Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[JamesS]

I look forward to a straight, dry running, fight between all, then we'll know who's managed to up their game.

[PlatinumZealot]

Did you know that mclaren had six upgrades for Malaysia?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82726

[autogyro]

For what it is worth, IMO Whitmarsh is nowhere near the capability of Horner and Adrian Newey has only one rival Ross Brawn.
The McLaren will be lucky to match the RBs pace and any ride height tricks will be difficult to clear with the FIA.

[Poleman]

I dont quite think that McLaren will need any luck to catch up with the RedBull.They started matching their pace already.RB might have the fastest car atm but as a team is nowhere near as good at developing a car like McLaren or Ferrari is.I think they will end up preety much like Brawn from last year (in terms of development),lets wait and see if they prove us wrong.

[Just_a_fan]

@Poleman

Agreed. If McLaren improve as much this year as they did last year (from running back of field to winning races on merit) then the second half of the season is going to be very close up front.

McLaren have demonstrated, more than any other team, that they have the resources / ability / drive to carry out an effective season-long development programme.

Of course, with the banning of the DD next year, at some point more attention will be focussed on that car than the current one. When that switch occurs will be down to the state of the respective championships in the second half of the season.

[PNSD]

Last year Mclaren showed they have an amazing ability to problem solve, and develop from that. The time was always there to find. This year is different, time steps such as last year will be much harder to find. They may well develop quicker than the rest, in fact I believe they will, but dont expect them to be finishing 1-2 everyrace !

RedBull showed last year they could just as easily develop well, and come Silverstone they were always number 1, by a big margin.

[Just_a_fan]

@PNSD

Indeed so. But if I had to stake my savings on a team out there finding 0.5-1.0 seconds / lap in a season without testing, it'd be McLaren.

They claim that they found 0.3s last week and will bring another 0.3s to China. If that's true then they'll be snapping at RB's heels before Europe. I think Ferrari will be finding reliability in preference to speed the way they're going so far ("changing engines for fuel efficiency" etc.).

RB haven't maximised their early-season pace in the way that Brawn did last year. That will hurt them later in the year I think.

[autogyro]

"RB haven't maximised their early-season pace in the way that Brawn did last year. That will hurt them later in the year I think".

Can you explain why you believe this.
I hope it is not just fan based.

[segedunum]

I dont quite think that McLaren will need any luck to catch up with the RedBull. They started matching their pace already.

I'm afraid they're not. McLaren have managed to offset a lot of their deficit with their F-duct system and by gaining a reasonable amount of time with a straight line speed advantage to the tune of a few tenths. We've been at tracks so far where gaining significant time via a straight line speed advantage works, and that even works in Australia. When we get to high downforce places like Barcelona, Silverstone and many of the European tracks that advantage starts to disappear versus the number of high speed corners where they are losing time.

We'll also need to see what happens if and when other teams bring out similar systems. Ferrari certainly look as if they need it because they're having to run their engine with less power to conserve fuel, and they're not going to solve that any time soon.

RB might have the fastest car atm but as a team is nowhere near as good at developing a car like McLaren or Ferrari is.

I can't see what that's based on. Red Bull developed their car right throughout last year, bolted a double diffuser on to their car that wasn't designed for one and gained a lot of lap time over the course of the year. McLaren's car was so bad and so far off the pace that there were a lot of quick things they could do to gain time over the course of the year, and they learned to maximise their KERS advantage at many tracks which is where the F-duct idea probably came from.

There were confident predictions from many around here that the natural order of the 'big two' of McLaren and Ferrari would be restored this year. Those predictions are still ongoing.

I think they will end up preety much like Brawn from last year (in terms of development),lets wait and see if they prove us wrong.

They've already proved you wrong because they're still winning this year, as they were last. It's debatable whether McLaren is even ahead of Mercedes at this point.

However, let's keep this on-topic and discuss what McLaren are actually going to do to catch up and whether any developments are feasible, rather than trying to pull confident figures of 0.3 seconds per lap here and there out of thin air in order to give some people the warm fuzzy feeling that they need. That's just fan based stuff we don't need, and Ciro will wield his axe again. [-X

[Poleman]

3 races out of 19 doesnt really show any dominance and doesnt prove me anything...Thats what i am trying to say.RB6 seems already "maximized" and the only major update seems the solution of the F-Duct.I really want to see more updates for the car.Having a fast car doesnt mean you dont have to develop it.On the other hand McLaren seems that really gained something like 0.3-0.4 seconds in only a few races which shows that they are capable to pull more out of the car.As for last year McLaren had a lot more awful car than RB so thats where is my statement based on.
I am not trying to ditch RedBull but in my eyes it seems that they are over-confident just like Brawn was last year (but eventually got them both championships).Also so far there doesnt seem an issue for the high speed corners for MP4-25.I dont know where you pull out these assumptions off.In my eyes all your replies seem a little biased,which is reasonable cause you support RB.
Before i get accused that i am biased too i want to say that i believe the same for Renault and Ferrari (on development) but it just dont belong in this thread.

Ciro will not have to wield any axe because theres nothing fan-based on anything i stated.It was my opinion and the summary of what i have seen so far.If my opinions are wrong doesnt mean that they are fan based. [-X

[adrianjordan]

"RB haven't maximised their early-season pace in the way that Brawn did last year. That will hurt them later in the year I think".

Can you explain why you believe this.
I hope it is not just fan based.

I believe the above poster is referring to the fact that in the early part of last season, when the BGP001 was the car to beat, they won 6 out of the first 7 races...

Red Bull had the pace to win 3 out of 3 so far this year, but their reliability has let them down...

At least that's how I understood their post.

[autogyro]

"RB haven't maximised their early-season pace in the way that Brawn did last year. That will hurt them later in the year I think".

Can you explain why you believe this.
I hope it is not just fan based.

I believe the above poster is referring to the fact that in the early part of last season, when the BGP001 was the car to beat, they won 6 out of the first 7 races...

Red Bull had the pace to win 3 out of 3 so far this year, but their reliability has let them down...

At least that's how I understood their post.

Hmm yes but I could not see the conclusion on how their present position compromises the rest of the season. At the moment they look the best car by some margin.

[raymondu999]

I believe what he means is that this is the time that they should have clocked in 3 1-2s, costing them 43x3=129 points in the WCC, and 75 in the WDC, and 54

[thestig84]

Did you know that mclaren had six upgrades for Malaysia?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82726

Yes...exactly like the same facts and link I just posted, guess you didnt fancy reading it.

[autogyro]

Did you know that mclaren had six upgrades for Malaysia?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82726

Yes...exactly like the same facts and link I just posted, guess you didnt fancy reading it.

Fair comment but we still need to wait to see if it hurts RB later in the year.
IMO it will not.