2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[Ground Effect]

Things look positive, no doubt, but I’m eager to see the car on a front limited track, to find out if it’s an all rounder.

[trinidefender]

james key is their real asset. the guy has always managed to drive the team in producing cars that punch above the weight. be it at force india, sauber or toro rosso. it appears that their team structure is settled and working well under andreas. they now have a genuinely top race driver in ricciardo.
they need to massively improve in on track operations, strategy and pit stop management. if they need to snatch podiums from red bull and mercedes, they need to be absolutley top notch in racing operations. their strategist(s) need to be on their toes all the time to steal opportunities, induce strategic errors on merc and rb and make things happen, rather than wait for the races to come to them.
they definitely have a good car and two really good drivers and now it's time to secure the third place and go for the kill for the second spot. hoping to see them rise after a really dark and long night that has lasted years.

In 2020 they were one of the stronger teams in terms of strategy and while not the fastest in terms of pitstop speed they didn't make too many mistakes either.

It may have seemed like they weren't aggressive enough in terms of strategy but remember, strategy is risk management. If they had taken bigger risks then it might have payed off in some races but hurt them in others. I got the impression that they did very well on the strategy that maximised their points over the course of the season without too many bad races. Consistency wins championships, not flashes of brilliance followed by disaster.

Just look at Ferrari's strategy calls over the last few years as an example. Sometimes they made brilliant calls but it seemed too often that the risky calls fell flat on their face.

[mwillems]

james key is their real asset. the guy has always managed to drive the team in producing cars that punch above the weight. be it at force india, sauber or toro rosso. it appears that their team structure is settled and working well under andreas. they now have a genuinely top race driver in ricciardo.
they need to massively improve in on track operations, strategy and pit stop management. if they need to snatch podiums from red bull and mercedes, they need to be absolutley top notch in racing operations. their strategist(s) need to be on their toes all the time to steal opportunities, induce strategic errors on merc and rb and make things happen, rather than wait for the races to come to them.
they definitely have a good car and two really good drivers and now it's time to secure the third place and go for the kill for the second spot. hoping to see them rise after a really dark and long night that has lasted years.

I think that Zak Brown is their real asset. He has made Mclaren look appealing as a place to ply your F1 trade, got in the right people, brought in the funding, put together the right structure and brought us through our darkest time and done it with a smile, a warmth for the fans and the team and barely a mis step along the way.

He's not Ron Denis, but he doesn't need to be. He has his own style and it works well for the team.

[mwillems]

Things look positive, no doubt, but I’m eager to see the car on a front limited track, to find out if it’s an all rounder.

Yes I agree. It looks great (so far) on a rear limited track like Bahrain, but could be like driving a bath in sector 3 in Spain.

It is in the back of the mind that we are testing a car whose most distinctive feature is something designed to give it more rear downforce, whilst testing on a track where rear traction for corner exits is more important.

But even if we get dragged into a big dogfight, it is nice to think that on some tracks, the car might be a bit of a beast, unless we are eventually copied.

[Lucky]

[_cerber1]

I didn't understand the last tweet. It seems that Toto made a slip.

[Herr_Koos]

I didn't understand the last tweet. It seems that Toto made a slip.

He's not saying McLaren is a Honda powered team, if that's what you were thinking. He's saying he was impressed by both McLaren and the Honda powered teams, i.e. Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.

[CjC]

Not sure about Toto’s comments, he has a history to be politically complimentary about other teams and also it’s human nature when you are on the back foot you think that everyone looks good

[mwillems]

He does. If you listen to him at the start of every season, you'd think it is a close run thing and Merc are going to have to fight hard to win.

It makes sense, for the sport to suggest there will be competition, it makes sense for his team to downplay expectations so that they can exceed them.
Sadly, I doubt we will be much of a threat to Merc and if we are able to get close, I'd imagine it will last for one or two races at best.

We should get some pictures this week of the race spec car, I'm looking forward to see what has arrived in anticipation of the first race.

[Lucky]

[Zynerji]

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/13 ... 65159?s=19

I'm not sure how I feel about this. That young man might benefit immensely, but his childhood is now over, and corporate money sponsorship is his new parent.

[Wouter]

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/13 ... 65159?s=19

I'm not sure how I feel about this. That young man might benefit immensely, but his childhood is now over, and corporate money sponsorship is his new parent.

[Macklaren]

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/13 ... 65159?s=19

I'm not sure how I feel about this. That young man might benefit immensely, but his childhood is now over, and corporate money sponsorship is his new parent.

That's a legitimate concern but I think clearly a net positive for him. It is important for his parents to remain very involved in his life to make sure there is balance.

For the team, this is a pretty exciting development because Zak and Andreas made very clear last year that they will only hire young talent if they are truly exceptional and not just to build a pipeline of drivers.

[Zynerji]

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/13 ... 65159?s=19

I'm not sure how I feel about this. That young man might benefit immensely, but his childhood is now over, and corporate money sponsorship is his new parent.

And he constantly moans about being "oppressed".

Maybe its because he sold his soul for money and opportunity, and only got dollar bills in return.

[proteus]

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/13 ... 65159?s=19

I'm not sure how I feel about this. That young man might benefit immensely, but his childhood is now over, and corporate money sponsorship is his new parent.

I am more baffled how is this breaking news? I dont know anything about him, is he one of the best in the generation, or is this just a PR stunt for equality? Personally i wish him all the best, i just dont understand what is all the fuzz about.