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112 comments on McLaren cover least test distance with new car

1. 

   Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:25

   Graph box is showing up, but no data?

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     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:32

     OK… switched to Chrome, all is good

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     BasCB (@bascb) said on 13th March 2011, 11:34

     Works fine for me.

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       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:37

       Opera can be a bit buggy at times.

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         Jajo said on 13th March 2011, 13:18

         Change the selection and the graph appears.

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   • 

     Mike said on 13th March 2011, 11:35

     Works for me!

     Wow… The Ferrari’s did an absolutely stupid amount of laps. You gotta hand it to them, they are very, very good.

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     Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th March 2011, 12:54

     Not much help if you don’t tell me which browser you’re using. The graphs haven’t changed since they were introduced a few months ago and they were checked across all browsers then. Just checked these in IE, Firefox and Chrome and on my phone and no problems.

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       Nin13 (@) said on 13th March 2011, 20:19

       Bit buggy with Opera, you have to un-check and then recheck the select options to see.

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         Ral said on 14th March 2011, 10:14

         Yup, that’s what I’m getting in Opera 11.x. Not unmanagable, just a bit odd to see a white square in the middle of articles whenever there are graphs :)

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   • 

     LuvinF1 said on 13th March 2011, 17:14

     I have never been able to view the graphs since they were changed a few months ago. I have Internet Explorer 9.0.8080.16413IC.

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       DANK said on 13th March 2011, 17:26

       I believe IE9 has not been officially released yet.

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     DeadManWoking said on 13th March 2011, 18:34

     No problems here with IE8 and Firefox.

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2. 

   BrownyNSW said on 13th March 2011, 11:32

   I wonder how much Red Bull where licking their lips having got 4 days of perfect dry running in the final test and seeing their main rivals sitting in the garage due to the heavy rain that wrecked the final days testing.

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:33

     I think Webber said it best… “We’re ready to go to Melbourne”

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     • 

       BasCB (@bascb) said on 13th March 2011, 11:35

       I think they were ready at the first day of the last test. They did a lot of pit stop training on the days after that.
       But Ferrari are probably just as good prepared. Mercedes look like getting where they wanted to be by the end of the test.

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       • 

         Mike said on 13th March 2011, 11:38

         Only Mclaren and Force India look to be struggling to me. Which means the predictions are going to be very difficult!

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         US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 13th March 2011, 19:14

         They did a lot of pit stop training for good reason. If we really do have 3-4 stop races, that’s double the stops from last year, which means the speed of a pit stop is twice as important as last year.

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   • 

     James (@jamesf1) said on 13th March 2011, 11:38

     Probably not too much. Ferrari seem on the ball. I would say that Mercedes might be kicking themselves a bit, considering that the upgrade package they’ve stuck on is very good.

     On the other hand though, Ferrari, Mercedes, Mclaren and Williams have done some miles with the full wet tyres. It wasnt a lot, but they have some data on those tyres which the likes of Red Bull, Renault and the rest dont have.

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     • 

       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:47

       James that’s a great point on the wets. Considering that the first 4 races of last year were wet ones.

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       • 

         Steve said on 13th March 2011, 13:12

         Mclarens tyre data will be pretty good considering they did 4700 laps if you combine both their cars.

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       • 

         James (@jamesf1) said on 13th March 2011, 13:18

         I dont remember Bahrain being wet ;)

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   • 

     Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th March 2011, 12:55

     Good point – although Ferrari only did five laps in the wet session yesterday so they’re still looking good!

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     • 

       James (@jamesf1) said on 13th March 2011, 13:19

       Haha. This is true. Better nothing I guess!

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       • 

         James (@jamesf1) said on 13th March 2011, 13:19

         *Better than nothing

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3. 

   mcmercslr said on 13th March 2011, 11:41

   with HRT missing some testing, could they test somewhere else?? its not going to happen because they cant afford it and there isn’t really time and they probably cant risk any of the cars they have because they have to be raced in melbourne.

   i was just wondering if the regulations allowed HRT to test even though they realistically cant?

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:48

     Maybe they can film?

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     • 

       Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 14th March 2011, 17:48

       If they can afford a camera…

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   • 

     Journeyer said on 13th March 2011, 11:58

     In theory, I think they can get back the additional days, but there’s not enough time left before Melbourne.

