~misfit~
2018-03-08 07:18:16 UTC
Another bad day at testing for McLaren, Alonso having to stop on track with
oil leaking after ~40 laps at 11am and them not getting the car back out
until after 5pm with a new ICE. Apparently a 'simple' ICE change should take
around 3 hours...
With the latest testing issues I think that McLaren have, over the last few
years, put aero and chassis design on a pedestal to too great an extent,
forcing every other part of car design to conform to what the aero team
want. In previous seasons it's meant that they've made Honda look bad as
they have had to work around very strict aero constraints and so far this
year, with a proven PU in the back they're still seeing failures mainly due
to 'packaging'. It's as if the aero guys own the damn company and can do
whatever they want with every other facet of the car coming a distant second
(or third etc.)
McLaren *are* good at aero. I commented several days ago that the car looks
fast, that rear suspension is the talk of the pit lane and half of the teams
have adopted slots in the front wing hangers for 2018 after McLaren
pioneered them last year. However it's no use being great at *one aspect* of
building a Formula 1 car. Having great aero is no good if it's at the
expense of packaging the PU and hence reliability.
Just some of my thoughts after day 2 of the second week of testing...
oil leaking after ~40 laps at 11am and them not getting the car back out
until after 5pm with a new ICE. Apparently a 'simple' ICE change should take
around 3 hours...
With the latest testing issues I think that McLaren have, over the last few
years, put aero and chassis design on a pedestal to too great an extent,
forcing every other part of car design to conform to what the aero team
want. In previous seasons it's meant that they've made Honda look bad as
they have had to work around very strict aero constraints and so far this
year, with a proven PU in the back they're still seeing failures mainly due
to 'packaging'. It's as if the aero guys own the damn company and can do
whatever they want with every other facet of the car coming a distant second
(or third etc.)
McLaren *are* good at aero. I commented several days ago that the car looks
fast, that rear suspension is the talk of the pit lane and half of the teams
have adopted slots in the front wing hangers for 2018 after McLaren
pioneered them last year. However it's no use being great at *one aspect* of
building a Formula 1 car. Having great aero is no good if it's at the
expense of packaging the PU and hence reliability.
Just some of my thoughts after day 2 of the second week of testing...
--
Shaun.
"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
Shaun.
"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)