They've only ever been "there" in Silverstone. They've been "thereabouts" elsewhere, but never "there," if you catch my drift. The weird thing is, in Silverstone, I don't think they were just stronger because everyone didn't have the diffuser blowing. I think they were genuinely quick anyways; with a genuine step forward. SO where did they take a step back?
beelsebob wrote:Mostly because their roles seem reversed of late – McLaren was incredibly strong at the high downforce Hungary, RedBull was incredibly strong at McLaren's traditionally strong Spa, but notably, not in the high-downforce middle sector.
Arguably the McLaren was still very strong at Spa. Button made it through 10 places with his anyways. Maybe they went the wrong way with Lewis' setup, maybe they didn't. I don't know. Hungary I find interesting. Hungary (IMO) has always been a mechanical circuit rather than aero; the corners aren't super fast neck stretchers. If you go to any year other than 2010; Hungary has been a McLaren circuit, especially as McLaren have always been mechanically strong.
Anyone remember the downforce-deficient MP4-24? Even that won the Hungarian Grand Prix; I'm willing to bet that the Brawn and Red Bull, in 2009, still had more downforce than the MP4-24 at that stage; which leads me to conclude that in 2009, McLaren's mechanical advantage outweighed the Red Bull/Brawn downforce advantage in Hungary 2009; and reinforces my view that it was a mechanical circuit more than downforce.
