While we wait for the Saudi Arabia race to start and following on the analysis of the previous race, this time we will take a look at the MCL36 vs MCL60 for the second race of the season (all usual disclosures apply, different track temp, different track evolution, etc… Nevertheless the data may be interesting regardless.
One caveat this time around is that I’m comparing Piastri’s Fastest Qualifying Lap vs Norris’ Fastest Qualy lap in 2022… It’s a shame that Lando had the mistake in T27 since it would have been better to make a comparison with the same driver.
The MCL60 is clearly superior to the MCL36 in terms of overall grip, with faster cornering speed all around the track, with the exception of T22 where Lando was massively faster last season compared to Piastri’s lap… Was there a layout change? The different in speed at this corner is massive even compared to this year’s laps by Alonso, Hamilton, Verstappen, etc.
McLaren seems to have chosen a different deployment strategy this time around, had clipping or an effect of their chosen gearing for the season since the MCL60 is losing in top speed versus the MCL36 (but it doesn’t just stop accelerating it actually loses speed at the top end)… I don’t believe this is drag related (the MCL60 isn’t draggier than the MCL36) since acceleration is on par in the 250km/h to 300km/h range, but it clearly loses speed when approaching the end of the straights (interestingly, the RPM’s on the MCL60 are also lower than Mercedes and Aston Martin).
From a braking perspective, the MCL60 continues to show the same trend from Bahrain, with the drivers been able to brake later, a characteristic that can also be spotted when comparing it to the likes of Hamilton and Alonso.
I expect McLaren to have better race pace than Qualy pace, the high DF setup should allow to gain time in the middle sector while protecting the tires… Hopefully the gains in S2 are sufficient to either be close enough for an overtake in S3 or build a gap to defend in S3 from a car behind.
