2025 McLaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

For Emag:

A clever air circulation. Stella also denies that her exceptionally good tire management in the race has nothing to do with the problems that sometimes make it difficult for drivers to set the perfect lap in qualifying. "We don't pay a price per lap for caring for the tires better than others. It's no problem for us to get the tires into their working window quickly."

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... peraturen/

Mclaren has no problems getting their tires up to temperature for qualifying. Straight from the horse's mouth. As I said before, the tire behaviour is like a heating furnace with a thermostat switch. They bring the tires up to temperature quickly and then hold them there. The RB19 and the SF24 never achieved this. They were always compromised in qualifying with cold tires. The Mclaren doesn't have any compromise in this area.

I pointed this out from a non technical position, that the car was lightning from wet or damp starts, safety car or otherwise and was potentially indicative of tyre heating abilities.

We are also having tremendous grip from the start line. I'm not sure how much this is related after a long wait, but it would likely help.

[Watto]

For Emag:

A clever air circulation. Stella also denies that her exceptionally good tire management in the race has nothing to do with the problems that sometimes make it difficult for drivers to set the perfect lap in qualifying. "We don't pay a price per lap for caring for the tires better than others. It's no problem for us to get the tires into their working window quickly."

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... peraturen/

Mclaren has no problems getting their tires up to temperature for qualifying. Straight from the horse's mouth. As I said before, the tire behaviour is like a heating furnace with a thermostat switch. They bring the tires up to temperature quickly and then hold them there. The RB19 and the SF24 never achieved this. They were always compromised in qualifying with cold tires. The Mclaren doesn't have any compromise in this area.

I pointed this out from a non technical position, that the car was lightning from wet or damp starts, safety car or otherwise and was potentially indicative of tyre heating abilities.

We are also having tremendous grip from the start line. I'm not sure how much this is related after a long wait, but it would likely help.

I know its not completely related but last year when there was the hole in the cake tin drum.was covered over by tape but wonder if that is a sign they were doing something tricky there not the hole on purpose iirc it was there to monitor temps it would be wise I think to be able to quickly measure without having to remove the inside the drum.

[Darth-Piekus]

In the meantime Im sating (is it the correct word) my thirst with some good tyre water from my tyre water bottle and fanning myself with my electrical mini drs fan.

[Bumper cars]

McLaren technical team are bringing the magic! I recall well, in the second half of 2024 when McLaren were closing in on RB for the constructors title. We were looking for 'magical' upgrades, especially floors - the miracle of more downforce! We would look over the listed updates for an "upgrade" to make McLaren dominant over Max. Instead we just got all these 'little' brake duct and aero smoothing refinements. How would these make it possible to close down a 60+ points lead? Well in my opinion we are now seeing what Stella's team were developing and refining - a brake 'drum' which is containing/expelling/redirecting thermal energy to maintain the correct tyre temperature window. There was a lot of experimentation happening in real world situations where simulations needed confirmation. The "dark art" in Stella's recent comments are hard won gains that the competition cannot overcome quickly because they could only be developed over some time, and I would guess, are still being refined. Congratulations are due to the technical team for producing a car which may go down in F1 history as one of the greats alongside the MP4/4 and the RB19.

Stella's "dark art" comment seems to imply that McLaren heats/cools the brakes/tires with a clever use of electromagnetic frequencies (basically the same principles as weather modification). The fact that they always avoid overheating in the race (the one exception being dirty air) no matter the type of tarmac and air temperature implies they have gone full occult.

[f1rules]

about the problems with the car, "feeling" it on the limit, that is basicly exactly what was mentioned as one of the downsides of to much antidive. If its the case here, i dont know. People cant even agree if this years car has more antidive But interesting, that the feel/feedback is what the drivers say they lack

[Darth-Piekus]

Andrea Stella must be the Dark Magician.

[mwillems]

about the problems with the car, "feeling" it on the limit, that is basicly exactly what was mentioned as one of the downsides of to much antidive. If its the case here, i dont know. People cant even agree if this years car has more antidive But interesting, that the feel/feedback is what the drivers say they lack

That, but also the geometry with this antidive. I was wondering about how the suspension structure behaves with the loads going through it, are they modulating in some way due to the load itself and the direction of load going through the arms that obscure some of the feedback from the tyres. With the arms less vertical, it's not hard to imagine more flex and vibration that will work in some way obscure what is happening with the tyres and for this to find it's way back to the steering controls. I guess like a muscle when it is straining.

