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Just throwing this out there, but what if their self proclaimed great chassis (and its cooling solutions) is part of the problem. We know the Honda PU was bad, but maybe the cooling (or lack there of) was part of the problem. If they have to change their cooling philosophy to keep the PU alive it could very well take away some of their speed.
No doubt the aggressive installation leads to problems. One of many the reasons they (McLaren) wanted to be a works team was to have the ability to work through the risks of such installations directly with the PU manufacturer. The whole thing needs to be optimized, which is very difficult to do when your relationship status is "customer".
I seem to remember a situation in 2014, when McLaren felt justified in their decision to ditch the Merc PU (hindsight lol), was when Merc released their Melbourne spec to the teams like, 2 weeks out or something silly. Someone from McLaren joked that they could fit a briefcase in the side pods after that change. So the test spec was big and bulky, and then poof! New spec that works seamlessly with the W05. That's what McLaren expected with Honda. But neither one was good enough to achieve that.
No doubt the aggressive installation leads to problems. One of many the reasons they (McLaren) wanted to be a works team was to have the ability to work through the risks of such installations directly with the PU manufacturer. The whole thing needs to be optimized, which is very difficult to do when your relationship status is "customer".
I seem to remember a situation in 2014, when McLaren felt justified in their decision to ditch the Merc PU (hindsight lol), was when Merc released their Melbourne spec to the teams like, 2 weeks out or something silly. Someone from McLaren joked that they could fit a briefcase in the side pods after that change. So the test spec was big and bulky, and then poof! New spec that works seamlessly with the W05. That's what McLaren expected with Honda. But neither one was good enough to achieve that.
Yeah, I remember that 2014 deal with the second spec PU very late.
I forget what I was reading but I wonder if with McLaren having all the F1 experience I wonder if Honda blindly believed that what McLaren were telling them was possible instead of questioning them when things didn't seem right. Certainly the fact that Honda had no recent F1 experience was a big factor in their flop. I hope both sides can recover quickly and make something of the season.
still good news that all the failures are little trivial things instead of fundamental architecture flaws. even poor thermal management can be resolved by compromising aero
probably will be mid season before they can have enough experience with the package to be on par with the other renault powered cars
Hey guys, not that I was a super regular contributor but I'm back from 3 semesters of hell. Now I'm on my victory lap of 12 easy credits before graduation. So now I have time to HTF1 thread again!
In regards to the McLaren looking stable and well planted on track. I think they are running a lot more wing than anyone else. RBR was on top of the speed trap yesterday and guess who was dead last? Yup McLaren... If they run enough down force it should make the car perform well in the twisty bits, as it is, but be slow in a strait line... I'm interested to see how good the chassis really is if they were running similar down force levels to the other Renault teams.
McLaren gonna have it in their garage if they don't get **** sorted soon. ALO putting on brave face right now but I would love to know what's going on in his mind.
Can Mac continue to struggle like this AND not have a title sponsor? I can't imagine their lack of performance has been all that enticing. But than again, RD is gone and the new leadership might be more willing to take on a "lower grade" sponsor now.
Can Mac continue to struggle like this AND not have a title sponsor? I can't imagine their lack of performance has been all that enticing. But than again, RD is gone and the new leadership might be more willing to take on a "lower grade" sponsor now.
Wrong. The new guy has said he's unwilling to take a discount sponsor and isn't interested in selling out the McLaren name to a naming partner/sponsor. So it seems they're still trying to get by on the legacy of the brand.
Can Mac continue to struggle like this AND not have a title sponsor? I can't imagine their lack of performance has been all that enticing. But than again, RD is gone and the new leadership might be more willing to take on a "lower grade" sponsor now.
In regards to the McLaren looking stable and well planted on track. I think they are running a lot more wing than anyone else. RBR was on top of the speed trap yesterday and guess who was dead last? Yup McLaren... If they run enough down force it should make the car perform well in the twisty bits, as it is, but be slow in a strait line... I'm interested to see how good the chassis really is if they were running similar down force levels to the other Renault teams.
Speed traps from today. ALO is 6 kph down on RBR and Renault.
Well the speed for Ocon was set when he skipped the chicane and put in a lap in the 1:18s lol. The lap was discounted but the speed wasn't.
I can't speak to a tow but I can say that Ferrari, TR and the Merc have been near the top of the trap each day and the Renault teams are always at the bottom. Of course Renault has said they are using a detuned version of their PU (which all of the teams are doing it's just how much detuning we don't know).
Toro Rosso again did plenty of laps and the Honda powered car was the third fastest through the speed trap at the end of the pit straight. Toro Rosso cars tended to be quite draggy in the past, so they have obviously made this one quite slippery, knowing that they would have the Honda. That said the feeling is that it’s not far behind the Renault engine now and there is a development unit running this week here. It still lacks drivability, but it’s reliable and developing.
Again the three Renault engined cars are in the bottom four through the speed trap.
OMG. I love reading the comments on any McLaren article. It's freaking gold.
I'm still intensely intrigued by the supposed 'substantial' update for Australia.
only a nuclear reactor or a elon musk tesla trick will help them.they are done and dusted.Fernando will NOT I repeat will NOT see the end of F1 2018 .he is gone to WEC and Indy for good and will announce it shortly.
Alonso: "I don't need the MCL33. I ran a few laps on medium tires with a full fuel load and was able to set a time of 1m16.532s with the imaginary McLaren in my head. Obviously, that means we have the quickest car and I am the quickest driver."
"I don´t need an extra day in the car, I'm still going to retire in lap 20, so that doesn't make any difference"
Boy these anti McLaren/Alonso fans are vicious lol
Re: The Official Formula 1 2018 Season Thread
