2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[Zynerji]

I rate Lando at Max's level of talent. Maturity, maybe not, but outdriving the car he had and delivering results is a total yes!

If Hamilton retires at the end of 2021, I could see a Lando/George Mercedes pair, and that's WAAY scarier than a Hamilton/Rosberg lineup in my book. And they could have it for 10 years with the ages involved!

[Mclarensenna]

You’re just contradicting yourself. If Ricciardo is able to adapt in a Redbull and Renault straight out of the box, why is he not able to do that here? Does that mean he is outright slower than lando?

I don’t personally think so, atleast not by that margin.

As to your hypothetical lando at Renault scenario, it’s a whole lot of what ifs. Maybe lando would have beat Daniel by the same margins or maybe it’s the opposite. Frankly I don’t care, because it’s not real or relevant.

What’s real is, Carlos is matching the highly rated leclerc in a car which he didn’t give any inputs into. Fernando is beating ocon after being 2 years out of the sport and even the much maligned vettel is beating stroll. While Perez is not matching verstappen yet, he’s not that far off. All of them have not had any inputs into the cars they’re driving now. And this is hurting Mclaren right now.

Honestly, I don’t have any answers to Daniel’s problems. But he better figure it out quickly or his reputation will take a huge hit.

How exactly did i contradict myself??

The Renault according to Hulk never changed from the day he joined and all the handling issues it had where there always for years.
Sainz joined with 4 races to adapt the year before and gave some input/feedback on the following years car.
And still did not adapt enough to beat Hulk. Ric managed to with much less seat time and zero feedback on the 2019 car. Sainz had a HUGE advantage and still did not beat Hulk.
That is a very strong reference point using Hulk as a benchmark.
Saying Ric adapted quicker than Sainz while he had a bigger handicap is logical using Hulk as a reference in a Renault car that never changed for years.

All the other comparisons you mention do not use a strong a reference point.
The Ferrari is a different car to the Renault. Maybe it is the easiest car to drive.
Maybe it is 5 times easier to drive than the Mclaren.
Maybe Sainz being able to test and drive previous years cars at Fiorano have given him a massive advantage over Ric who has never driven any previous Mclaren.
This is a very very poor comparison to make as opposed to comparing Sainz with Hulk and Ric with Hulk with almost an identical difficult car to drive Renault that Hulk confirmed many times had never changed.
Ric adapted better to the Renault than Sainz. You cannot deny that based on all the facts.

Stroll is a very very slow driver compared to Lando. Perez made him look like a backmarker in 2020. Of course Vettel should be beating him. Ric drove vettels car in 3 tests and was always quicker. In the 2013 test at silvesstone Rid did not even fit in the seat and was quicker instantly than Vettel in short and long run pace. Then 2014 was quicker with 3 wins to 0. Ric is a a WAYY better adaptor than Vettel in equal machinary. Ric proved this multiple times. Vettel adapting better than Stroll just means vettel is better than Stroll. No way is he better than Ric in equal cars. Its a fact.
Another very poor comparison you made.

Fernando is beating Ocon yes but so did Ric. And Ric beat Hulk in his first year at Renault. He adapted to the renault so yes not sure what your point is here.
Fernando also drove last years Renault and gave feedback/input on the 2021 design so you are completely wrong here saying all of them did not have input as Alonso definately did.
So Alonso has a big advantage this year compared to Ric so an unfair comparison.

I do believe that comparisons based on: X driver beat driver Y, Y driver later beat Z, therefore driver X is better than driver Z are flawed because not only are the cars continuously evolving, the drivers themselves also have peaks and valleys of performance through their careers.

The MCL35M has the same chassis as the MCL35, but if we go by what Lando says, they are different cars in regards to their handling… Lando actually stated that he had to change how he drives in order to get more from the MCL35M.

The reality is that Daniel is not having a good start to the year, it’s clear that part of it is due the car’s characteristics, but he is a professional driver with almost a decade of experience in F1 that by now should be able to adapt to it… More importantly, what seems to be missing is confidence, not only with the car, but with himself and until the results start coming it will be something that will hinder him and his performance.

