McLaren F1: Team Thread

more paint removed then?

 

What’s that in ref to Bando? (I’m probably being a bit thick!!)

 

I think most teams are overweight. One thing that is easy to reduce weight is by using less paint!!! It might only be a few grams but every gram helps.
Plus it actually saves money well a few p!!!

 

cheers Ched!

Yes weight it massive- apparantly Alpine dropped 4kg this week and they looked nippy today!

 

Looks like McLaren have had a rear brake fix that has helped - not sure if it’s helped them in tyre window and that explains Bahrain or whether or not track characteristics were the key driver of improvement.


Anyway- I believe that McLaren are saving any significant upgrade for Barcelona due to Imola and Miami not being the best “test bed” circuits especially with Imola sprint race.

Some chit chat suggests more the floor and weight shedding as opposed to new sidepod but let’s see.

 

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-now-has-clear-plan-to-improve-its-2022-f1-car/

McLaren claims it now has a “clear plan” to improve its 2022 Formula 1 car after a difficult start to the season where it has slipped behind many of its midfield rivals.

The team battled “crispy” overheating brake problems during the second pre-season test, limited its mileage and hampering its early development work.

That translated into a miserable first two races of the year, with Lando Norris’ slightly fortuitous seventh place in Jeddah being the team’s only points.

McLaren performed better in Melbourne with both its cars reaching Q3, a qualifying result that was turned into a fifth and sixth place finish.


A points haul of 18 comfortably marked an improvement but Norris estimated 80% of that improvement was down to the track, with his team boss Andrea Seidl agreeing that layout played the biggest role, while “a small upgrade” that worked also helped the team’s cause.

Although light on specifics, Seidl also claimed the team has a “clear plan” to bring more performance to the MCL35.

“It was obviously important after realising that we are lacking performance, to analyse and do the studies to work out how we can improve performance as quickly as possible,” Seidl said when asked by The Race when McLaren expects to see fruits of its efforts to improve performance.


“I’m very happy saying that we have a clear plan in place now of what we need to do with the car in terms of making steps in terms of performance.

“This will take a bit of time. So we need to be patient despite all the ambition. But the most important thing is we have a clear plan that we execute now.


“In terms of when this is happening exactly, I don’t want to go too much into detail.

“There are different parameters you have to manage when you do that, there’s the cost cap, which you need to consider, there is the limited windtunnel time also that you have nowadays, which you need to consider.

“That’s why you need to package it a bit as well as what you’re doing.”

When asked by The Race if that analysis of its weaknesses was complete, Seidl replied that’s “it’s an ongoing process” but the team does have a clear idea of what they are.

Low-speed corners are where McLaren is particularly weak according to Seidl.


“If you look at the overlays from Bahrain we were missing grip and performance,” he commented in Australia.

“You can also see here on the overlays that’s where we are the weakest compared to the top cars.”


Norris doesn’t believe the team has taken a huge step with the car, believing its own performance level hasn’t really changed from the season-opening weekend.

“It’s been a tough start, there are good things with the car. It’s not all bad, there are some weak points, which are very weak and we really have to work on them,” Norris said last Sunday.

“But the strong points, like here things looked more positive.

“When you don’t have any points, it feels empty and like you’ve missed out. When you get points, it’s a lot more rewarding for myself, and also for the team.

“Bahrain was very tough, and I guess that set our expectations very low. Coming to some tracks that have suited us more and more, we’ve been able to fight for higher and higher places.


“We’ve made some small steps of progress, but a lot of it is just the circuit. The car is pretty much exactly the same as what it was in Bahrain, which is the problem.

“If we went back to Bahrain, we’d still struggle a lot so we have to work on these areas still, and if we want to be here a lot more often through this season, we still have a lot of work to do.”

Norris believes the next race at Imola – where he would have qualified third last year had he not exceeded the track limits – might not suit the McLaren quite as well the revised Albert Park venue did.


“Bit more unsure, maybe not as positive or hopeful as I have been this weekend or going into Saudi,” Norris said when asked about his prospects for Imola.

“But you never know, I think we can find something for the car and bring some small steps. We’ll see when we get there.”

His team-mate Ricciardo said he didn’t expect a result like McLaren secured in Australia to come so soon after a bruising Bahrain opener three weeks earlier.

On the team’s prospects for Imola, the eight-time grand prix winner said: “I think we should be OK, it’s another fast-flowing track, it seems to suit our car a bit better for now. Hopefully, that’s one where we can show good pace again.”

 

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AUS

IMOLA


Can’t spot any obvious differences for this weekend- anyone else?

 

high downforce innit. like aussie.

I have a good feeling for mclaren this weekend

 

Ched- you had mentioned finances yesterday and this looks a pretty significant deal I think!

I don’t see Audi taking over McLaren and at most an engine supply deal perhaps.

 

It does seem like McL have some decent new sponsors like Google and now a crypto currency exchange! So I guess that helps the bank balance.

I do wonder about Alfa as they are just the sponsor of Sauber and that's up for renewal in July. So it could be a battle of who throws more money towards Sauber?
Haas seem to be suggesting they have loads of potential sponsors interested now there are more US races - but that could be a bit of smoke and mirrors to boost their value to get more money from Audi? On the one hand I would like it if Haas was bought by Audi but only if Gunter stays!!! I don't really think they have managed to really become a US racing team - still no US driver!

Interest in F1 from big companies seems to be picking up so Liberty will be very happy that all their hard work is starting to pay off.

 

Zak came on as a hotshot in bringing in big sponsors and is proving his worth.

 

Not sure if new, but a couple of alternate FW configs for McLaren

 

That looks like a lot more metal than previous? I wonder if they are saving paint on the titanium or just using titanium instead of carbon where the wing joins the nose?

 

The pic that stood out for me is the rear- it looked different around the bottom of rear wing/top of diffuser area? It might just be I never clocked the detail before though.

 

Have the mclaren team copied the red bull with the twin wall outer floor barge board wannabe??

I see a smaller but very much similar set yp to rebuild there. That could be significant

 

Is this a threat for Daniel? Looks like it could be.
F1 a 'a serious ambition of mine' says IndyCar driver Colton Herta ahead of McLaren test seat-fit | Formula 1®

 

McLaren are taking over Mercedes Formula E operation.

is that a little pointer to change in F1 down the line? I.e McLaren to become the default works Merc team again?

Not just yet, but in time perhaps?

 

McLaren have confirmed there will be upgrades in Barcelona but not much in the way of what they are. That said, it sounds like a few:

“While there aren’t any changes to the circuit this year, there will be a few from us. Like several teams in Spain, we’ll be implementing some upgrades this weekend. See if you can spot them when we head out for the first time in FP1.”

There are references to the upgrades from Dan, Lando and Andreas.

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2022/spanish-grand-prix/everything-you-need-know-spanish/

 

I thought that they had to publicly declare the new parts on Thursday or Friday in some sort of show and tell.