How to get it wrong - McLaren in 2013

wimiu012uk · 18 Mar 2013, 20:10 (Ref:3220769)

Ignore what they are saying at mclaren, how can they get it soo wrong, how long before the 2012 model is used ?

Knowlesy · 18 Mar 2013, 20:14 (Ref:3220772)

There can be no benefit to using the 2012 car as that has been taken as far as it can go surely. They have to stick with this.

Could do with someone to hustle it around though.

Armco Bender · 18 Mar 2013, 20:43 (Ref:3220778)

Quote:

There can be no benefit to using the 2012 car as that has been taken as far as it can go surely.

A sad reflection on the consumerist society we live in today......they got 4 good seasons out of the M23 in the good old days.

bravo · 18 Mar 2013, 21:06 (Ref:3220793)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

There can be no benefit to using the 2012 car as that has been taken as far as it can go surely. They have to stick with this.

Could do with someone to hustle it around though.

Are we seeing the same front push-rod learning curve at Mclaren as we saw at the start of 2012 in the Ferrari camp - only they don't have an Alonso to cover up for how bad it is?

chillibowl · 18 Mar 2013, 21:19 (Ref:3220805)

if its worst case scenario then this wouldnt be the first time they had to go back to an old car during the season...in 2003 the inspired but buggy MP4-18 was never raced and instead they used the updated version of the previous years car the MP4-17D

its mclaren and sometimes with big risks come big failures but they always find ways to come back as they did, at least mathematically, in 2003. its hardly that bad though and they are much better than Williams anyways at recovering from early season issues.

**Aysedasi** · 18 Mar 2013, 21:23 (Ref:3220810)

We've had one race, for goodness sake........

Nicholosophy · 19 Mar 2013, 03:49 (Ref:3220993)

If this is a learning curve related to the new front end suspension, look at how the Ferrari performed later in the season and again this year. Give them some time to get it sorted.

Perhaps wise to do it this year with Checho new to the team so that 2014 will be an all out assault with all the new regs.

steve_r · 19 Mar 2013, 11:29 (Ref:3221119)

It just seems to be one thing after another with Mclaren. 1998 was the last time they won the WCC and their last WDC was in 2008. For such a massive team, this return seems pretty poor.

Too many times they start the season with a dog of a car, and are out of the hunt before they find the sweet spot. Either that, or poor reliability kills off any challenge.

ECW Dan Selby · 19 Mar 2013, 12:53 (Ref:3221149)

Tell you what, though.. How interesting would it be to use the 2012 McLaren as a barometer?

You could really see how much the other cars have improved. Obviously not quite so interesting if you're at McLaren, but...

Selby

Marbot · 19 Mar 2013, 13:04 (Ref:3221157)

They got it wrong in 09, but they got it right by the end of that season. McLaren just need to get it right a little bit sooner than that.

Like the Williams', there is a very good car in there somewhere.

**Born Racer** · 19 Mar 2013, 16:44 (Ref:3221277)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

We've had one race, for goodness sake........

I know, but with McLaren it's typical of them to somehow fall below what they should be doing. They're so good in many ways and frustrating in others. Let's see if there are long faces in Malaysia. It'll be more telling.

**Bononi** · 19 Mar 2013, 19:58 (Ref:3221373)

They will bounce back and by Spain they'll be winning races.

b1ackcr0w · 19 Mar 2013, 20:41 (Ref:3221392)

I'd be very shocked if they went back to the old car. I know it's been done in seasons passed. But they aren't allowed to chuck it round 1000 laps of Paul Ricard to sort it out like they could back in the day.
Button said there'd be no improvement at Malaysia, so I take it from that, it's something they can't reproduce in the simulator. Either they don't know what's wrong, or if they do, it's fairly intrinsic to the design of the car, not just a part that can be swapped out.
Tough times ahead it would seem.

**Born Racer** · 19 Mar 2013, 20:44 (Ref:3221396)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bononi

They will bounce back and by Spain they'll be winning races.

They'll win races, but they keep blowing championship opportunities.

Knowlesy · 19 Mar 2013, 21:55 (Ref:3221421)

Luckily the tyre lottery is back so McLaren could sneak a win on that basis. Once everyone masters the three they have no hope.