The mental aspect of the sport is one that is not easy to manage, while we see with Lando that he has a lot of momentum and self believe (which is helping him put some great performances on track), we can see the other end of the spectrum with Daniel, who is probably questioning everything trying to understand what is going wrong, the more you get in your head, the harder it will be to get those last tenths out of the car.

At the level they race, the “feel” for the car and what it can do is what allows them to get close to the limit… During the last weekend, Daniel made a comment in regards to feeling that he was close to the limit of grip on the car, which clearly isn’t the case since Lando can get a bit more out of it… Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car.

But, he is a great driver and he has the resume to back it up, this is just an off season for him, I’m sure he will turn it around.


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I have to politely disagree that the The MCL35M and the MCL35 are very different. They are slightly different sure.
But the difference to put it into context from a Renault to the Mclaren is say 5 levels of difference as its a completely different car and team also, the difference between last years mclaren and this years would be 1 level of difference same team most things the same. Ric has given many different thoughts on the car throughout the year but he does not like many things on that car. The mirror position even has thrown him off completely due to muscle memory and habit.
Lando also gave input and feedback on its 2021 design. Ric did not.

Look how much difference it made to Ric in 2019 where he drove the Renault and had zero input and feedback.
Ric was all over the place. He had the worst season he ever had mistake wise by far. He made more stupid mistakes than he ever has in 10 years by far. I gave him a 6 out of 10 at best as he did beat Hulk but very inconsistant most of the year. Compare to 2020. What changed? Ric gave feedback and input on the 2020 design. It made a huge huge difference.
Ric had a stellar season 9 out of 10. Always at the maximum, no mistakes, super consistant. Ric at his absolute best.
Not sure how people can overlook these facts and what a huge difference input into a car can give versus no input.

"Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car."
<---- i do not see this happening unfortunately untill next years car where Ric gives some actual input and they can change alot of the things he does not like.
Ric did not click in all of 2019 in the Renault. He slowly got a bit better as the year improved. But he never once clicked until the 2020 Renault came with some of thee changes he wanted on it as im sure Renault did not implement them all.

The Redbull for some reason Ric clicked instantly. 2009 test smashing lap records, 2010 test smashing lap records,
2013 silverstone test instantly faster than Vettel while not even fitting in the seat properly due to his wide hips.
2014 redbull day 1 beat Vettel with 3 wins to 0
Ric instantly clicked with 4 different redbulls. 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014,
INSTANTLY CLICKED
Lets not under estimate that.
Ric in 2 years driving that Torro Rosso never clicked even once if you ask me.
He was going backwards every race burning up tyres. Good on sat but terrible on sundays looking like a very poor racer. Then in the redbull all he did was go forward every race and over taker of the year in 2014,.
INSTANT CLICK.

We saw this also with Russell. Mr saturday but terrible every sunday always going backwards.
Then he jumps into the Merc and instantly without shoes fitting he was late braking going forward overtook bottas twice about to win. Russell went from a sunday driver i rate 4 out of 10 as he always went backwards to 9.5 out of 10 looking like Ham or schumacher. So much confidence.
Rusell clicked instantly in 1 millesecond yet never clicked with the WIlliams like this in 2 years and counting.

What does this tell us?
A difficult, strange car can take years to get the maximum and even then you not fully comfortable even still.
A top racecar like redbull or Merc yoiu can jump in and click instantly from lap 1

So i do not see Ric clicking at all this year and feeling 100% comfortable considering how much he struggling and complaining. Ric is having his worst season by far. He is more off the pace then he has ever been. he just does not like this car at all. He might improve a few tenths by end of the year but i seriously doubt anywhere near enough to close the gap to Lando as the gap is just too big right now.
Next year he will improve after his feedback and input is taken into consideration and we will see Ric improve just as much as he did from 2019 to 2020 in the Renault.