     That said, who do they ask permission from? It’s the FIA, right? They’re not a member of FOTA, after all.

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     • 

       DANK said on 13th March 2011, 17:27

       They can for “marketing purposes”, just like Ferrari and a few other teams did.

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     • 

       DeadManWoking said on 13th March 2011, 18:37

       HRT can test all they want up to the FIA limit of 15,000 km and time cutoff of the weekend before the first race, that is if they could afford to rent an approved track to do it at.

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         Icthyes said on 13th March 2011, 19:45

         They can also exchange track time for wind tunnel time I believe, not that that’s feasible either.

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           DeadManWoking said on 14th March 2011, 12:05

           It’s one of the 4 straight line aero test days they’re allowed per year (Jan 1-end of last race) that may be swapped for 4 hours of the only full scale wind tunnel testing that they are allowed (All the rest is only 60% or less).

           F1 Sporting Regs 22.1a
           iii) four one day aerodynamic tests carried out on FIA approved straight line or constant radius sites between 1 January 2010 and the end of the last Event of the Championship. Any of these days may be substituted for four hours of wind-on full scale wind tunnel testing to be carried out in a single twenty four hour period.
4. 

   Enigma (@enigma) said on 13th March 2011, 11:43

   You should show how much kilometres F150, F150th Italia and 150° Italia did, not only for 150° Italia :)

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:49

     ha ha ha!

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   • 

     Ads21 (@ads21) said on 13th March 2011, 11:52

     If they were counted as separate cars I wonder if any did more than the MP4-26 did in all of testing.

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 11:56

     Wow… almost 7,000 K. I don’t know how many times they changed engines to do that,but they will knew with weeks to go ho to prep their engines and gearboxes for multiple races.

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     • 

       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:04

       Correction: know not knew and how not ho… Enigma still has me wetting my pants laughing :P

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   • 

     wasiF1 said on 13th March 2011, 15:20

     Well said Enigma

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   • 

     MacademiaNut said on 14th March 2011, 0:21

     Where’s the Like button when you need one?

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       wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 14th March 2011, 1:21

       Really we do need that ‘like’ & ‘dislike’ button,this is something Keith have to look out for 2011.

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5. 

   RIISE (@riise) said on 13th March 2011, 11:50

   Schumacher was a busy boy, I think this shows how committed to bringing Mercedes back up to speed. I believe he is a genuine title contender this year.

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   • 

     RIISE (@riise) said on 13th March 2011, 11:51

     *How committed he is*

     Why no edit button =(

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     • 

       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:09

       Good new is there is an edit function on the new live blog!

       It’s a fantastic set up You get all the tweets you want on the left column, or you can slide the comment section bar to the left and the tweets disappear leaving you with a whole page of comments from f1fanatics. It’s so much easier to follow that the old format.

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       • 

         Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:10

         news not new… Ermmm… where is the blog edit function that we are crying for? haha

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       • 

         US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 13th March 2011, 19:18

         Cool. Can’t wait to see the first live blog for FP1. The testing live blogs were all a bit too early for me. Bring on the real season!

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   • 

     Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel) said on 13th March 2011, 12:42

     He was also lucky that he didn’t suffer the amount of hydraulic problems Nico got while testing the car.

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6. 

   Spencer said on 13th March 2011, 12:01

   The basic stock iPhone weather app was saying heavy rain for Saturday at the final Barcelona test all week. Why with all the forecasting the teams have, would they choose to pick a day that was predicted to be very wet from the outset?

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   • 

     Lee said on 13th March 2011, 12:31

     The teams that tested saturday, other than mclaren, had already done a shed load of miles on their cars and if the rain was a bit lighter than it turned out to be it would have been a good opportunity to get some wet testing in to finish off testing. It was worth the risk for everyone else, no idea why mclaren did it.

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7. 

   Icthyes said on 13th March 2011, 12:01

   McLaren’s problem now is the limited tyres for free practice. It’s not like they can run around for ages to catch up. Expect a tough fly-away tour, but if they can be on the pace by Europe then they’ll still be in the hunt, it’ll just be a long, long slog.

