I agree . Surely some teams are running fully painted ? is the weight of the paint really 50 kilos ? that seems very heavy to me . I know the weight of paint has cropped up before . Pretty sure it was when Sir Jackie was involved with Jaguar . Their car looked stunning ( IMHO ) if the green they had . Jackie was moaning about the weight of it , it was very heavy as it was really rich metallic looking .
no, I just made up the number of 50kg based on the additional weight added by regs last year. tyres, safety changes etc
please log in to view this image Good question - I think it might be where the Tezos and Arrow logos are, but looks less pronounced on the McLaren than the Aston and the Mercedes. Could be a trick of the light. On that area of the car- is there a massive inlet under those two logos that I never noticed previously?
One thing keeps nagging away at me with McLaren. They actively downplayed their prospects, despite actually IMO their car looking like it was noticeably changed from last year and certainly no less refined than Alpine. James Key was nowhere to be seen at launch. Is he being punished do we think or challenged by Andrea Stella to push the envelope further? Is he on the firing line? Or are they hard at work pushing an innovation that could make their season? It’s very strange- he’s been a headline name in their launches since they signed him but I get the impression this year something is different.
Alpine looks like its going to be fighting williams for wooden spoon. Who knows with mclaren. for all we know the guy had a flu. only time will tell.
McLaren due on track soon at Bahrain for their shakedown- hopefully some pictures to follow this afternoon.
McLaren videographers and media team blurring their floor in all footage today! however I think we do have some good pics…bear with!
am the only one really disappointed teams still have to report to that big dirty tie bar to stiffen their floor edges?
Ride height ruling change scuppered McLaren It turns out this caused big issues for McLaren. Key said that while a 15-millimeter change "sounds very small," the importance of the floors in generating downforce means it had a “massive" impact. "When we did that in our car, it actually gave us a much bigger loss than anticipated," Key explained. "When we took that step, it was a really big knock for us." It left McLaren moving in a different direction with its floor concept about a month too late to get it resolved for the start of the season. "It is frustrating, because to be honest, the route we're on now seems to be pretty prolific," said Key. "Had the reg been earlier, or had we clocked the fact that you need to do a different thing with it four weeks earlier, we wouldn't be talking about it right now, to be honest. It's a bit of a shame. We are where we are." By Race 4 in Baku, it should have the fixes in place to make it more competitive again. Source: Luke Smith Senior Writer, F1 https://theathletic.com/tag/f1/ ——————————— Interesting that Key talks about some prolific development- he’s not a guy who ever overstates things in all fairness. I know he’s taking a few question marks from the outside and fan base but I doubt he’s someone who overpromises by any means. Interesting to see whether McLaren see any sizeable chunk of improvement when that change comes. I wonder what it is specifically with the floor?
James Key leaves McLaren. Replaced by David Sanchez (2024) who is on gardening leave from Ferrari, jointly leading car development with both Peter Prodromou and Neil Houldey. Full Story: McLaren today announces a number of organisational changes within its Formula 1 team. The team has taken the decision to move away from a single Executive Technical Director role, overseeing the whole technical operation. Instead, it will be introducing a Formula 1 Technical Executive Team comprising of three new specialised Technical Director roles, reporting directly to Team Principal Andrea Stella. James Key, Executive Technical Director has left the team as part of this restructure. The F1 Technical Executive Team includes Peter Prodromou, who moves into the role of Technical Director, Aerodynamics. Peter will lead the whole aero function, using his experience gained in 32 years of Formula 1 and a strong track record of winning world championships. David Sanchez returns to McLaren as Technical Director, Car Concept and Performance after a decade at Ferrari, and brings significant expertise and innovation to the team. David will join the team on 1 January 2024. Neil Houldey is promoted into the newly created role of Technical Director, Engineering and Design. Having first joined the team in 2006 Neil has grown within the organisation, becoming a highly respected technical leader. Giuseppe Pesce is promoted to Director, Aerodynamics & Chief of Staff, to support the running of the aero department reporting into Peter. Alongside these changes, Piers Thynne moves into the expanded role of Chief Operating Officer for the Formula 1 team. This new role will support the Team Principal in the mission of innovating and elevating the standards at McLaren, to be strongly positioned to be competing at the front of the grid. This reorganisation has been the work of a number of months and takes place ahead of several new key infrastructure projects which are due to come online in phases throughout 2023. Additionally, the team has been undertaking a sustained recruitment campaign to increase the technical capability, with some senior appointments already made. This strategic approach, based on organisational restructure, new infrastructure, and expansion of the workforce, creates the foundations for a stronger and more innovative Formula 1 team to enable future success. Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren Formula 1 Team, commented: “Firstly, I’d like to thank James for his hard work and commitment during his time at McLaren and wish him well for the future. “Looking ahead, I am determined and fully focused on leading McLaren back to the front of the field. Since taking on the Team Principal role I have been given the mandate to take a strategic approach to ensure the team is set on a long-term foundation, for us to build on over the years. “This new structure provides clarity and effectiveness within the team’s technical department and puts us in a strong position to maximise performance, including optimising the new infrastructure upgrades we have coming in 2023. “Alongside Peter and Neil, I’m delighted to welcome David Sanchez back to the team to complete an experienced and highly specialised Technical Executive team, with the collective aim of delivering greater on-track car performance. “I’m looking forward to continuing working together with Piers, who will play a fundamental role to define and deliver the plans to create an innovative and effective F1 team.” Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said: “It’s important now that we ensure we have a solid foundation as the next phase of our journey. It has been clear to me for some time that our technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid. I’m pleased that, having completed a full review with Andrea, we are now able to implement the restructure required to set the wheels in motion to turn this around. These strategic changes ensure the long-term success of the team and are necessary to see McLaren get back to winning ways. We have everything coming into place now with our people and infrastructure and alongside an exciting driver line-up, I’m determined to see McLaren get back to where we should be.” David Sanchez commented: “I’m excited to be returning to the team in Woking and look forward to working alongside Peter and Neil and the rest of the team to achieve our performance objectives. McLaren has always had an extremely talented group of people and alongside the new infrastructure upgrades coming online this year, we have an exciting prospect ahead that I’m delighted to be a part of.”
This is my fave of the weekends McLaren liveries tho. Just look at that beast! please log in to view this image