Anyways this is my analysis based on alot of facts and data.
But lets wait and see next year and we can discuss more about this then as time will tell if i am correct.

[the EDGE]

Personally I think RICs closer to mastering the Macca thanks it look

His race pace is far better then his quali pace now, Sunday masked this because of the power failure but otherwise he was doing fine compared to Lando’s pace

The Ferrari’s made his performance look worst, but fact is they had a better race car on the day

Let’s not forget at the start of the season Lando struggled more in quali than the race, but now seems to have improved, I think Danny’s not far behind now either

[the EDGE]

Mercedes PU improvements still to come this season According to Allison

“So there’s some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU, we hope, on the delivery side and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still have an opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes ... 21-f1-car/

[SmallSoldier]

How exactly did i contradict myself??

The Renault according to Hulk never changed from the day he joined and all the handling issues it had where there always for years.
Sainz joined with 4 races to adapt the year before and gave some input/feedback on the following years car.
And still did not adapt enough to beat Hulk. Ric managed to with much less seat time and zero feedback on the 2019 car. Sainz had a HUGE advantage and still did not beat Hulk.
That is a very strong reference point using Hulk as a benchmark.
Saying Ric adapted quicker than Sainz while he had a bigger handicap is logical using Hulk as a reference in a Renault car that never changed for years.

All the other comparisons you mention do not use a strong a reference point.
The Ferrari is a different car to the Renault. Maybe it is the easiest car to drive.
Maybe it is 5 times easier to drive than the Mclaren.
Maybe Sainz being able to test and drive previous years cars at Fiorano have given him a massive advantage over Ric who has never driven any previous Mclaren.
This is a very very poor comparison to make as opposed to comparing Sainz with Hulk and Ric with Hulk with almost an identical difficult car to drive Renault that Hulk confirmed many times had never changed.
Ric adapted better to the Renault than Sainz. You cannot deny that based on all the facts.

Stroll is a very very slow driver compared to Lando. Perez made him look like a backmarker in 2020. Of course Vettel should be beating him. Ric drove vettels car in 3 tests and was always quicker. In the 2013 test at silvesstone Rid did not even fit in the seat and was quicker instantly than Vettel in short and long run pace. Then 2014 was quicker with 3 wins to 0. Ric is a a WAYY better adaptor than Vettel in equal machinary. Ric proved this multiple times. Vettel adapting better than Stroll just means vettel is better than Stroll. No way is he better than Ric in equal cars. Its a fact.
Another very poor comparison you made.

Fernando is beating Ocon yes but so did Ric. And Ric beat Hulk in his first year at Renault. He adapted to the renault so yes not sure what your point is here.
Fernando also drove last years Renault and gave feedback/input on the 2021 design so you are completely wrong here saying all of them did not have input as Alonso definately did.
So Alonso has a big advantage this year compared to Ric so an unfair comparison.

I do believe that comparisons based on: X driver beat driver Y, Y driver later beat Z, therefore driver X is better than driver Z are flawed because not only are the cars continuously evolving, the drivers themselves also have peaks and valleys of performance through their careers.

The MCL35M has the same chassis as the MCL35, but if we go by what Lando says, they are different cars in regards to their handling… Lando actually stated that he had to change how he drives in order to get more from the MCL35M.

The reality is that Daniel is not having a good start to the year, it’s clear that part of it is due the car’s characteristics, but he is a professional driver with almost a decade of experience in F1 that by now should be able to adapt to it… More importantly, what seems to be missing is confidence, not only with the car, but with himself and until the results start coming it will be something that will hinder him and his performance.

The mental aspect of the sport is one that is not easy to manage, while we see with Lando that he has a lot of momentum and self believe (which is helping him put some great performances on track), we can see the other end of the spectrum with Daniel, who is probably questioning everything trying to understand what is going wrong, the more you get in your head, the harder it will be to get those last tenths out of the car.

At the level they race, the “feel” for the car and what it can do is what allows them to get close to the limit… During the last weekend, Daniel made a comment in regards to feeling that he was close to the limit of grip on the car, which clearly isn’t the case since Lando can get a bit more out of it… Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car.