A season of much cackness awaits for the Woking chaps.

**BertMk2** · 19 Mar 2013, 22:17 (Ref:3221434)

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1ackcr0w

Button said there'd be no improvement at Malaysia, so I take it from that, it's something they can't reproduce in the simulator. Either they don't know what's wrong, or if they do, it's fairly intrinsic to the design of the car, not just a part that can be swapped out.
Tough times ahead it would seem.

I guess it's simply a case of even if they knew what was wrong with it the time between Australia and Malaysia is just too short to do anything about it - as in it's not a set up problem but something that needs to be replaced. It'll need new parts - that have to be designed, manufactured, stress tested and shipped out. Even working around the clock that's going to be a big ask in effectively what 4-5 days from the end of one event to the start of the next. It's usually when they get back to the European events that the big update packages start to come on stream.

Knowlesy · 19 Mar 2013, 23:53 (Ref:3221470)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Luckily the tyre lottery is back so McLaren could sneak a win on that basis. Once everyone masters the three they have no hope.

A season of much cackness awaits for the Woking chaps.

That should say 'tyres' not 'three'. Blummin' auto-correct.

Dayzer · 21 Mar 2013, 13:23 (Ref:3222299)

Seems that a component was inverted during car setup, during Testing and that when the team rectified the problem their pace seemingly disappeared. :P Maybe they should try invert it again and see what happens

Linky to article

b1ackcr0w · 21 Mar 2013, 13:33 (Ref:3222301)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

That should say 'tyres' not 'three'. Blummin' auto-correct.

It would seem that Lotus have already got the hang of the tyres & Ferrari are not far off.

tristancliffe · 21 Mar 2013, 14:13 (Ref:3222311)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayzer

Seems that a component was inverted during car setup, during Testing and that when the team rectified the problem their pace seemingly disappeared. :P Maybe they should try invert it again and see what happens

Linky to article

Apparently they did at Melbourne, and it wasn't compatible with the fuel loads and bumps etc, so it didn't help. (source: Twitter I think, so take with salt).

I do wonder WHICH part was inverted though. And even with the mistake, to do the times he did on the first day remains impressive, suggesting there is an awesomely quick car there if they can solve this problem.

Dayzer · 21 Mar 2013, 14:32 (Ref:3222320)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristancliffe

Apparently they did at Melbourne, and it wasn't compatible with the fuel loads and bumps etc, so it didn't help. (source: Twitter I think, so take with salt).

I do wonder WHICH part was inverted though. And even with the mistake, to do the times he did on the first day remains impressive, suggesting there is an awesomely quick car there if they can solve this problem.

Maybe they are just using it as an excuses. What if they magically find pace at this weekends GP? Will they say "Ohhh we just re inverted it and look we are much quicker"

JamesH · 21 Mar 2013, 16:05 (Ref:3222347)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristancliffe

Apparently they did at Melbourne, and it wasn't compatible with the fuel loads and bumps etc, so it didn't help. (source: Twitter I think, so take with salt).

I do wonder WHICH part was inverted though. And even with the mistake, to do the times he did on the first day remains impressive, suggesting there is an awesomely quick car there if they can solve this problem.

I believe the inverted component was the wheels/tyres, so they are going to try them the other way up in the next race.

tristancliffe · 21 Mar 2013, 16:13 (Ref:3222352)

That could help. I do that when I get a flat tyre, because it's only ever flat at the bottom. Gets a few more miles out of the rubber that way.

luke g28 · 21 Mar 2013, 16:14 (Ref:3222353)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayzer

Seems that a component was inverted during car setup, during Testing and that when the team rectified the problem their pace seemingly disappeared. :P Maybe they should try invert it again and see what happens

Linky to article

IIRC they tried to but once the car was full of fuel it was too low.

Dayzer · 21 Mar 2013, 16:57 (Ref:3222367)

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke g28

IIRC they tried to but once the car was full of fuel it was too low.

Yea that would make sense as they didn't do any really long stints during testing. Sure we only have a few hours to see if they have manage to do some sort recovery.

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