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:15

     You know I was thinking on my way to the pub… and I am willing to wager that even though Macca is saying we know what we are doing in postponing testing and all that rot, that by the end of the season we will hear Whitmarsh saying “we suffered from a lack of testing”.

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     • 

       Todfod (@todfod) said on 13th March 2011, 12:35

       Agree. I could see Mclaren catching up with the RBs and Ferraris.. but all there developments will not be sure fire improvements, as they did not test enough before the season started.

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       • 

         Bren said on 13th March 2011, 13:38

         and it was too rushed developments that lost them the title last year.

         lewis binning both suzuka and hockenhim major upgrades didnt help either.

         but uptil middle of the season they were long way ahead of ferrari and somehow got lost big time on development. canada and turkey they by far the best car….how did it go so wrong so quickly??

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     Steph (@) said on 13th March 2011, 13:36

     I agree. They could/should catch up and still challenge but these early flyaways could really cost them the title.

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8. 

   Mads (@mads) said on 13th March 2011, 12:20

   I have a question actually. They cover a serious number of km in testing but what about the engines? they have 8 per driver per season, but is the engines they use for testing also from those 8 engines or are they allowed to use as many engines as they like for testing?

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:24

     Season starts with a new engine… then the countdown begins.

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     • 

       Mads (@mads) said on 13th March 2011, 12:50

       So they can use as many engines as they like in testing without affecting the number of engines they have for the season?

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       • 

         US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 13th March 2011, 19:23

         Yes. No limits on any piece of equipment (engine, gearbox, etc.) in winter testing.

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   • 

     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:26

     Good new is they may have on less race to do… well maybe, depends if Bernie manages to Bahrain back into the schedule.

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     • 

       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:38

       one not on. Proof reading after the fact is a talent that I have in spades apparently.

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   • 

     Dev said on 13th March 2011, 12:46

     4 engines for testing i guess.

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       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 13:04

       Your guess would be as good as mine Dev… the real question is, where is prisoner monkeys when we need a definitive technical question answered? Honestly I’m searching and I can’t find an answer to how many engines they can use in testing.

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       • 

         wasiF1 said on 13th March 2011, 15:17

         Probably the uses of engine is not limited. Though it is only my prediction.

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         • 

           US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 13th March 2011, 19:27

           I believe it’s unlimited.
9. 

   enka said on 13th March 2011, 12:27

   is it due to budget limitation?

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     Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:35

     Is what due to budget limitations?

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   • 

     Lee said on 13th March 2011, 12:35

     I doubt it very much, however it does raise a good question.

     Mclaren as a company have just invested heavily in their new road car program and are known to be developing their engine building areas ready for the new rules and for when their Merc deal expires.

     Its also likely that now McLaren are not Mercedes “factory” team the investment from them could have gone down from what it has been in previous seasons, although im quite sure that their engines are supplied free of charge?

     I dont think it was lack of budget that is the reason for the lack of testing but it will be interesting to see if as this season develops its an area that has an implication on their ability to catch up.

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     • 

       Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:45

       Interesting Lee. So if macca is planning on developing their own engines… do they, or are they thinking about 2012, or 2013. big big difference. Why put money into a v8 when the future is a turbo V4?

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       • 

         Lee said on 13th March 2011, 13:02

         From whats been published on here and other F1 websites, and said at various points by pundits and commentators last year the merc deal ends at the end of the 2012 season.

         The engine currently in the new sports car is a Mclaren built V8 twin turbo engine rather than the Mercedes engine that was in the SLR they built with mercedes.

         Entering into the F1 engine area of things in 2013 would make sense as its a clean sheet of paper for everyone, however it obviously will be requiring research and development prior to that, something that will most certainly not be cheap for the team.

         On the finance area again i do remember reading that Santander extended their relationship with the team, a relationship that was originally due to end at the end of last season after a years overlap with Ferrari so major backing in that area of things you would assume hasnt changed.

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           Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 13:31

           On that alone I could speculate a very good reason for Ron Dennis stepping down as F1 team principal be in control of the engine development.

           There is a video of the new Macca sports car somewhere recently on this forum. It was badged “Mclaren” on the engine, so yes it’s pointing in the direction of Macca building their own F1 engines, which I think is fantastic.