But, he is a great driver and he has the resume to back it up, this is just an off season for him, I’m sure he will turn it around.


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I have to politely disagree that the The MCL35M and the MCL35 are very different. They are slightly different sure.
But the difference to put it into context from a Renault to the Mclaren is say 5 levels of difference as its a completely different car and team also, the difference between last years mclaren and this years would be 1 level of difference same team most things the same. Ric has given many different thoughts on the car throughout the year but he does not like many things on that car. The mirror position even has thrown him off completely due to muscle memory and habit.
Lando also gave input and feedback on its 2021 design. Ric did not.

Look how much difference it made to Ric in 2019 where he drove the Renault and had zero input and feedback.
Ric was all over the place. He had the worst season he ever had mistake wise by far. He made more stupid mistakes than he ever has in 10 years by far. I gave him a 6 out of 10 at best as he did beat Hulk but very inconsistant most of the year. Compare to 2020. What changed? Ric gave feedback and input on the 2020 design. It made a huge huge difference.
Ric had a stellar season 9 out of 10. Always at the maximum, no mistakes, super consistant. Ric at his absolute best.
Not sure how people can overlook these facts and what a huge difference input into a car can give versus no input.

"Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car."
<---- i do not see this happening unfortunately untill next years car where Ric gives some actual input and they can change alot of the things he does not like.
Ric did not click in all of 2019 in the Renault. He slowly got a bit better as the year improved. But he never once clicked until the 2020 Renault came with some of thee changes he wanted on it as im sure Renault did not implement them all.

The Redbull for some reason Ric clicked instantly. 2009 test smashing lap records, 2010 test smashing lap records,
2013 silverstone test instantly faster than Vettel while not even fitting in the seat properly due to his wide hips.
2014 redbull day 1 beat Vettel with 3 wins to 0
Ric instantly clicked with 4 different redbulls. 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014,
INSTANTLY CLICKED
Lets not under estimate that.
Ric in 2 years driving that Torro Rosso never clicked even once if you ask me.
He was going backwards every race burning up tyres. Good on sat but terrible on sundays looking like a very poor racer. Then in the redbull all he did was go forward every race and over taker of the year in 2014,.
INSTANT CLICK.

We saw this also with Russell. Mr saturday but terrible every sunday always going backwards.
Then he jumps into the Merc and instantly without shoes fitting he was late braking going forward overtook bottas twice about to win. Russell went from a sunday driver i rate 4 out of 10 as he always went backwards to 9.5 out of 10 looking like Ham or schumacher. So much confidence.
Rusell clicked instantly in 1 millesecond yet never clicked with the WIlliams like this in 2 years and counting.

What does this tell us?
A difficult, strange car can take years to get the maximum and even then you not fully comfortable even still.
A top racecar like redbull or Merc yoiu can jump in and click instantly from lap 1

So i do not see Ric clicking at all this year and feeling 100% comfortable considering how much he struggling and complaining. Ric is having his worst season by far. He is more off the pace then he has ever been. he just does not like this car at all. He might improve a few tenths by end of the year but i seriously doubt anywhere near enough to close the gap to Lando as the gap is just too big right now.
Next year he will improve after his feedback and input is taken into consideration and we will see Ric improve just as much as he did from 2019 to 2020 in the Renault.


Anyways this is my analysis based on alot of facts and data.
But lets wait and see next year and we can discuss more about this then as time will tell if i am correct.

We can always disagree! You make some very valid points… As you well said, we will see.

I’m hoping you are wrong, since we do need Daniel closer to Lando to give Ferrari a good fight, there will be days / tracks where Lando may underperform and in those days your team mate been there and in form is critical.

Let’s revisit later in the season


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[SmallSoldier]

Mercedes PU improvements still to come this season According to Allison

“So there’s some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU, we hope, on the delivery side and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still have an opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes ... 21-f1-car/

Those are good news! A bit of more power / deployment is always welcomed.


