen. Watch out for a possible spectacular jump in the times from him tomorrow.”

LONG RUN AVERAGES
1. Verstappen Red Bull 1m15.358s (12 laps) soft
2. Bottas Mercedes 1m15.666 (5 laps) soft
3. Perez Red Bull 1m15.728 (7 laps) soft
4. Norris McLaren 1m15.775 (7 laps) soft
5. Gasly AlphaTauri 1m15.98 (8 laps) soft
6. Sainz Ferrari 1m15.991 (4 laps) soft
7. Alonso Alpine 1m15.991 (7 laps) soft
8. Ocon Alpine 1m16.010 (12 laps) medium
9. Leclerc Ferrari 1m16.010 (6 laps) medium
10. Stroll Aston Martin 1m16.577 (7 laps) soft

[CjC]

Lando had strong race pace though, mixing it with his the guys he’s fighting for P3 in the Championship, Bottas and Checo.

What about the Ferraris though?? That’s the one

[CjC]

“Ferrari will… McLaren may….”

Do you not agree with my slightly pessimistic view

The way things have panned out, it’s probably the way to go…. There’s no better feeling than when you have low expectations, then BOOM! Lando puts it on row 2…

It’s how I prefer it
Under promise and over deliver.... have low expectations and never be disappointed and all that....

[CjC]

The track is honestly similar to Baku, but shorter. Yes, there's a lot of fast / medium corners, but the slow ones are brutal as well as they usually are followed by a straight. Ferrari should be more than decent here.

We have also had such bad luck lately. Austria seems like an eternity ago now.
Belgium seemingly suited McLaren a lot more than Ferrari, and the race doesn't even get going. We got only 3 points on Ferrari where it could have easily been 20+ (I must admit, it could have gone the other way around too, not guaranteed on mixed conditions).

Now here, where Ferrari is stronger, McLaren doesn't look too good, and the sun is shining. To add to that, Pirelli has gone cautious with the tire choice being unfamiliar with the track. So there's no point in even hoping bad tire wear in the race for Ferrari.

Once again, Friday’s pace may not be as representative of McLaren’s overall pace, so I wouldn’t discount them just yet…

According to “The Race”, the long run pace of McLaren (Norris) was actually pretty good, making the short lap pace look deceiving, running at a similar pace as Bottas and Perez, from The Race:

“But in the long runs he and the Ferraris were shaded by Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and – especially – Lando Norris’ McLaren.

Norris looked significantly quicker than either Ferrari or Alpine in the long runs and was nip and tuck as fast as Bottas and Perez. He’d also been extremely quick on the medium tyres in the morning, shading even Verstappen. Watch out for a possible spectacular jump in the times from him tomorrow.”

LONG RUN AVERAGES
1. Verstappen Red Bull 1m15.358s (12 laps) soft
2. Bottas Mercedes 1m15.666 (5 laps) soft
3. Perez Red Bull 1m15.728 (7 laps) soft
4. Norris McLaren 1m15.775 (7 laps) soft
5. Gasly AlphaTauri 1m15.98 (8 laps) soft
6. Sainz Ferrari 1m15.991 (4 laps) soft
7. Alonso Alpine 1m15.991 (7 laps) soft
8. Ocon Alpine 1m16.010 (12 laps) medium
9. Leclerc Ferrari 1m16.010 (6 laps) medium
10. Stroll Aston Martin 1m16.577 (7 laps) soft

It also bodes well when you consider Lando and Dan said they went the wrong way with set up in the afternoon and didn’t feel totally comfortable with the car in FP2

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... iu4tZ.html

[SmallSoldier]

The track is honestly similar to Baku, but shorter. Yes, there's a lot of fast / medium corners, but the slow ones are brutal as well as they usually are followed by a straight. Ferrari should be more than decent here.

We have also had such bad luck lately. Austria seems like an eternity ago now.
Belgium seemingly suited McLaren a lot more than Ferrari, and the race doesn't even get going. We got only 3 points on Ferrari where it could have easily been 20+ (I must admit, it could have gone the other way around too, not guaranteed on mixed conditions).

Now here, where Ferrari is stronger, McLaren doesn't look too good, and the sun is shining. To add to that, Pirelli has gone cautious with the tire choice being unfamiliar with the track. So there's no point in even hoping bad tire wear in the race for Ferrari.

Once again, Friday’s pace may not be as representative of McLaren’s overall pace, so I wouldn’t discount them just yet…

According to “The Race”, the long run pace of McLaren (Norris) was actually pretty good, making the short lap pace look deceiving, running at a similar pace as Bottas and Perez, from The Race:

“But in the long runs he and the Ferraris were shaded by Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and – especially – Lando Norris’ McLaren.