[mwillems]

For Emag:




https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... peraturen/

Mclaren has no problems getting their tires up to temperature for qualifying. Straight from the horse's mouth. As I said before, the tire behaviour is like a heating furnace with a thermostat switch. They bring the tires up to temperature quickly and then hold them there. The RB19 and the SF24 never achieved this. They were always compromised in qualifying with cold tires. The Mclaren doesn't have any compromise in this area.

I pointed this out from a non technical position, that the car was lightning from wet or damp starts, safety car or otherwise and was potentially indicative of tyre heating abilities.

We are also having tremendous grip from the start line. I'm not sure how much this is related after a long wait, but it would likely help.

I know its not completely related but last year when there was the hole in the cake tin drum.was covered over by tape but wonder if that is a sign they were doing something tricky there not the hole on purpose iirc it was there to monitor temps it would be wise I think to be able to quickly measure without having to remove the inside the drum.

It's quite possible but It's hard to know when they started this. I do remember a car, and I think it was the year before last, that was very good from SC starts and wet starts, before being inevitably caught by the Red Bull at the time. This could tie into BrakeDuct-Gate that was the precursor to the departure of Key. But there is nothing to support that but conjecture and last year the car preferred warmer temps and struggled in more of the colder or wetter conditions so this doesn't really follow through that well. I would guess that the radical aspects of whatever they are doing has been developed for this year.

We know that the team spoke specifically about addressing these colder and wetter conditions for this year and it looks like this is what they have done, but also with a view to ensuring that the warm up engineering doesn't cook the tyres and therefore they have also worked on the tyre cooling. However they have done it, it's important to note that the use of the term dark art has nothing to do with legality, and everything to do with the competitors being in the dark.

[Ground Effect]

Only just realising McLaren did the race double the weekend, 1-2 in the Sprint and Main Race. First time ever? Can't seem to recall anyone else achieving this in past races.

[saputra_25]

did McLaren plan any upgrade coming back to Europe triple header? I don't hear anything from the team (Stella or Zak) that they will bring some updates

[BMMR61]

Only just realising McLaren did the race double the weekend, 1-2 in the Sprint and Main Race. First time ever? Can't seem to recall anyone else achieving this in past races.

Confirming, this is apparently the first-air of 1-2s at a Sprint weekend.

The first time a McLaren driver has done three wins on the bounce since Mika in 1997-98. This was achieved from the end of 1997 to the first two in 1998. The last time a McLaren driver won three straight within a season was Ayrton Senna in 1991 and it was four in a row. Both resulted in winning the WDC.

[De Wet]

In the meantime Im sating (is it the correct word) my thirst with some good tyre water from my tyre water bottle and fanning myself with my electrical mini drs fan.

[BMMR61]

did McLaren plan any upgrade coming back to Europe triple header? I don't hear anything from the team (Stella or Zak) that they will bring some updates

I get the feeling the McLaren engineering team have small changes and enhancements which are best called "updates". The sort of upgrade like an Austria 2023 or Miami 2024 won't be happening nor should they be necessary. Not to say the work won't be continuing but there's still performance to come out of optimising what they have including the "dark art" part! Zak's sassy "tyre cooling water" trick I think indicates how sure they are of themselves leading up to the Barcelona rules adjustment of flexi-wing technology.

[BMMR61]

Only just realising McLaren did the race double the weekend, 1-2 in the Sprint and Main Race. First time ever? Can't seem to recall anyone else achieving this in past races.

Confirming, this is apparently the first pair of 1-2s at a Sprint weekend.

The first time a McLaren driver has done three wins on the bounce since Mika in 1997-98. This was achieved from the end of 1997 to the first two in 1998. The last time a McLaren driver won three straight within a season was Ayrton Senna in 1991 and it was four in a row. Both resulted in winning the WDC.

[FittingMechanics]

The team deserves all the credit and trust of the fanbase. We were calling for/waiting for the upgrades in the later part of the season. They never came in a really strong obvious way but the 2025 car is much improved. Their slow and methodical way of introducing upgrades obviously pays off.