2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[diffuser]

Why are we expecting McLaren to win races yesterday? They'll take another step forward soon, in another 4 or 5 races. That update should be enough to comfortably clear the midfield or just over half a second slower than Red Bull.

Eric said they have steps forward in Monaco and Canada too.

[ALO_Power]

Planet F1:

But while Renault may lose Red Bull as an engine customer, they will continue to supply McLaren in 2019.

And Abiteboul reckons that is a pretty good reference for Renault’s work team to compare themselves against.

“If Red Bull is the aerodynamic reference, then McLaren is for the mechanical part of the car,” he said.

“It’s a great opportunity for us so we’ll see where it takes us, for now until 2020.

“We’ll see what happens then.”

Not so sure I agree with Abiteboul so far for 2018.

If that's true and MCL33 is on a high level regarding mechanical grip then with tires in proper temperature Monaco should be good.

[mclaren111]

The difficult thing to understand is how McLaren, despite having a dog of a car, is one of the most copied teams on the grid.

Some good concepts, but in the end it takes everything to work well together.

I believe McLaren in this case is a victim of their philosophy. They hold themselves so high that they turned blind and become victims of short term quick fix 'We are MCLAREN' type of mindset. Yes they have the tools, the money, the people (technical) and facilities, but their mindset is so detested to 'RIGHT F...ING NOW' that in most cases they're overdoing it. Zero-Size, New Honda Marriage, ditch the Honda get in bed with Renault, bring overly complicated stuff on their car they so desperately want to quick short-cut directly to the front.

You see Mercedes since 2010 they've been working and keeping the same philosophy, always planning ahead and being consistent and keeping what works rather than 'what looks it should be working'. Their project is long term, whereas McLaren is very focused on the short term.

Totally agree with you. That's one reason why Tim Goss is gone.

[godlameroso]

Why are we expecting McLaren to win races yesterday? They'll take another step forward soon, in another 4 or 5 races. That update should be enough to comfortably clear the midfield or just over half a second slower than Red Bull.

Eric said they have steps forward in Monaco and Canada too.

I expect those to be track specific, although I would love it if it added more performance to the car.

[RonDennis]

Why are we expecting McLaren to win races yesterday? They'll take another step forward soon, in another 4 or 5 races. That update should be enough to comfortably clear the midfield or just over half a second slower than Red Bull.

Comfortably clearing the midfield . I don't know what sport you've been watching for the last couple of years, but maybe it's time to accept that McLaren is a midfield team these days. I don't see anyone getting close to Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari without a budget cap. You guys are clearly expecting way too much. This switch to Renault has shown that this isn't the same McLaren as in their Vodafone/Mercedes days. If they end up 4th in the constructor they have done a good job.

[Andres125sx]

Why are we expecting McLaren to win races yesterday? They'll take another step forward soon, in another 4 or 5 races. That update should be enough to comfortably clear the midfield or just over half a second slower than Red Bull.

Eric said they have steps forward in Monaco and Canada too.

I expect those to be track specific, although I would love it if it added more performance to the car.

Not sure about that. To me it does not make sense to work on track specific aero when they´re still learning and developing a new aero concept.

Well, it may be semantics, probably they´re adding some new parts to increase DF as much as possible with the data they have now about the new concept, wich will not be on the car on different tracks with lower DF requirements. Some may call that track specific aero, some may not

[Andres125sx]

Why are we expecting McLaren to win races yesterday? They'll take another step forward soon, in another 4 or 5 races. That update should be enough to comfortably clear the midfield or just over half a second slower than Red Bull.

Comfortably clearing the midfield . I don't know what sport you've been watching for the last couple of years, but maybe it's time to accept that McLaren is a midfield team these days.

I´d say trying to clear the midfield does imply he assume they´re a midfielder right now, right?

[Big Tea]

Eric said they have steps forward in Monaco and Canada too.

I expect those to be track specific, although I would love it if it added more performance to the car.

Not sure about that. To me it does not make sense to work on track specific aero when they´re still learning and developing a new aero concept.

