Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[wesley123]

yep, at one turn there was an anoying bump at the apex of the corner, just before it would head the other way, simply stiffer springs would cause this part to be undrivable as the car would almost release from the asphalt, rendering it to a spin, wich could not be recovered at all.

[PlatinumZealot]

So basically the Mclaren could have been faster over the weekend then.

[autogyro]

So basically the Mclaren could have been faster over the weekend then.

I think at least fast enough to match Ferrari.
I am not sure it can match the red bull though but I cannot give any quantifiable reasons, just a feeling that the RB6 looks a better more compact car and their team seems more focused.
It is probably what Adrian has achieved with the ride height control.

[ringo]

The car was faster than both ferraris for a good number of laps. Alosno also said he was going 100% before the vettel engine failure.

from f1fanatic:


check laps 24 to 36, pretty competitive running, Mclaren holding it down for about 4 or 5 laps, in the case of Alonso, and much more in Massa's case.

The Mclaren seems fine to me and will have a better performance in Australia. This was just a bad setup like Brazil last year, where the car qualified bad because it was setup for the race, but went on to move from 17th to 3rd.
The old, sleeker engine cover will make a world of a difference too.

[Afterburner]

Lewis being faster than Alonso on that small window of lap times doesn't mean nothing, according to what Alonso said they pushed when they needed and i strongly believe Ferrari kept their run pretty much conservative, they were more interested taking it easy and getting a strong points finish. Just remember, Mclaren can get closer to RB and Ferrari in Melbourne or could go opposite...

[Mr Alcatraz]

The car was faster than both ferraris for a good number of laps. Alosno also said he was going 100% before the vettel engine failure.

Have you got a link that quotes Fred as saying he was going 100% right before Vettel's failure?
Quotes (with documentation) I read:
Winners' press conference
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=360317

Q: Fernando, what were you thinking in the middle part of the race when Vettel was controlling the pace? Were you being patient or could you have caught up with him?

FA: I did not know exactly. I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was concentrating on managing the tyres. We knew that we had to do 35 or 36 laps with the tyres. I was waiting the time to attack Vettel, maybe waiting for the last 10 or 12 laps. But suddenly he had a car problem and he was dropping and we had the chance to overtake him a little bit earlier than expected

Which BBC reiterated:

Vettel's car suddenly started to sound rough and Alonso swept by on the penultimate straight on lap 34.

Alonso said: "I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was just concentrating to manage the tyres.

"I was waiting for the time to attack, maybe for the last 10 laps, but suddenly Vettel had a car problem and we had the chance to overtake him a little earlier than expected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 566770.stm

Thanks in advance!

[segedunum]

Simplistic cack, So every one will replace dampers with steel pins at monaco and singapore since stiffer suspension increases corner speed.

Well, no actually it does. There's obviously a reason why they decided to go in that direction, but of course, it's a trade-off. Not understanding that is simplistic crack.

[segedunum]

Why did they go for the stiffer set up though? Why didn't they use their straight line speed advantage and trade some of it off for more downforce? If they can stall their rear wing effectively then downforce should effectively be free with no increase (or very little) in drag. That's really where the value should lie with their secret system, and not just in straight line speed alone.

Those are the pertinent questions. Those things should have been obvious to them and that's what I have difficulty with. I might have criticised McLaren in the past for many things but they are certainly not that daft, so it's a puzzle.

If you're in the UK, there's a pretty good interview with Lewis Hamilton on where he believes they're a 'bit' short:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 567079.stm

It's a nice, frank and open analysis actually. He reckons that Red Bull were over seven tenths quicker in the middle sector, which is huge, but he seems remarkably relaxed about it. Vettel was still doing 2:00s and 2:01s at the end with basically no straight line speed whatsoever. Maybe they do think they made a huge mistake, but that's a big chunk of time to be relaxed about.

I don't think we'll get a clear picture even in Australia though. Melbource is an odd circuit that can throw up some strange results sometimes, and it's not really representative of the majority of tracks where some cars that go really well there don't always go well elsewhere. It's only when we get to tracks like Malaysia with more of a mix of corners, especially high and medium speed ones, that we'll really see where they are.

[segedunum]

The old, sleeker engine cover will make a world of a difference too.

Are they going to replace their current bulbous engine cover then?

[Giblet]

Mclaren uses Koni Intelligent dampers.

"This hydraulic system can be tuned for aerodynamic stability but will adopt adn optimum setting for handling and feel of the car in harsh conditions, such as when the car is travelling over kerbs"

""Koni's FSD is intelligent damping" said Johnathon Neale "FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) thinks for us - so it gives the drivers greater confidence and means they can drive through corners with maxiumum commitment"" - Race Tech magazine

Food for thought and discussion.

