Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
We know that Merc and Ferrari are all-in on the new car.
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McLaren knows, that this is their season, they just brought a major upgrade to win this season. They are in my point of view half a year behind Merc and Ferrari with additionally the penalty for P1 in two seasons.
Merc and Ferrari both have updates still to come and both have stated that they are continuing to try and understand why their current cars are not behaving as they should. That takes time and resources.
McLaren may have their last upgrade, but that will have been pipelined for months.
McLaren have the benefit of being able to focus fully on next season AND they have shown excellent correlation between CFD, Wind Tunnel and real world.
Mercedes have yet to show that they can build a consistently fast car in the ground effect era and Ferrari are, well, being the same Ferrari they have been since 2008!!
That is assuming MCL know why they are fast a d can translate that into 2026. Being fast by no means equals correlation.
We know that Merc and Ferrari are all-in on the new car.
...
McLaren knows, that this is their season, they just brought a major upgrade to win this season. They are in my point of view half a year behind Merc and Ferrari with additionally the penalty for P1 in two seasons.
Merc and Ferrari both have updates still to come and both have stated that they are continuing to try and understand why their current cars are not behaving as they should. That takes time and resources.
McLaren may have their last upgrade, but that will have been pipelined for months.
McLaren have the benefit of being able to focus fully on next season AND they have shown excellent correlation between CFD, Wind Tunnel and real world.
Mercedes have yet to show that they can build a consistently fast car in the ground effect era and Ferrari are, well, being the same Ferrari they have been since 2008!!
That is assuming MCL know why they are fast a d can translate that into 2026. Being fast by no means equals correlation.
Not in isolation, you are correct.
However building fast cars over several seasons AND having updates that all perform as expected suggests that they have a very good understanding of why their car is fast and how to develop it.
"From success, you learn absolutely nothing. From failure and setbacks, conclusions can be drawn." - Niki Lauda