Well, it may be semantics, probably they´re adding some new parts to increase DF as much as possible with the data they have now about the new concept, wich will not be on the car on different tracks with lower DF requirements. Some may call that track specific aero, some may not

It could be taken as they are only concentrating on areas that will effect this race. For instance, maximum speed and maximum electrical use at the end of the straight is not going to be any use here, so resources switched to more usable traction or energy recovery will be an upgrade sort of specific, but still in use for all other races

[godlameroso]

Amus:

F1 time comparison Barcelona

team 2017 vs 2018 Improvement

Mercedes 1.19,149 min (Q3) 1.16.173 min (Q3) - 2.976 s
Ferrari 1.19,200 min (Q3) 1.16,305 min (Q3) - 2,895 s
Red Bull 1.19.706 min (Q3) 1.16.816 min (Q3) - 2,890 s
McLaren 1.21.048 min (Q3) 1.17.721 min (Q3) - 3,327 s
ForcIndia 1.21.070 min (Q3) 1.18,696 min (Q2) - 2.374 s
Williams 1.21,232 min (Q3) 1.19,695 min (Q1) - 1.537 s
HaasF1 1.21.329 min (Q2) 1.17,676 min (Q3) - 3.653 s
Toro Rosso 1.21.371 min (Q2) 1.18,463 min (Q2) - 2.908 s
Renault 1.21,397 min (Q2) 1.17,790 min (Q3) - 3.607 s
Sauber 1.21,803 min (Q2) 1.18,910 min (Q2) - 2,893 s

Haas and Renault improved more than Mclaren.

Really hope they can maximise the current devolpment push

This tells me that McLaren has gained .4 seconds relative to the fastest cars since last year. A modest improvement, but an improvement none the less. I still think they have the potential to double that gain before the year is up. However this won't be enough to win races, they'll be a little closer to the top but not quite there.

[MMMMMMMM]

Depends on how much of that 0.4 seconds comes from the engine switch vs. how much is due to the chassis improvement.
If you were to believe Renault, then 0.5s is in the pipeline for the remainder of this season in terms of engine development.
If McLaren can find another 0.5s on the chassis side, together with the engine improvement they could halve the gap to the top teams by the end of the season. (obviously Merc & Ferrari will not stay still).

[tinvek]

all that matters for mclaren at the moment is that by the end of the season they are consistently fast than the renaults and are close to red bull, even then their comments last year about having the best car may still cause them some grief on social media if they are not able to beat the red bulls in a straight fight in one of the final races.

[_DM_]

Amus:

F1 time comparison Barcelona

team 2017 vs 2018 Improvement

Mercedes 1.19,149 min (Q3) 1.16.173 min (Q3) - 2.976 s
Ferrari 1.19,200 min (Q3) 1.16,305 min (Q3) - 2,895 s
Red Bull 1.19.706 min (Q3) 1.16.816 min (Q3) - 2,890 s
McLaren 1.21.048 min (Q3) 1.17.721 min (Q3) - 3,327 s
ForcIndia 1.21.070 min (Q3) 1.18,696 min (Q2) - 2.374 s
Williams 1.21,232 min (Q3) 1.19,695 min (Q1) - 1.537 s
HaasF1 1.21.329 min (Q2) 1.17,676 min (Q3) - 3.653 s
Toro Rosso 1.21.371 min (Q2) 1.18,463 min (Q2) - 2.908 s
Renault 1.21,397 min (Q2) 1.17,790 min (Q3) - 3.607 s
Sauber 1.21,803 min (Q2) 1.18,910 min (Q2) - 2,893 s

Haas and Renault improved more than Mclaren.

Really hope they can maximise the current devolpment push

Barcelona has a new faster asphalt this year

[Noetiepoerker26]

Barcelona has a new faster asphalt this year

How does that change the relative performance differences? Everyone has had to cope with the new asphalt layer this year.

[mclaren111]

Barcelona has a new faster asphalt this year

How does that change the relative performance differences? Everyone has had to cope with the new asphalt layer this year.

Correct. Ideally McLaren should have been -4.327 improvement. But it is what it is !!

Let's hope they have a good Monaco GP.

[mwillems]

I guess that if Mclaren were struggling to heat the tyres a little more than other teams, then perhaps the relative difference is a little smaller. But that is more down to the different tyres than the asphalt.