2025 McLaren F1 Team

[f1rules]

Toto qouted after the race, they seem to think its purely mechanical and not aero

“We’re not missing 20 points in downforce. That's not the thing. It's just literally on the mechanical side, what can we do to keep them in the sweet spot?

[f1rules]

the simple solution, but that will offcourse be illegal, but somehow i think they made something that do similar somehow, they meassure temp somewhere inside, they set baseline value +/- some degress, surpass that and a valve will either release more hotair by openeing up or close a bit to keep more heat inside

I was thinking a few years ago whether the regs allow you to open and close the cooling through the brake ducts, to allow for quicker tyre heat up, perhaps something like this is happening.

[mwillems]

Toto qouted after the race, they seem to think its purely mechanical and not aero

“We’re not missing 20 points in downforce. That's not the thing. It's just literally on the mechanical side, what can we do to keep them in the sweet spot?

Do you have a link to that? It's nice to have it confirmed.

Edit: I found it, but it's the only useful quote in the post unfortunately.

https://racingnews365.com/wolff-makes-r ... en-f1-pace

[mwillems]

Further tests to be applied to rear wings from China.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/fia-set-t ... grand-prix

All cars at Australia were legal due to passing the tests, but the tests are being tightened at short notice.

"More specifically, Article 3.15.17, introduced in 2025, states that if 75Kg of vertical load is applied on either extremity of the rear wing mainplane, the distance between the mainplane and the flap (also known as “slot gap”) must not vary by more than 2mm.

From the forthcoming Grand Prix in Shanghai, this limit will be reduced to 0.5mm. Due to the short notice for Shanghai only a tolerance of 0.25mm will be added to this new limit.

The Teams were informed of this revised test early Monday 17th of March."

[the EDGE]

So, the FIA allowed a flex of 2mm when 75kg was applied, but don’t these wings have like 750kg loads at top speed?

Doesnt the laws of physics say a flex of 2mm at 75kg will become 20mm at 750kg?

Isn’t 20mm all we are seeing these wings move by? So they do exactly what the FIA planned for them to do, then the FIA complain about that?

[trinidefender]

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.

I think people are misinterpreting Lando’s comment. He isn’t saying him and Piastri are gods. He’s simply saying that, like both of their first Q3 laps, other drivers made mistakes in their last laps so didn’t extract the full potential out of their cars like Lando and Piastri did when it came down to it. Sometimes that’s how things go.

He’s saying if other drivers hadn’t made as many mistakes then they would have set times closer to Lando and Piastri.

I don’t think there’s anything cocky about that, but I have noticed the way Lando talks doesn’t tend to lend itself well to written media, it can come across as very blunt, harsh or cocky. It was a similar situation before when a journalist asked him if he felt bad about Daniel Ricciardo underperforming. Lando simply said no because it’s each drivers job to perform well but the media took that statement and blew it out of proportion.

[trinidefender]

Toto qouted after the race, they seem to think its purely mechanical and not aero

“We’re not missing 20 points in downforce. That's not the thing. It's just literally on the mechanical side, what can we do to keep them in the sweet spot?

Something tells me it isn’t only mechanical but also aero.

My hypothesis is that the McLarens’ great front end isn’t a result of an increase in total front downforce but less front downforce loss under yaw. Every car will suffer from yaw induced downforce loss but the car that suffers from it the least will allow a front end to turn with the least tyre wear (lowest slip angles I believe).