Norris looked significantly quicker than either Ferrari or Alpine in the long runs and was nip and tuck as fast as Bottas and Perez. He’d also been extremely quick on the medium tyres in the morning, shading even Verstappen. Watch out for a possible spectacular jump in the times from him tomorrow.”

LONG RUN AVERAGES
1. Verstappen Red Bull 1m15.358s (12 laps) soft
2. Bottas Mercedes 1m15.666 (5 laps) soft
3. Perez Red Bull 1m15.728 (7 laps) soft
4. Norris McLaren 1m15.775 (7 laps) soft
5. Gasly AlphaTauri 1m15.98 (8 laps) soft
6. Sainz Ferrari 1m15.991 (4 laps) soft
7. Alonso Alpine 1m15.991 (7 laps) soft
8. Ocon Alpine 1m16.010 (12 laps) medium
9. Leclerc Ferrari 1m16.010 (6 laps) medium
10. Stroll Aston Martin 1m16.577 (7 laps) soft

It also bodes well when you consider Lando and Dan said they went the wrong way with set up in the afternoon and didn’t feel totally comfortable with the car in FP2

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... iu4tZ.html

Yes and even with when Lawrence (formula1.com Friday analysis) has Mclaren trailing both Ferrari and Alpine in both Qualifying and Race Pace, what caught my attention is the apparent deficit of McLaren on the straights, which also calls for lower modes on the engine since by now we all know McLaren is very strong on them:



The fact that McLaren is the one with the biggest deficit to Ferrari on the straights makes for an interesting argument towards either heavier runs (more fuel), lower engine modes or a combination of both… Which would definitely have an impact during the rest of the lap and in the rest of the corners.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[CjC]

Good spot with the car performance graphic for the straights

We also know historically Mclaren have the wick turned down on a Friday

[trinidefender]

You would think by now that everyone here would learn to stop taking so much from Friday practice sessions

[mwillems]

Once again, Friday’s pace may not be as representative of McLaren’s overall pace, so I wouldn’t discount them just yet…

According to “The Race”, the long run pace of McLaren (Norris) was actually pretty good, making the short lap pace look deceiving, running at a similar pace as Bottas and Perez, from The Race:

“But in the long runs he and the Ferraris were shaded by Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and – especially – Lando Norris’ McLaren.

Norris looked significantly quicker than either Ferrari or Alpine in the long runs and was nip and tuck as fast as Bottas and Perez. He’d also been extremely quick on the medium tyres in the morning, shading even Verstappen. Watch out for a possible spectacular jump in the times from him tomorrow.”

LONG RUN AVERAGES
1. Verstappen Red Bull 1m15.358s (12 laps) soft
2. Bottas Mercedes 1m15.666 (5 laps) soft
3. Perez Red Bull 1m15.728 (7 laps) soft
4. Norris McLaren 1m15.775 (7 laps) soft
5. Gasly AlphaTauri 1m15.98 (8 laps) soft
6. Sainz Ferrari 1m15.991 (4 laps) soft
7. Alonso Alpine 1m15.991 (7 laps) soft
8. Ocon Alpine 1m16.010 (12 laps) medium
9. Leclerc Ferrari 1m16.010 (6 laps) medium
10. Stroll Aston Martin 1m16.577 (7 laps) soft

It also bodes well when you consider Lando and Dan said they went the wrong way with set up in the afternoon and didn’t feel totally comfortable with the car in FP2

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... iu4tZ.html

Yes and even with when Lawrence (formula1.com Friday analysis) has Mclaren trailing both Ferrari and Alpine in both Qualifying and Race Pace, what caught my attention is the apparent deficit of McLaren on the straights, which also calls for lower modes on the engine since by now we all know McLaren is very strong on them:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202109 ... 17b996.jpg

The fact that McLaren is the one with the biggest deficit to Ferrari on the straights makes for an interesting argument towards either heavier runs (more fuel), lower engine modes or a combination of both… Which would definitely have an impact during the rest of the lap and in the rest of the corners.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes but then some straights also require good exit from corners that Mclaren will struggle in, so it's not all down to engine detuning unfortunately although there is clearly time to be made.

Also, after the first quarter of the season, when Ferrari have been fast they have stayed fast, and performed better in the race than in the start of the season.

