2025 McLaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

Horner, talking of Mclarens "strange" ability.

"I think it's different to every body, yes. And what's quite strange is that they enjoy great warm-up, but also, [a] very low degradation. Usually one comes at the expense of the other, so they've certainly, at this circuit, seem to have mastered that," he concluded.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/332903/h ... range.html

[mwillems]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-nor ... qualifying

Lando says the gap to the other drivers in Q was only in small part down to the car, but was largely down to the skills of Lando and Oscar and that others should look in the mirror and not at the 39.

Ouch.

Also says they will be very strong in China, because they are always stronger in China, and that at Bahrain he isn't confident of a win.

I don't really like what he said, but whatever, it's not the first time Lando says random stuff on live interviews.

Unless they (the team) actually believes the margins will be tight. The only way for Lando not to look bad for what he said, is if they're really not in contention for the win at Bahrain.

You have to think he might be overplaying himself. But he's talking like a cocky F1 driver who believes in himself so I have no complaints.

[CjC]

Horner, talking of Mclarens "strange" ability.

"I think it's different to every body, yes. And what's quite strange is that they enjoy great warm-up, but also, [a] very low degradation. Usually one comes at the expense of the other, so they've certainly, at this circuit, seem to have mastered that," he concluded.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/332903/h ... range.html

I bet he wishes the cost cap era was never introduced so he can enjoy an advantage over the majority of the field before a wheel is even turned in testing.

[f1rules]

Lol, are you serious. It will be a very difficult thing. As you cant see what is going on. Horner is already mentioning now that it looks strange, what mclaren can do. Russell commented also on this. So the others first need to find out what it is exactly mclaren is doing, cause they all use the brake heat to aid the tires. Mclaren just somehow manage to get heat fast and then stay in optimum range

The Mclaren's dominant pace advantage appears to be stemming from their ability to keep the tires alive for almost eternity. That cake tin aero cooling appears to be doing a lot of the magic. Having tires in great condition allows the drivers to push the car harder on all kinds of corners and the tire pressure doesn't balloon up either, providing consistent high grip. As it's a relatively easy trick to copy, we might see that appearing up and down the grid in a few races' time. If that indeed is a major boost, then McLaren may not keep the advantage for long. That's just a hunch.

[f1rules]

Lets see if the other teams are not, even more vocal about this, keeping the tires alive, after the next race. Cause next up is the neverending first corner that put huge stress on the tires, and with mclarens strong frontend, i cant wait to see what the car can do

The Shanghai International Circuit is known for its elongated, long-radius medium speed corners that usually put high energy through the tyres. These characteristics often lead to high degradation on the front tyres, and it is not rare that drivers have to manage graining on the fronts. The front-limited nature of the track means that a car that can look after the front tyre can gain a significant advantage.

[f1rules]

Also some points.
> Merc adopted a much higher cooling option, more gills, in australia. McL didnt change a thing. They dont even seem marginal on cooling at all in their default cooling setup.
> McL running a small beamwing compared to others, which ran barndoors in comparison, except RB.
> Mcl was the first car to have a shakedown well before others, and they are basicly running last years fw, which is very mclaren'ish in their approach. Following them for years and years, ill imagine the next step will be an updtaed fw, and then later a new floor. They tend to start at the front and move backwards.
> Wache saying McL's front suspension had some risks, regarding the mech aspect. Yet the McL newer seemed to have better frontend and slow speed corner handling then now, and almost perfect at keeping the tires in optimum working range.
This car is just insane on so many levels