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[the EDGE]

Mercedes PU improvements still to come this season According to Allison

“So there’s some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU, we hope, on the delivery side and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still have an opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes ... 21-f1-car/

Those are good news! A bit of more power / deployment is always welcomed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I assume McLaren suffer the same de-rates as Merc so this will help, but I doubt a game changer

McLaren also said that although they are hard at work on next years car they would continue to develop the 35m as long as a clear path to worthwhile gains was evident, but wouldn’t be chasing anything negligible

Key also spoke of developments to come to the floor when the last spec was introduced, I hope they are seeing this trough as I’m sure the gains are there

Something I was wondering about was what Lando said on Sunday about rear tyre deg being the difference between them and the big 2 teams

It strikes me they also have better straight line speed than the big 2, would running more rear wing not give them better tyre life at the expense of top speed?

[mwillems]

Mercedes PU improvements still to come this season According to Allison




https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes ... 21-f1-car/

Those are good news! A bit of more power / deployment is always welcomed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I assume McLaren suffer the same de-rates as Merc so this will help, but I doubt a game changer

McLaren also said that although they are hard at work on next years car they would continue to develop the 35m as long as a clear path to worthwhile gains was evident, but wouldn’t be chasing anything negligible

Key also spoke of developments to come to the floor when the last spec was introduced, I hope they are seeing this trough as I’m sure the gains are there

Something I was wondering about was what Lando said on Sunday about rear tyre deg being the difference between them and the big 2 teams

It strikes me they also have better straight line speed than the big 2, would running more rear wing not give them better tyre life at the expense of top speed?

That is typically what RB and Merc have done. Merc were never a team to chase speed traps, but I think that this choice becomes more viable when you aerodynamic efficiency improves.

The most efficient downforce at the rear is obviously from the floor, as you will know, and in turn Mclaren have a disadvantage this year, in that they were not able to repackage the engine in the optimal way which means the car is a little more draggy, and that there won't be as much airflow to the back of the car to help energise the diffuser.

You'd have to think that if they had been able to optimally package that car, they would be several tenths faster, which means they would be close to the top 3. Both through a less draggy form and because more air passing over the diffuser will suck the air out and increase downforce.

Of course, the rears still need to get into the optimal operating window for temps. Sometimes too much grip can prevent this, and counter intuitively, reduce life. I'd hate to be a formula 1 designer, it's life on a knife edge.

[SmallSoldier]

Mercedes PU improvements still to come this season According to Allison

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes ... 21-f1-car/

Those are good news! A bit of more power / deployment is always welcomed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I assume McLaren suffer the same de-rates as Merc so this will help, but I doubt a game changer

McLaren also said that although they are hard at work on next years car they would continue to develop the 35m as long as a clear path to worthwhile gains was evident, but wouldn’t be chasing anything negligible

Key also spoke of developments to come to the floor when the last spec was introduced, I hope they are seeing this trough as I’m sure the gains are there

Something I was wondering about was what Lando said on Sunday about rear tyre deg being the difference between them and the big 2 teams

It strikes me they also have better straight line speed than the big 2, would running more rear wing not give them better tyre life at the expense of top speed?

Tire degradation seems to be definitely a differentiator in race pace… During the last race, Lando did a good job of keeping Perez behind for the first 8 laps, at which point they decided that it was better to let them go and not damage the tires… If they would have similar deg, then he could have potentially kept them behind for longer.

That degradation is definitely a lack of efficient downforce compared to the top teams, probably not a matter of using an smaller wing, but with the same wing the tires would last longer.


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[SmallSoldier]

Those are good news! A bit of more power / deployment is always welcomed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I assume McLaren suffer the same de-rates as Merc so this will help, but I doubt a game changer

McLaren also said that although they are hard at work on next years car they would continue to develop the 35m as long as a clear path to worthwhile gains was evident, but wouldn’t be chasing anything negligible

Key also spoke of developments to come to the floor when the last spec was introduced, I hope they are seeing this trough as I’m sure the gains are there

Something I was wondering about was what Lando said on Sunday about rear tyre deg being the difference between them and the big 2 teams

It strikes me they also have better straight line speed than the big 2, would running more rear wing not give them better tyre life at the expense of top speed?

