As a Ferrari fan, when I saw McLaren launch their 2011 car I was genuinely worried. The car is very revolutionary, and I immediately thought that this car would either blow us away, or it would be a complete dog. I don't mean to offend anyone here, but Hamilton is the better McLaren driver, and I really can't stand the thought of Lewis being a double world champion while Alonso still has two titles. When I first saw the pictures of the Ferrari F150, I was really disappointed with what looked like an F10 tweaked to the 2011 regulations, and with a higher nose. There were plenty of rumours around Ferrari's "extreme" car during the winter, and the car Ferrari launched didn't look like a potential championship winning car. In fact I was also disappointed when Red Bull revealed it's RB7, because like the Ferrari, it looked too similar to the previous years design. Unless there are major aerodynamic rule changes (like 2009), the obvious thing to do would be to take the evolutionary approach and build on already good foundations, thus improving the understanding of the cars and fine tuning it in order to extract it's maximum potential... so I was really surprised (and quite impressed) to see McLaren's revolutionary car. McLaren were really brave to go against the general design approach of evolution - which sadly for them seems to be the most effective at this point. In 2009, Adrian Newey built a brilliant car with a really good base. Newey has even said that the 2009 rule changes played a very important part in RB's success. From this good base, he evolved his cars - each year improving things and making the car faster each year. By keeping the general DNA of the car the same, you are working with a proven concept and it guarantees that, providing you have a good base, you won't be struggling the next season. So far, testing has proved that this evolutionary approach is the best - Ferrari for example look like they still have superior braking, a stable car with good mechanical grip, and in addition, they have very impressive reliability. Both Ferrari and Red Bull have done a brilliant job over the winter to evolve their cars and made their cars more complete in terms of reliability, stability and mechanical grip - and yet they have still been able to make their cars innovative (like Red Bull's exhausts system and Ferrari's extreme rear push rod). In my opinion, the fundamental flaw for McLaren is the design approach - they have gone for a really radical car and they are now faced with the problem of trying to understand their car - they can talk about "potential" of the car, but unlocking that potential will not be easy and will probably take a while. In addition, their lack of understanding with their revolutionary car has meant that they faced many problems with reliability, which further prohibited their mileage in testing. McLaren can come up with some really impressive aerodynamic innovations (like the F-Duct last year), but where they are lacking is the mechanical side of things - and this comes from a lack of understanding of the car. Last year they went radical and they had problems on bumpy circuits, while this year the talk in testing has been about McLaren's lack of grip. Unless they stick with a base and develop it, they will not achieve the levels of success that they once did. This year specifically, they are in even more trouble because of the lack of mileage and set up work on the car. They decided to bring their 2010 car to the Valencia test in order to gain better understanding of the tyres - when actually it just hindered them. The MP4-25 had an F-Duct, different downforce levels, push rod suspension, different weight distribution, etc. - and ultimately the data that they got from Valencia was obsolete. Based on what the experts have been saying about the 2011 cars, Ferrari and Red Bull (who seem to have the best cars) are much further along with understanding how the Pirelli's work and how to set the car up to manage the tyres and achieve the best from the car. It's a shame really, because McLaren's car last year was a brilliant base, and as the season progressed McLaren started to extract the potential from that car. I actually think that at the final race, McLaren were very close to RB's pace if not faster. Some mechanical modifications along with some innovative parts would have been sufficient for them this season in my opinion. Thanks for reading. Please let me know your views.
What a load of guff. If Mclaren were not going to be competitive then they would be 2.5 secs off the pace(like 2009) which they are not.In my view we HAVE NOT seen the FULL POTENTIAL of the car in testing so far on either a race stimulation or low fuel run. If Mclaren turns out to be very competitive then you have scored an own goal Jose.
I don't think McLaren's car was that good last year, Red Bull (obviously) and Ferrari were better, Ferrari just lost months of development by fretting so much about the F-Duct. They had the better base package, and started and finished the season with a better car than McLaren. But I think in the same way Ferrari became obsessed with the F-Duct last year, McLaren have become obsessed with gimmicks this year. Whitmarsh was going on about how important it was to be innovative, but in doing that I think they've neglected some of the fundamentals (something Ron Dennis never would have allowed). I think McLaren will struggle this year as well, but they have yet to show their full hand due to time lost in testing, and we saw in 2009 how capable they are of turning it around.
