After two practice sessions it looks like Mclaren are a good second slower then Ferrari/RB. Hamilton stressed on his pit radio that he couldnt go any quicker. Race pace looks about half a second down. If my glass is half full there'll be a magic bullet setup tomorrow. Half empty and it's gonna be another frustrating weekend.
I know McLaren were saying on Thursday that they don't need rain and they'll be fine on a dry track but to be honest they don't even come close to Red Bull or Ferrari and I bet they'll be praying for rain - without rain, they'd have to be incredibly lucky just to get on the podium. They are slower in all three sectors and the fact that they are dropping the most time in Sector 2 confirms our suspicions: McLaren don't have the downforce to challenge Red Bull or Ferrari. If rain comes as forecasted, they have the oppurtunity to attack the drivers in front, but even then I think a win is an unrealistic target. IMHO McLaren have nothing more to gain this year - they won't win any titles and holding onto 2nd in the WCC will be a struggle. Therefore I think they should give up on 2011 after Hungary and use the time to focus on 2012.
It doesnt look good for them! Unless something drastic happens I can see Merc giving them real problems tommorro! Alosn looks up for it!
I don't think Mercedes are very close to Mclaren at the moment, but they are fighting in between 1st and 2nd class teams on the grid, kicking away Renault and trying to grapple onto Mclaren who themselves are losing grip. Rain tomorrow will mix things up, but I feel Alonso will be on top again with Webber and Vettel following.
I find it very dissapointing that Mclaren are struggling for downforce but they are lacking aerodynamicly aswell. They need to stop with these ridiculous updates they sometimes bring because as a Hamilton fan I find it frustrating. I'm hoping next year they will have a brilliant car to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari.
I think the upgrades today worked (although Button did have an exhaust failure), it was the KERS failure that slowed Button down.
Here's the confirmation of McLaren's poor pace - Hamilton says McLaren are 1 second behind Red Bull and Ferrari over a single lap. At this rate, they won't even be able to put pressure on Massa, not in qualifying anyway. Updates with little or no success is making McLaren fall back even further and I honestly don't believe they can catch Ferrari or Red Bull this season. More often that not McLaren set their sights too high and give their fans false hopes. If Hamilton wasn't already pissed off with the slow car, he now get's fined for speeding in the pit lane.
If they can gain more downforce then I think they can win races and challenge for pole but atm it's just more and more frustration for the drivers and fans.
I'm pretty sure that's not the case. His did a bad job with the MP4-24 but he did turn the car around into a race winner and he had to work with KERS, which would've included many difficulties. He was the main man working on the 2011 car prior to his replacement so I don't think McLaren sacked him for doing a bad job. I heard something completely different about Fry's removal, I don't know where I heard it from, but it had something to do with racism.
Its the same old story for the last 3 years, not enough downforce!!! The aerodynamic team are doing a poor job and if they're not careful they could be going down Williams/Renault route. It must be very frustrating for Lewis and Jenson knowing that given the fastest car they can dominate.