That is typically what RB and Merc have done. Merc were never a team to chase speed traps, but I think that this choice becomes more viable when you aerodynamic efficiency improves.

The most efficient downforce at the rear is obviously from the floor, as you will know, and in turn Mclaren have a disadvantage this year, in that they were not able to repackage the engine in the optimal way which means the car is a little more draggy, and that there won't be as much airflow to the back of the car to help energise the diffuser.

You'd have to think that if they had been able to optimally package that car, they would be several tenths faster, which means they would be close to the top 3. Both through a less draggy form and because more air passing over the diffuser will suck the air out and increase downforce.

Of course, the rears still need to get into the optimal operating window for temps. Sometimes too much grip can prevent this, and counter intuitively, reduce life. I'd hate to be a formula 1 designer, it's life on a knife edge.

I’m sure they were compromises made to get the Merc PU installed in the MCL35M… I’m not that sure if it would be worth several tenths.

Looking at the MCL35M, it is definitely more compact (slimmer) than the MCL35… I have no way of knowing better, but I do believe that the difference in downforce isn’t just related to how much more compact the rear end could have been, but it’s elsewhere… With the biggest factor probably in the front and middle of the car (bargeboard area) where both Red Bull and Mercedes seemed to have a more developed concept (interesting to note that for example, both Red Bull and Mercedes use a different concept of front wing compared to the rest of the field)… There are also some developments in which the team seems to be a bit behind, like the winglets added a top the cockpit behind the front suspension (a solution that was first introduced by Red Bull a couple of seasons ago and that most of the grid adopted last season, with the exception of Mclaren), the “Venetian blinds” on the side deflectors (also introduced several season ago by Haas and adopted rather quickly by the likes of Red Bull)… Even the Z-Shape cut on the floors was a late introduction compared to the rest of the field.

Mclaren may have one of the slimmest bodywork at the rear of the car this season, so the engine integration doesn’t seem to have been way off… Gains from more freedom? Absolutely… How much they are worth? No clue… But in my opinion it isn’t where the car handicap resides… The team also seems to be a bit behind in regards to their suspension kinematics, reason why the likes of Ferrari, RBR, Merc are generally faster in the slow corners, where Downforce isn’t that big of a factor.


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[Emag]

From this whole ordeal we at least learned something very pleasant. We learned that both Carlos and Lando are extremely good drivers. I am sure that after 2019 there were probably a lot of people who were doubting this lineup, but now they both had the chance to prove themselves and they both have absolutely exceled at it.

Carlos with his consistency and racecraft has managed to be a match for Leclerc, the guy who made Vettel look like a rookie. And that's taking into consideration the fact that he has had to adapt to a new car / environment.

And Lando has just taken it to the next level. Single-handedly carrying the team to third, outperforming every single other midfield driver, and driving with pure consistency at the moment. Plus, he has been driving circles round Daniel, and I am pretty sure everyone expected the opposite this year.

The current situation is obviously making me miss Carlos way more than I thought I would. But honestly, it makes me happy when I see our boys doing well, no matter for which team.

[McG]

From this whole ordeal we at least learned something very pleasant. We learned that both Carlos and Lando are extremely good drivers. I am sure that after 2019 there were probably a lot of people who were doubting this lineup, but now they both had the chance to prove themselves and they both have absolutely exceled at it.

Carlos with his consistency and racecraft has managed to be a match for Leclerc, the guy who made Vettel look like a rookie. And that's taking into consideration the fact that he has had to adapt to a new car / environment.

And Lando has just taken it to the next level. Single-handedly carrying the team to third, outperforming every single other midfield driver, and driving with pure consistency at the moment. Plus, he has been driving circles round Daniel, and I am pretty sure everyone expected the opposite this year.

