2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[GoranF1]

I was thinking, if Alonso didn't have that start clash, could he reach the podium?

After 1st safety car him and Perez were together, but Perez moved trough the field much easier.

[FrukostScones]

AMUS says McLaren is set for a new nose with Barcelona update.

[DiogoBrand]

Is there an explanation to Vandoorne's performances other than lack of skill? I mean, Alonso can have a double puncture, race with half the diffuser missing, and still finish ahead.

[skwdenyer]

Joe has suggested today that Goss is not the mystery TD in question, FWIW.

Can you post a link to that article? Thanks

In comments here.

https://www.motorsportweek.com/joesaward/id/00213

Commenter suggests it is so; Joe says wrong tree (as in barking up...). Since Joe was on the actual plane, that seems reasonably conclusive

[bauc]

AMUS says McLaren is set for a new nose with Barcelona update.

As per the F1 paddock report, half of the car, from the nose to the sidepods is brand new.

[diffuser]

Not a single mention from Mclaren regarding BCN update.

I presume BCN means Barcelona something something......He did say it was a definite for Spain and was like a B spec.

Who's he?

Eric B

[JonoNic]

I thought the backend is the draggiest part of the car... Well I don't understand aero so please, someone with knowledge share some insight

AMUS says McLaren is set for a new nose with Barcelona update.

As per the F1 paddock report, half of the car, from the nose to the sidepods is brand new.

[Andres125sx]

Is there an explanation to Vandoorne's performances other than lack of skill? I mean, Alonso can have a double puncture, race with half the diffuser missing, and still finish ahead.

Yes, the explanation is your reference point is Alonso. Even Kimi did look slow when he was his teammate

[KingHamilton01]

Is there an explanation to Vandoorne's performances other than lack of skill? I mean, Alonso can have a double puncture, race with half the diffuser missing, and still finish ahead.

Yeah Vandoorne's performance over the whole weekend is concerning! we know the car isn't there however he was no where for the whole weekend!

[Andres125sx]

2017 Baku qualifying:
McLaren-Honda: 16th and 19th
STR-Renault: 11th and 12th

2018 Baku qualifying:
McLaren Renault: 13th and 16th
STR-Honda: 17th and 19th

Yes Honda is improving quickly....


Stop the constant ranting please, it´s boring and tiring

You know very well that doesn’t say anything about Honda’s improvement (or lack there of as you state). Midfield is much closer than last year, and due to that problems as STR suffered in Q1 will be deathly..

I will keep posting my opinion. You call it ranting, I just voice what I see is wrong with the team I love. No need pretending everything is going great and things will be solved soon. McLaren should be fighting Ferrari’s.

I never said everything is going great. But I won´t claim McLaren should be fighting Ferrari when past season they finished 9th in the WCC

Do you really expect any team going from second from last to fighting the title contenders in one season?

After only 4 GPs, McLaren has collected 36 points, wich is 120% the points they scored in 2017 after 20 GPs (30 points). Not sure how you look at this, but to me this is a huge improvement. Now take into account they´re still racing with more or less 2017 car and sincerely, asking for more than they´re achieving IMHO is unrealistic and fanboyist

[bosyber]

Did Vandoorne have the same updates as Alonso? In the past years, often only Alonso had the newest bits because they were constantly updating stuff, and only got one set done.

[Benii6]

Ah please. He's consistently slower by 2 - 3 tenths. You would imagine, if McLaren were bringing ''updates'' worth 3 tenths for Alonso every weekend, they would be better than Sauber.

[AnthonyG]

Is there an explanation to Vandoorne's performances other than lack of skill? I mean, Alonso can have a double puncture, race with half the diffuser missing, and still finish ahead.

Vandoorne made 1 pitstop more than Alonso.

[PhillipM]

Is there an explanation to Vandoorne's performances other than lack of skill?

Nope. He's just crap, he's been slow since day one and shows no flashes of speed at all, Button would have run rings around him, he's actively costing Mclaren now because with someone of Button's speed in that car they'd have a shot at being 3rd in the constructors at the moment instead of 4th.

[mclaren111]

Planet F1:

McLaren boss Eric Boullier wants to keep a lid on expectations as the Woking team prepare to unveil upgrades at the Spanish Grand Prix.
McLaren still have a sizeable gap to narrow between themselves and the other teams they share the same power unit with: Renault and Red Bull.

Spain has long been touted as the race where we will see the real McLaren show up and that the upgrades planned would make the MCL33 the car that they wanted to start the season with.

But now Boullier has warned that the improvements may not be as big as many are expecting.

"There is a new direction for Barcelona," Boullier confirmed to El Confidencial newspaper. "But you cannot expect us to leap ahead of everyone else.
"I think 95 per cent of the paddock will bring new aerodynamic packages to Barcelona, so the difference will either be the same, we lose some ground, or perhaps we gain a little."
"It is up to us that our evolution works and lives up to our own expectations, and then to hope that the others cannot do the same."

Let's hope for the best !!