           I’m a Ferrari fan and we consider Macca to be the biggest of our biggest rivals. To have witnessed McLaren struggle with Peugeot and Fords when Honda pulled out was painful even for us. I’m glad to see that they may develop their own engines when Mercedes has said bye bye and at least spare them that grief.
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           DeadManWoking said on 13th March 2011, 18:32

           IIRC the McLaren-Mercedes engine deal has options through 2015. 2013 may be too soon for Macca to build their own but I can see them doing it eventually.
10. 

    Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 13th March 2011, 12:33

    Interesting it took 8 days of testing the mp4 26 to do what the mp4 25 did in a single day.

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11. 

    Eggry (@eggry) said on 13th March 2011, 13:06

    F111….Yeah

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12. 

    graigchq said on 13th March 2011, 13:20

    HRT didn’t test their be car? Been away for the qeejrd but wasn’t it “confirmed” that the new car was to be unveiled on friday?
    Bunch of losers if you ask me. Klien shouldn’t be disappoint ed rather happy that he isn’t associated with this joke of a team

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13. 

    Journeyer said on 13th March 2011, 13:23

    One point I want to make on McLaren: are they now feeling the pain of Pat Fry’s departure? I know Pat just left very recently and has probably had little effect at either McLaren or Ferrari. But could Pat have any connection to the fact that McLaren is one of the teams with the least mileage in testing and Ferrari is one of the teams with the most mileage?

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    • 

      Cacarella said on 13th March 2011, 14:30

      Ferrari’s philosophy has always been to test, test, test more, and when you’re done, go testing some more. I don’t think Pat had anything to do with Ferrari’s reliability either, they’re testing a revised version of their 2010 F10 which was pretty reliable.

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      • 

        Journeyer said on 13th March 2011, 15:00

        True in Ferrari’s case, but this isn’t usual business for McLaren. I haven’t seen their cars to be this unreliable since… 2005?

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        • 

          Nin13 (@) said on 13th March 2011, 20:31

          2006 was not great either as far as reliability goes. They did not win a single race that season.
          Bad Mclaren reliability from Kimi days is back. I hope not.

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          • 

            Journeyer said on 14th March 2011, 7:01

            Their reliability was actually mostly fine in 2006 (notwithstanding Kimi’s suspension failure during quali in Bahrain). Their problem that year was genuine lack of pace.
14. 

    Darren said on 13th March 2011, 13:28

    It’s really surprising to see McLaren struggling to get miles up. Red Bull have really evolved forward from season to season. Last years car and success has almost caused rival teams to ‘over design’ their 2011 entries and McLaren has probably come out worst.

    Some really positive comments coming from Lotus and their rear end design seems to have made giant leaps in performance terms. I’m really looking forward to see how they progress this year.

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    • 

      Lee said on 13th March 2011, 15:32

      I have to agree with this, Im a big fan of conservative evolution year on year, especially when a cars design has worked well.

      I was very surprised when Mclaren anounced their car was going to be this radical and experimental, they had a good car at the end of last season, they developed it well, much like ferrari did theirs. It would surely have made more sense to continue along that path to ensure competitiveness. If they had had a really poor or not so successful year i could understand a radical approach that say Renault have gone down as they would have nothing to lose, however as it is they are looking at competing well back in the midfield at the moment at a time in the sport when strong starts to the season are so so essential.

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15. 

    ad3 said on 13th March 2011, 14:06

    The McLaren driven on friday and saturday has little winglets just behind the mirrors. I thought such winglets were banned in the 09 rule changes?

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    • 

      BasCB (@bascb) said on 13th March 2011, 17:18

      Well, you are not allowed to put winglets on the sidepods. But with their U/L sidepods this winglet is inside the area defined for the sidepod (a bit like those deflector panels in front of the sidepod).

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      • 

        ad3 said on 13th March 2011, 17:26

        ah thanks, i was thinking that the rule applied to the monocoque as well

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        • 

          BasCB (@bascb) said on 15th March 2011, 10:17

          It does, just this winglet is inside the “box” defined for the shape of the sidepod, so they can put it there, as long as it does not protruges out of that area. As McLaren has the cut in the sidepod it fits in nicely there.

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    • 

      MacademiaNut said on 14th March 2011, 0:26

      Is there a picture of this? Sounds interesting..

      Reply

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