[ringo]

The car was faster than both ferraris for a good number of laps. Alosno also said he was going 100% before the vettel engine failure.

Have you got a link that quotes Fred as saying he was going 100% right before Vettel's failure?
Quotes (with documentation) I read:
Winners' press conference
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=360317

Q: Fernando, what were you thinking in the middle part of the race when Vettel was controlling the pace? Were you being patient or could you have caught up with him?

FA: I did not know exactly. I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was concentrating on managing the tyres. We knew that we had to do 35 or 36 laps with the tyres. I was waiting the time to attack Vettel, maybe waiting for the last 10 or 12 laps. But suddenly he had a car problem and he was dropping and we had the chance to overtake him a little bit earlier than expected

Which BBC reiterated:

Vettel's car suddenly started to sound rough and Alonso swept by on the penultimate straight on lap 34.

Alonso said: "I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was just concentrating to manage the tyres.

"I was waiting for the time to attack, maybe for the last 10 laps, but suddenly Vettel had a car problem and we had the chance to overtake him a little earlier than expected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 566770.stm

Thanks in advance!

Q. (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, could you answer the same question; was that a true reflection of the comparative pace of the three cars or were you conserving tyres, for the 10 or 12 laps after the pit stop before Vettel had his problem?

FA: No, I think we were pushing, maybe not 100 percent but 99.

Race suit pockets must be very small

I'd like to return your Thanks please!!

[Mr Alcatraz]

The car was faster than both ferraris for a good number of laps. Alosno also said he was going 100% before the vettel engine failure.

Have you got a link that quotes Fred as saying he was going 100% right before Vettel's failure?
Quotes (with documentation) I read:
Winners' press conference
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=360317

Q: Fernando, what were you thinking in the middle part of the race when Vettel was controlling the pace? Were you being patient or could you have caught up with him?

FA: I did not know exactly. I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was concentrating on managing the tyres. We knew that we had to do 35 or 36 laps with the tyres. I was waiting the time to attack Vettel, maybe waiting for the last 10 or 12 laps. But suddenly he had a car problem and he was dropping and we had the chance to overtake him a little bit earlier than expected

Which BBC reiterated:

Vettel's car suddenly started to sound rough and Alonso swept by on the penultimate straight on lap 34.

Alonso said: "I had some pace in the pocket at that time of the race but I was just concentrating to manage the tyres.

"I was waiting for the time to attack, maybe for the last 10 laps, but suddenly Vettel had a car problem and we had the chance to overtake him a little earlier than expected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 566770.stm

Thanks in advance!

Q. (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, could you answer the same question; was that a true reflection of the comparative pace of the three cars or were you conserving tyres, for the 10 or 12 laps after the pit stop before Vettel had his problem?

FA: No, I think we were pushing, maybe not 100 percent but 99.

Race suit pockets must be very small

I'd like to return your Thanks please!!

Fair play to you!! =D>
And your sincere thanks are warmly welcome!

[marcush.]

in terms of pace 99% is actually about a full second below the ultimate performance..
so the difference between hero and loser..

[Raptor22]

Mclaren uses Koni Intelligent dampers.

"This hydraulic system can be tuned for aerodynamic stability but will adopt adn optimum setting for handling and feel of the car in harsh conditions, such as when the car is travelling over kerbs"

""Koni's FSD is intelligent damping" said Johnathon Neale "FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) thinks for us - so it gives the drivers greater confidence and means they can drive through corners with maxiumum commitment"" - Race Tech magazine

Food for thought and discussion.

You are refering to what is known in the industry as "Platform dampers".
Ferrari had these on their cars for years already.

Basically what you have a damper with a pressure spike sensor (piezo electric) fitted within the damping circuit. when the car hits a kurb the pressure sensor picksup the spike and adjusts the damping fluid viscosity or opens a secondary valve in the sompression piston to allow a faster and higher flow rate.

if they employ a fluid viscosity delta system then they are using a special hydraulic oil with an additive than contains a metallic ligand. When an electric current is removed the Viscosity Improver additive disassociates from the other moelcules with a similar ligand (the electric current keeps them aligned to increase the viscosity) and the fluid becomes less viscous nearly instantly.

Audi employs such a system on their road cars and in the R10TDi and R15TDI Le Mans Prototypes

[Mr Alcatraz]

in terms of pace 99% is actually about a full second below the ultimate performance..
so the difference between hero and loser..

Alonso's comment was in the context of conserving tires!
You can't say what amount of time he was conserving, or wasting!
He was in the race to win, and stated so!
Saying that you are only pushing your car 99% on the first of what was to be 36 laps is not an indication of a loser!
Obviously his strategy was good enough to close on Vettel before Vettel faded!