I'm not sure we will be ahead of Ferrari but I do think we will be closer. But it is all to play for. But the data from Friday is not representative in that not only is it hard to tell where you can be faster, but it is also hard to tell where you are slower. We tend to only look for the former, eternal optimists that we are!

The "Mirror of Erised" comes to mind

I work in data, and one of the great things about it is that you can find whatever you want to find, which is why I brand my remarks as "Gut insticts"!

[adrianjordan]

The track is honestly similar to Baku, but shorter. Yes, there's a lot of fast / medium corners, but the slow ones are brutal as well as they usually are followed by a straight. Ferrari should be more than decent here.

We have also had such bad luck lately. Austria seems like an eternity ago now.
Belgium seemingly suited McLaren a lot more than Ferrari, and the race doesn't even get going. We got only 3 points on Ferrari where it could have easily been 20+ (I must admit, it could have gone the other way around too, not guaranteed on mixed conditions).

Now here, where Ferrari is stronger, McLaren doesn't look too good, and the sun is shining. To add to that, Pirelli has gone cautious with the tire choice being unfamiliar with the track. So there's no point in even hoping bad tire wear in the race for Ferrari.

Yea and the Ferraris tyre degradations issues in race trim are all but gone too

The weather in Spa has turned the battle for P3 well into Ferraris favour in my opinion.

Mclaren should have opened up a fair points gap on Ferrari at Spa in the wet or dry but it didn’t happen.
Ferrari look strong at Zandvoort so will jump ahead, Mclaren may salvage something at Monza but the Ferrari have a PU upgrade for the rest of the season which should make them regular podium contenders and leave Mclaren in no mans land in P4.
(Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari brought the PU upgrade to Monza their home race or at least one of their drivers races with it).

Personally I'd take P4 in the WCC as long as Lando manages to finish P3 in WDC.

P4 would give the team more time to develop the car next year and I think the financial position of the team now is healthy enough that the lost prize money wouldn't be an issue.

[mclaren111]

You would think by now that everyone here would learn to stop taking so much from Friday practice sessions

Amen...

[CjC]

You would think by now that everyone here would learn to stop taking so much from Friday practice sessions

I know, I know
But it’s just discussion on a slow Friday night and shouldn’t be taken literally

[CjC]

The track is honestly similar to Baku, but shorter. Yes, there's a lot of fast / medium corners, but the slow ones are brutal as well as they usually are followed by a straight. Ferrari should be more than decent here.

We have also had such bad luck lately. Austria seems like an eternity ago now.
Belgium seemingly suited McLaren a lot more than Ferrari, and the race doesn't even get going. We got only 3 points on Ferrari where it could have easily been 20+ (I must admit, it could have gone the other way around too, not guaranteed on mixed conditions).

Now here, where Ferrari is stronger, McLaren doesn't look too good, and the sun is shining. To add to that, Pirelli has gone cautious with the tire choice being unfamiliar with the track. So there's no point in even hoping bad tire wear in the race for Ferrari.

Yea and the Ferraris tyre degradations issues in race trim are all but gone too

The weather in Spa has turned the battle for P3 well into Ferraris favour in my opinion.

Mclaren should have opened up a fair points gap on Ferrari at Spa in the wet or dry but it didn’t happen.
Ferrari look strong at Zandvoort so will jump ahead, Mclaren may salvage something at Monza but the Ferrari have a PU upgrade for the rest of the season which should make them regular podium contenders and leave Mclaren in no mans land in P4.
(Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari brought the PU upgrade to Monza their home race or at least one of their drivers races with it).

Personally I'd take P4 in the WCC as long as Lando manages to finish P3 in WDC.

P4 would give the team more time to develop the car next year and I think the financial position of the team now is healthy enough that the lost prize money wouldn't be an issue.

Fair point, I personally want third because I’d love to see Mclaren beat their closest rivals

[Seerix]

Crofty mentioned on Sky broadcast, that Lando is still using one of older engines (not the SPA one). Not sure if he is correct though.

[MrGapes]

Optimistic for Lando, he set a very nice time on 5 lap old soft tyres earlier in the session, and Leclerc went around tenth slower despite putting a lap time on later in the session on newer tyres - everyone's tyres seem to be falling off after one lap, but the Maccas seem very kind on the tyres still able to do better sectors consistently over 5 laps. I've been watching the subsectors closely they are definitely playing down with engine mode

[_cerber1]

Crofty mentioned on Sky broadcast, that Lando is still using one of older engines (not the SPA one). Not sure if he is correct though.

Lando's motor is fine and the team plans to use it at Monza.