The current situation is obviously making me miss Carlos way more than I thought I would. But honestly, it makes me happy when I see our boys doing well, no matter for which team.

McLaren are 12 points ahead of Ferrari. Daniel has scored 34 points. Without those 34 points McLaren would be behind Ferrari, let's not be silly now.

[Mclarensenna]

I do believe that comparisons based on: X driver beat driver Y, Y driver later beat Z, therefore driver X is better than driver Z are flawed because not only are the cars continuously evolving, the drivers themselves also have peaks and valleys of performance through their careers.

The MCL35M has the same chassis as the MCL35, but if we go by what Lando says, they are different cars in regards to their handling… Lando actually stated that he had to change how he drives in order to get more from the MCL35M.

The reality is that Daniel is not having a good start to the year, it’s clear that part of it is due the car’s characteristics, but he is a professional driver with almost a decade of experience in F1 that by now should be able to adapt to it… More importantly, what seems to be missing is confidence, not only with the car, but with himself and until the results start coming it will be something that will hinder him and his performance.

The mental aspect of the sport is one that is not easy to manage, while we see with Lando that he has a lot of momentum and self believe (which is helping him put some great performances on track), we can see the other end of the spectrum with Daniel, who is probably questioning everything trying to understand what is going wrong, the more you get in your head, the harder it will be to get those last tenths out of the car.

At the level they race, the “feel” for the car and what it can do is what allows them to get close to the limit… During the last weekend, Daniel made a comment in regards to feeling that he was close to the limit of grip on the car, which clearly isn’t the case since Lando can get a bit more out of it… Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car.

But, he is a great driver and he has the resume to back it up, this is just an off season for him, I’m sure he will turn it around.


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I have to politely disagree that the The MCL35M and the MCL35 are very different. They are slightly different sure.
But the difference to put it into context from a Renault to the Mclaren is say 5 levels of difference as its a completely different car and team also, the difference between last years mclaren and this years would be 1 level of difference same team most things the same. Ric has given many different thoughts on the car throughout the year but he does not like many things on that car. The mirror position even has thrown him off completely due to muscle memory and habit.
Lando also gave input and feedback on its 2021 design. Ric did not.

Look how much difference it made to Ric in 2019 where he drove the Renault and had zero input and feedback.
Ric was all over the place. He had the worst season he ever had mistake wise by far. He made more stupid mistakes than he ever has in 10 years by far. I gave him a 6 out of 10 at best as he did beat Hulk but very inconsistant most of the year. Compare to 2020. What changed? Ric gave feedback and input on the 2020 design. It made a huge huge difference.
Ric had a stellar season 9 out of 10. Always at the maximum, no mistakes, super consistant. Ric at his absolute best.
Not sure how people can overlook these facts and what a huge difference input into a car can give versus no input.

"Hopefully one of these weekends something will “click” for Daniel and he will be out of nowhere up to speed with the car."
<---- i do not see this happening unfortunately untill next years car where Ric gives some actual input and they can change alot of the things he does not like.
Ric did not click in all of 2019 in the Renault. He slowly got a bit better as the year improved. But he never once clicked until the 2020 Renault came with some of thee changes he wanted on it as im sure Renault did not implement them all.

The Redbull for some reason Ric clicked instantly. 2009 test smashing lap records, 2010 test smashing lap records,
2013 silverstone test instantly faster than Vettel while not even fitting in the seat properly due to his wide hips.
2014 redbull day 1 beat Vettel with 3 wins to 0
Ric instantly clicked with 4 different redbulls. 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014,
INSTANTLY CLICKED
Lets not under estimate that.
Ric in 2 years driving that Torro Rosso never clicked even once if you ask me.
He was going backwards every race burning up tyres. Good on sat but terrible on sundays looking like a very poor racer. Then in the redbull all he did was go forward every race and over taker of the year in 2014,.
INSTANT CLICK.