"Why I think the McLaren will not be competitive"? Because you hate them is the first reason so it should have read "Why I hope' the McLaren will not be competitive" 1. They have been testing 4 different exhaust systems over all the testing days they have completed with the MP4-26 - one theory being because they are going to swap exhaust systems depending on the track. It takes two hours a pop to change it. 2. All of the cars have had some mechanical failures - Ferrari on fire, Williams it's been non stop, Red Bull have had some twinges 3. The Ferrari has seen to be struggling on low speed corners, whereas the Red Bull has yet again stuck to the floor 4. The biggest problem for McLaren isn't the design (easy cop out) it's understanding the tyres and how they work with this new car. As they've barely entered set up stage it's not too worrying 5. They didn't have any (significant) reliability problems on Monday and were able to clock up over 100 laps So, my thoughts are... Although some of the times have been slightly erratic on longer stints - McLaren are able to keep a competitive speed in comparison with the Red Bull and Ferrari and they are barely into the set up phase yet. My conclusion - FFS IT'S TESTING WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! But congratulations on writing a... long article. Why don't you write an article on the innovative way the Ferrari has gone for a 'pull rod' suspension - that's what you think they have with your vast technical knowledge isn't it?
I don't think the MP4-26 is that bad, but they have clearly had reliability problems. One rumour I heard was that their preferred exhaust route over the diffuser was causing severe overheating issues on adjacent components due to the tightness of the area in which it is located. This led to their having to spend inordinate amounts of time changing the exhaust configuration at the track, a situation then exacurbated by a shortage of parts. My main worry though is the stability of the car and its ability (or lack of) to go fast round corners. This is the area where the Red Bull excelled last year, and the MP4-25 was at its worst. One of the contributing factors seemed to be the relatively long wheelbase of the Mclaren; but this year's car has an even longer wheelbase! I have to hope that Mclaren know something we don't and that they haven't overlooked the unbelievably obvious in their concentration on aerodynamic solutions. Oh, and José, why can't you stand the thought of Hamilton having as many WDC titles as Alonso? If he were to win another one this season, he would surely deserve it.
The Mclaren last year was rather dreadful, but still competitive. It looked like it was always bogged down a bit, maybe due to the bumps, but they had 2 of the best drivers, which help them get where they did. I think all of the championship contending drivers last year would not have been able to win in the Mclaren, especially Vettel. This year though, I think it will work, and all these rumors about Mclaren have just been opinions from the BBC crew that some fans have manipulated into a rumor. As much as I am an F1 fan, I'm trying not to listen to everything that's being said. This is only testing after all, and as we say from last year, the pecking order is bound to change. Oh and Jose, Mclaren did loose some testing time to reliability, nut it was most down to the rain that cam, and red flags
Nice article Jose, radical evolution equates to massive potential but with not that many races in the season for the potential to be achieved. I hope the McLaren is competitive straight away for the benefit of the racing but there seems to be this question mark hanging over it. I don't agree that Hamilton is necessarily the better driver at McLaren, he is certainly the quickest, it could be that J.B. gets the most out of the car this year with tyre management a critical factor.
