I actually feel sorry for these guys no front grip: [video=youtube;YFsfnAhRwQk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFsfnAhRwQk[/video] [video=youtube;8DSwmg4OUYc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DSwmg4OUYc[/video] Compared to: [video=youtube;yubG8_CGdog]http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=yubG8_CGdog[/video] [video=youtube;VrIZgAv2XBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=VrIZgAv2XBg[/video] If the MP4-28 really is two seconds off the pace, surely the Brazil-spec MP4-27 would be a lot quicker than the Melbourne-spec MP4-28? McLaren should definitely consider bringing back the MP4-27, like they did with the MP4-17. If they're convinced the new car has race winning potential, why not use the MP4-27 as a short-term solution and give themselves time to work on getting the MP4-28 right?
obviously there's a lot of speculation going on as we don't have all the information on what they’ve changed, but to me it sounds like they’ve panicked; maybe because Hamilton left (and they probably feared he and Lowe would pass on a lot of info on their car design and setup to Mercedes) or because they think taking risks would give them some magic advantage over the Red Bull. But i would always favour making a small number of changes even if they’re major ones because surely you’ll be able to see a clearer picture about their positive or negative effects. To me it seems like they’ve made a load of changes which have trashed the cars handling and i can see them spending this whole year trying to get the car to work with pull rod suspension even if its considerably slower because of it. But obviously i don’t really know anything, only time will tell. I was really hoping for more teams to be closer to the front this year and for Lotus to win more races, i'll be pretty disappointed if its just Hamilton vs Vettel at the front.
Just out of interest, does anyone know what the Mclaren long run pace was like - I hoping they may not be as bad in race trim - like ferrari last year?
I think they could cut their losses short and do that. Unless they were sandbagging or something. Which from the sound of Martin (pit wall) communication, is not likely.
That's more like it! The crop circle will soon be complete. I do hope you're right, BIL. Still, not long until the Moment of Truth...
This whole bringing back the mp4-27 and develop the 28 aint gonna work for crap. Firstly no unlimited testing, how would they solve the 28's issues without no tracktime. The 27 has (apparently) hit its development peak so when others start bringing updates they would be left standing and finally having 3 teams in the mclaren camp working on 27,28 and 29(new regs) would be a constant strain on everyone. All i can say brotha's is that i hope this is not a internally flawed problem otherwise itJs a long road ahead.
If qualifying is dry (which looks unlikely) I think it probably will be a Vettel pole but I think their race pace is equal to Lotus, Ferrari and hopefully Mercedes. If quali is wet then it will be a lottery. The Mercedes was very good in wet conditions in testing.
If Vettel has to win, I just want him to have to fight for it. We already know that the car will be designed to get pole and allow him to speed off into the distance because otherwise his weaknesses can be overcome by his rivals. Rain would be great, yeah, but whatever the weather I just want to watch a real race. I hope we all do
Absolutely! The first half of last season was as exciting as any I've ever followed. I'm just not feeling very confident right now that this year will have the same thrill.
Not sure about FP3, might just go to bed early and get up for Quali. Last night there was no way I could do both.
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