We saw this also with Russell. Mr saturday but terrible every sunday always going backwards.
Then he jumps into the Merc and instantly without shoes fitting he was late braking going forward overtook bottas twice about to win. Russell went from a sunday driver i rate 4 out of 10 as he always went backwards to 9.5 out of 10 looking like Ham or schumacher. So much confidence.
Rusell clicked instantly in 1 millesecond yet never clicked with the WIlliams like this in 2 years and counting.

What does this tell us?
A difficult, strange car can take years to get the maximum and even then you not fully comfortable even still.
A top racecar like redbull or Merc yoiu can jump in and click instantly from lap 1

So i do not see Ric clicking at all this year and feeling 100% comfortable considering how much he struggling and complaining. Ric is having his worst season by far. He is more off the pace then he has ever been. he just does not like this car at all. He might improve a few tenths by end of the year but i seriously doubt anywhere near enough to close the gap to Lando as the gap is just too big right now.
Next year he will improve after his feedback and input is taken into consideration and we will see Ric improve just as much as he did from 2019 to 2020 in the Renault.


Anyways this is my analysis based on alot of facts and data.
But lets wait and see next year and we can discuss more about this then as time will tell if i am correct.

We can always disagree! You make some very valid points… As you well said, we will see.

I’m hoping you are wrong, since we do need Daniel closer to Lando to give Ferrari a good fight, there will be days / tracks where Lando may underperform and in those days your team mate been there and in form is critical.

Let’s revisit later in the season


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Let's revisit sure later in the season sure. With limited updates going forward due to budget cap and focus on next year i see Ric improving but not enough to see Ric fully comfortable. Next year i am very hopeful. But yes i agree i do hope i am wrong also about Ric this year!

[runningmanz]

Yep Ricciardo is getting alot of unfair greif from a few uninformed people.

Its true his qualli was lacklustre after a great FP2 and a bit of a mystery (which apparently they said they have found some answers for last Saturday night). In the first phase Vettel couldn't pass Sainz, Alonso couldn't pass Stroll, Sainz couldn't even get past Tsunoda in the same period Dan was stuck behind Kimi. Carlos had a better tyre differential too with Yuki's soft tyres basically at the end of life and the Ferrari was better through the corners than the AT. After Carlos pitted he was basically in clean air for the rest of the race. Leclerc couldn't get past Dan either in that first phase of the race even when Dan's tyres were basically shot and where he didn't have DRS on Kimi on laps 36-37 either.

Dan on worse tyres than Yuki was able to take him out of turn 6 early in the race. if you look at the live timing Leclerc passed every car in the second phase without them having DRS in front and his tyre differential was huge being on fresh mediums vs old hards. Its a big difference in closing speeds when one car only has DRS and with a much greater tyre differential. Dan never had that advantage on Kimi or when he was stuck in the DRS trains, not to mention him being left out too long on the mediums before the first pit stop. He was also possibly suffering from temperature issues behind Kimi as the team had warned him to move out of the slipstream to cool the car.

"He solved the problem with switch changes after the team told him to go to “white default zero one” and later “white default eight zero,” as well as suggesting that he stay out of Raikkonen’s slipstream in order to cool the car."

https://www.motorspo...glitch/6617881/

His opening laps in Austria showed he has the ability to pass on a track that seemingly doesn't suit him at the moment when he is not nursing the car and/or stuck in DRS trains. Predictions of him costing McLaren 3rd in the WCC are way premature. If not for that PU issue on Dans car McLaren would most likely be around 20 pts ahead of Ferrari in the WCC instead of 12 and we would be praising Dan, Lando and the team for 2 good previous race weekends. Thats not a sign of 'no progress' at all, far from it.

[runningmanz]

No new updates to the car after Hungary

"According to McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl, the team will continue to make improvements to the MCL35M until the Hungarian Grand Prix. "After that, there will be no more updates this season, so we can focus one hundred percent of our development time on the 2022 car," he said. In Austria, Britain and Hungary we will have just a few more new parts before running the last races of the season without updates."

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/87907/mc ... ugust.html