Joe Clarke, At this point it is impossible to know exact times, but what we do know is how the car handles, how easily it can get on the throttle, how long it manages it's tyres and how stable the car is through the corners, etc. - and from this we can see that the McLaren is in big trouble when compared to Red Bull and Ferrari. I don't think we've seen the true potential of any car yet, and it's possible that McLaren can be competitive, but I don't think they will be. Everything I mentioned in my original post is all opinion. AbsolutelyGlorious, I'm not entirely sure what upgrades they brought to Abu Dhabi last year, but they were significant developments and by the end of the season the Ferrari was slower then the McLaren. I agree with your point about McLaren being obsessed with gimmicks. McWilliams, I don't hate McLaren - and to be honest, I don't care where they finish in the championship, as long as Ferrari beat them. Understanding the tyres and how they work with the new car is one of McLaren's problems this year, as I have mentioned above - but a radical design also has a part to play in this. Sarge, McLaren have a long wheelbase again, and their rear isn't tightly packaged like the Red Bull or Ferrari - two things that (in theory) give their rivals an advantage over them. During the winter they said how they were trying to recover the same levels of downforce as before - when realistically that wasn't possible with the loss of the double diffuser and the increased minimum weight. Maybe that's what they went for such a radical package, but we don't know this for sure. F1mclaren927, There were times last year where the McLaren was incredible and without some bad luck (Spain, Hungary) Hamilton could have become champion. Same applies for Alonso and Webber though. They are not just opinions from the BBC, but also from fans and experts - all who seem in agreement. Keke Rosberg, Martin Brundle and the Autosport lads know what they are talking about, and while we can't know exactly how much faster/slower the McLaren is, everyone can see the problems McLaren are facing with understeer, stability through corners, and the lack of grip. Nick, As for who is the better driver, I based it on last season's results - but with Pirelli tyres Button may be the better driver (over a race distance)
I predicted before the cars were launched that McLaren would be the worst of the Top 5 just based on how they tend to slip up and how Merc and Renault are on the way up. This Prediction may come true but I base it on nothing till I witness the full capabilities in Australia
Maybe Mclaren may have year like the 2009 season but get better towards the end of it. The revolutionary sidepods could be fine tuned to bring them back to the top of the scoreboards, I welcome new ideas in F1, and I respect Mclaren for being brave enough to do this, it shows they have the balls as well as the brains in F1. A usual the other teams will end up copying it's ideas (F-duct) and modify it to look as if they really didn't, (thats's if it works well anyway). I think Ferrari may struggle his year, they have not really changed the car much and feel confident that there is no need to do so, Alonso may be weakened mentally, the race in Abu Dhabi may be still keeping him awake at night (the fact that he cannot overtake when it matters) and when he was bum-raped by Schumacher at Rascasse Monaco ( overtaken at one of the hardest corners in Monaco by a 41-year old man). I hope Massa does well this season, fact is he deserves it, not Alonso... f**king crybaby.
I think McLaren have the car to challenge, they just don't understand it yet. I think they'll struggle to make an impact for the first few races and then come good by May-ish time. This is all intuition work as I'm not an f1 expert who works for McLaren
It is mainly guesswork until the first race, then it's easier to make judgements. Bahrains cancellation will help a few teams who are behind.
Manny, I think the Ferrari will be brilliant this year. Just like Mercedes, they have an interim car and have very basic aero at the moment. Costa and Fry have been talking about this update for some time. All their development so far has come from the mechanical side and with is shocking for other teams is that this interim Ferrari appears to be very stable through the corners, good under braking and kind on it's tyres. I find it incredible that a Ferrari with an old front wing, simple diffuser, simple rear wing can be so far ahead of other teams (with the expection of Red Bull). When the aero parts come to the F150th Italia, the other teams should be worried.
Stop pretending you have any idea what you're talking about Lorca, most of anything decent you say is copied from Autosport, anything else is fundamentally flawed, such as when you attempted to rave about Ferrari's dynamic pull rod suspension system. You didn't talk about the tyres, you used a bulk standard get out clause - design. You hope they fail so you have tried to justify it. You are technically incompetent therefore your opinion is not valid. So you stick with your 'thinks' aka 'hopes' and we'll wait to see what happens eh.
As I said before, I don't want McLaren to fail, but as a Ferrari fan I want Ferrari to beat them. Quite simple logic idiot! As for the rest of your comment, grow up. Do you get some sort of enjoyment out of insulting someone through a computer? Actually don't bother responding to that, i've put you on my ignore list anyway.
Haha, you're 18 telling me to grow up! No Lorca I'm pointing out that you are not good with your technical analysis and you have a hidden agenda behind your posts. If you take insult to my observations then I think you need to take a look at yourself. Again. I think your analysis is rubbish, I have said why. Not nice to call people idiots especially after I responded with factual comments. Sorry you don't understand unless it's FACT.
Come on guys, seen enough of arguing on the **** off LewisWDC thread, lets just calm down and not be keyboard warriors.
Don't know about you but my keyboard makes me 7ft tall with muscles the size of filing cabinets. But moving to more serious topics, Stop with the fighting people.
