2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

Personally I want to see Lando with his feathers ruffled more.

But I think Danny is savvy enough to know how to stay onside with Mclaren and Lando. His personality is more managed than it appears, he's a very very quick and savvy guy I think.

[mwillems]

The gap for the top 10 in Bahrain Q1 was .8 sec and included 6 different teams. Often temperature changes caused huge swings in car performance, why sandbag?

The desire to not draw attention to a solution. But I guess everyone will be looking at the front portion of the cars to see how they have adapted to the new floor regs. They can't exactly be hidden and the aero guys will be investigating the various solutions to see if anyone has done something clever in any case.

Of course teams won't have the opportunity to bring new parts out for a second test, or to hold them back till the second test if they thing it is worth hiding, I'm wondering if we are going to see what is basically the cars that will start the Bahrain GP from day one of testing, and if we will see them in anger.

Some have suggested not, but I think they would need some idea of their true speed in order to plan strategy and upgrades, and since they might not have time to do multiple tests that allow them to "triangulate" their performance delta from multiple scenarios, are they forced to put it more on the table? They will need to understand the tyres in a short period of time too, and how they respond to the new cars, does this mean they will have to run closer to real pace race sims to see how far they can be pushed?

I guess I'm wondering, does this format actually give the teams anywhere to hide in terms of displaying performance and will this test actually be more exciting than sitting at work watching the times go on the board, looking for new parts and looking at the race sim times at the end of the day.

[mclaren111]

Quick trip to Mars... Hope they're back in time for testing...

[mwillems]

A really nice interview here with Lando and BBC Breakfast this morning, it's hard to take seriously the "silver spoon" accusations that he has had with his humility. You can sometimes tell the difference when someone is just saying the right thing or if they are expressing how they really feel, a very good guy.

[Peter1919]

I know I’m being highly optimistic here, but I genuinely think Daniel now has the car to fight for places on the first two rows of the grid and be a regular podium finisher. I think Lando will be up there too.

Daniel is great at maximising opportunities, so I fully expect he can steal a Grand Prix win during the season too.

Last season maybe, but this season Ferrari should be more competitive and will have two fully engaged drviers and Redbull have a much better 2nd driver so making the top 4 in qualifiying and podium positions will IMHO be far harder this season than last

[diffuser]

The gap for the top 10 in Bahrain Q1 was .8 sec and included 6 different teams. Often temperature changes caused huge swings in car performance, why sandbag?

The desire to not draw attention to a solution. But I guess everyone will be looking at the front portion of the cars to see how they have adapted to the new floor regs. They can't exactly be hidden and the aero guys will be investigating the various solutions to see if anyone has done something clever in any case.

Of course teams won't have the opportunity to bring new parts out for a second test, or to hold them back till the second test if they thing it is worth hiding, I'm wondering if we are going to see what is basically the cars that will start the Bahrain GP from day one of testing, and if we will see them in anger.

Some have suggested not, but I think they would need some idea of their true speed in order to plan strategy and upgrades, and since they might not have time to do multiple tests that allow them to "triangulate" their performance delta from multiple scenarios, are they forced to put it more on the table? They will need to understand the tyres in a short period of time too, and how they respond to the new cars, does this mean they will have to run closer to real pace race sims to see how far they can be pushed?

I guess I'm wondering, does this format actually give the teams anywhere to hide in terms of displaying performance and will this test actually be more exciting than sitting at work watching the times go on the board, looking for new parts and looking at the race sim times at the end of the day.

All the teams have little test time. Priority 1 is to get work done. You can run the tests with lots of fuel but you still need in alot of laps in anger. Can't just wait till Quali day.

The thing about Bahrain is that it isn't a aero track like Spain. More of a stop start track. So it will not show much on the aero side.

[SmallSoldier]

I know I’m being highly optimistic here, but I genuinely think Daniel now has the car to fight for places on the first two rows of the grid and be a regular podium finisher. I think Lando will be up there too.

