It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Pretty special performance, I’d say.
20 points of downforce? 20 downforces? I wonder what constitutes the measure of a downforce.
Cribbed from someone posting a bit written by Pat Symonds:
https://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8250&sid=fedae0fee8e34d0154769e9c3c6ee084&start=30#p458408
Whole thread is well worth reading. Someone writes in the thread that Whitmarsh in an interview said that losing a front wing end plate is worth 10 points of downforce. So losing 20 points is roughly equivalent to driving a whole race with a pretty damaged front wing.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/1032144670275848/
As for McLaren, I actually wonder if Alonso's skill is actually hurting the development, since he can drive so well around problems that maybe he can't give clear enough feedback about what's wrong. It's also killing Stoffel's career, cos he looks shit next to Fred, but probably wouldn't be if the car was better sorted.
Aaand for my final point... any bets on who Max "get driven into by" (i.e. crash into) this race??
The only positive Van Doorne has is that nobody expects him to be as fast as Alonso.
Make no mistake, Alonso will be a goldmine for the team in terms of his feedback and reaching the potential of the car. His ability doesn't blind him to what is hurting his laptime, but with F1 I'm quite sure the solution is (9 times out of 9) more downforce, less drag. Alonso can't really influence those fundamentals.
Knock that off their quali times, and where would that have put him?
EDIT - Possibly 10th.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
Because Red Bull are snapping at the heels of Merc & Ferrari and McLaren are maybe 0.2 ahead of where they've been all season, except only when Alonso is driving, because Stoff is still 11th behind two Haas-es and one Renault, and only not-2-Renaults because Hulk's gearbox died.
And even Alonso's best time was almost a second slower than the slower Red Bull.
I'm quite sure the new nose has helped, but they're not slow because of Renault. And I'm not convinced the last 3 seasons because of Honda. At least, not entirely.
Red Bull have a genius designing their car .. Woolf admitted he wouldn't give Red Bull Merc engines as he expected them to beat Mercedes every race. Adrian Newey is probably worth a 0.56 second or more - the Red Bull is clearly the best designed car. McLaren will hit a development wall as they clearly don't have the expertise to match Red Bull in the car design stakes and will want more horsepower from Renault. If Honda get their act together Red Bull could be back as number one on the grid.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
I just think the excuses have run out and it's time to accept that McLaren is a midfield team now, and has been for a long while now. They're basically following William's post-BMW trajectory, except they didn't even get results with their works partnership before it all went to shit
Red Bull lining up 5 and 6 on the grid in Spain while McLaren is in 8th with Alonso - the time difference is massive. It could also be argued that Alonso wrings the neck out of any car he drives. Look at where his team is .. the difference is the car. Both the Renault and McLaren will need Renault to up their game and get more power as they don't have an Adrian Newey to tweak their car.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!