Daniel is great at maximising opportunities, so I fully expect he can steal a Grand Prix win during the season too.

Last season maybe, but this season Ferrari should be more competitive and will have two fully engaged drviers and Redbull have a much better 2nd driver so making the top 4 in qualifiying and podium positions will IMHO be far harder this season than last

That’s a very valid point... It should be harder this season... It will be interesting and I’m hoping the car is in the middle of that fight


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[Ground Effect]

I’ve been wondering why the 35M seemed a bit bare compared to the 35. I just realised BAT had branding on the side of the engine cover last year, but not this year. That seems a bit strange, maybe it’ll be back there once the season gets underway?

[diffuser]

I know I’m being highly optimistic here, but I genuinely think Daniel now has the car to fight for places on the first two rows of the grid and be a regular podium finisher. I think Lando will be up there too.

Daniel is great at maximising opportunities, so I fully expect he can steal a Grand Prix win during the season too.

Last season maybe, but this season Ferrari should be more competitive and will have two fully engaged drviers and Redbull have a much better 2nd driver so making the top 4 in qualifiying and podium positions will IMHO be far harder this season than last

That’s a very valid point... It should be harder this season... It will be interesting and I’m hoping the car is in the middle of that fight


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed and presuming they have faster cars...
Alonso already kind of said he doesn't know how comparative Alpine will be but expects to be anywhere between 6th and 15th.

That and none of us will be surprised if 75% field switch their focus to 2022 in the 2nd half of the season.

[Jolle]

Last season maybe, but this season Ferrari should be more competitive and will have two fully engaged drviers and Redbull have a much better 2nd driver so making the top 4 in qualifiying and podium positions will IMHO be far harder this season than last

That’s a very valid point... It should be harder this season... It will be interesting and I’m hoping the car is in the middle of that fight


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed and presuming they have faster cars...
Alonso already kind of said he doesn't know how comparative Alpine will be but expects to be anywhere between 6th and 15th.

That and none of us will be surprised if 75% field switch their focus to 2022 in the 2nd half of the season.

I think most teams will look at 2021 after the pre-season upgrades if and how many positions in the midfield they can gain (for FOM payments) and adjust their upgrade plan according to that. If the midfield is very close, a few teams could go for short term succes and invest more in their 2021 car.

[FittingMechanics]

I’ve been wondering why the 35M seemed a bit bare compared to the 35. I just realised BAT had branding on the side of the engine cover last year, but not this year. That seems a bit strange, maybe it’ll be back there once the season gets underway?

I think that BAT sponsorship cannot be shown in all locales and where they can, it depends on what brand BAT wants to promote. If you looked at filming day photos, they added BAT sponsorship on some runs.

Shouldn't worry about it.

[Manoah2u]

Quick trip to Mars... Hope they're back in time for testing...

Danny is already in front of Lando

[nevill3]

Quick trip to Mars... Hope they're back in time for testing...

Danny is already in front of Lando

And Daniel is indicating he has number one status and Lando is Number two

[djos]

I know I’m being highly optimistic here, but I genuinely think Daniel now has the car to fight for places on the first two rows of the grid and be a regular podium finisher. I think Lando will be up there too.

Daniel is great at maximising opportunities, so I fully expect he can steal a Grand Prix win during the season too.

Last season maybe, but this season Ferrari should be more competitive and will have two fully engaged drviers and Redbull have a much better 2nd driver so making the top 4 in qualifiying and podium positions will IMHO be far harder this season than last

Mclaren have a better PU than both Ferrari and RedBull, and likely a better car than Ferrari imo.

Also, Perez isn’t the messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy.

[Manoah2u]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EunEanWXUAU ... name=large


Quick trip to Mars... Hope they're back in time for testing...

Danny is already in front of Lando

And Daniel is indicating he has number one status and Lando is Number two

i can see how he's no longer smiling