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Tag: McLaren F1 team
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Ferrari-Mercedes renew battle in Barcelona; Red Bull in frame as one of favourites
Sebastien Vettel (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) all set to renew their rivalry. Photo: formula1.com Barcelona, 10 May 2018: Four rounds ticked off the Formula 1 calendar, and this season has certainly kept us on the edge of our seats. We’ve had two triumphs for Ferrari, and one apiece for Red Bull and Mercedes. So, who has the momentum as we head to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix?
It’s very hard to say indeed. Last time out, Baku provided us with a chaotic and thrilling race with Ferrari looking on course for a third win of the campaign before the Red Bull collision set off a chain of events that ultimately conspired to hand Mercedes their first victory of 2018.
The Silver Arrows still trail their rivals in red by four points in the constructors’ standings, but Lewis Hamilton’s latest triumph – his first of the season – gave him the lead ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship after four races this season, the Briton having waited until after round 13 to move ahead last year.
Mercedes have locked out the front row in Barcelona in four of the past five years, but their qualifying prowess has already been questioned this year – Azerbaijan was the third race in a row they have missed out on P1.
But as we’ve seen already this season, it won’t just be about Mercedes and Ferrari this weekend. In fact, perhaps most of the attention will be on Red Bull, following the clash between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan.
They have now suffered two double DNFs in the past three races, having previously not suffered one at all since the 2010 Korean GP – and after being read the riot act, their drivers will be desperate to avoid more contact in Spain.
Barcelona is a track all the teams know extremely well – but who will come out on top?
The form book
Looking at the stats, Mercedes have every reason to be confident on their return to Barcelona. This track has arguably been a demonstration of their dominance in the turbo hybrid era.
In 2014, they locked out the front row with no other car within one second of pole. In 2015, this gap dropped to 0.777s, then 0.680s in 2016, before Vettel narrowed it to 0.051s last year and became the first non-Mercedes to start on the front row here since 2012.
The qualifying stats suggest the winner will need to come up with the goods on the Saturday. Twenty-four of the 27 Grands Prix in Catalunya have been won from the front row (89 per cent), the highest ratio of any circuit on the calendar with at least 10 previous races, such is the difficulty of overtaking at the Spanish venue.
Over the last decade, though, we have seen plenty of different drivers triumph, including shock victories for Pastor Maldonado in 2012 and Max Verstappen – on his Red Bull debut – in 2016. Hamilton’s victory last year ended a run of 10 different winners in the same number years in Spain, but could we see another new winner this year? Neither Ricciardo nor Bottas has triumphed here, but both have been in terrific form.
This is a race where, traditionally, the teams bring significant upgrades to their cars, so whilst no one is expecting the established top three to be toppled, in the supremely tight midfield there could be movement. McLaren, in the midst of a tight battle for P4 in the constructors’ championship with Renault, are one of the teams bringing significant revisions.
Both teams have Spanish drivers, but it’s Renault’s Carlos Sainz who has the better recent record at Barcelona, finishing the last three races in ninth, sixth and seventh. Alonso, meanwhile, hasn’t scored points at home since 2014 when he was still driving for Ferrari.
Elsewhere, several teams will be looking to carry momentum into Spain. Force India’s surprise podium in Baku, with Sergio Perez landing P3, kick-started their season, while Toro Rosso were boosted by Brendon Hartley’s first points-finish last time out.
Sauber’s Charles Leclerc also scored points for the first time, while Williams got their 2018 campaign underway with Lance Stroll scoring four points for P8.
Source: Formula1.com
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Spanish GP: Fernando Alonso, McLaren team hopeful of improved performance
Barcelona, 9 May 2018: The first European race of the 2018 Formula One season starts with a trip to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a well-visited and well-loved track by all in the F1 paddock. The 28th running of the Spanish Grand Prix not only sees the return of the McLaren team’s home away from home – the buzzing Brand Centre, but a new-look pit garage, a handful of car parts to test and of course, Fernando Alonso’s home race. Look out for passionate Fernando fans with their Asturian flags, cheering on their homegrown hero and the team!
Despite having finished on points in all the previous four races this season, Alonso believes there is still a long road ahead for the team and much scope for improvement. Being the home race for him, Alonso said he looked forward to performing well in his home country this weekend.
Fernando Alonso Alonso said: “It’s great to be back in Europe, in Spain, and at home! You can never beat the feeling of racing in front of your home fans. I’m very lucky that we get to race in my country of birth as not all drivers get that opportunity, and every year the support from the Spanish fans gets bigger and better.
“The Spanish Grand Prix represents the start of a very busy few months leading up to the summer break – both for McLaren and for me with my other racing commitments. I’m more than ready for the challenge and I’m really excited to see what the next few races bring us.
“I know we have some developments in the pipeline, but we also know there is no magic bullet that will propel us to the front of the grid overnight. There has been a lot of work happening at the factory and there is still a lot of work to do.
“So in Barcelona, it’s a chance to evaluate some new things, see where we are, and determine the direction that we take with car development as we progress through the season. As always, and especially after the battle we fought in Baku, I’m really looking forward to pushing hard on track again this weekend in front of my home fans.”
Stoffel Vandoorne Alonso’s team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne said: “Heading back to European races always feels very satisfyingly familiar, especially in Barcelona. We all know the track very well and spend a lot of time there. In fact, it doesn’t feel that long ago that we were there during pre-season testing!
“Thankfully, the weather should be a little bit more reliable this time around. Although we do a lot of testing here and we have a lot of data about the circuit, we weren’t able to do a lot of representative running pre-season due to the weather conditions and the issues we had.
“However, I’ve spent time back at the factory in the simulator since Baku, so the key will be to translate that information to the track and get a read on our package as soon as possible on Friday. That package will include a few new components that we’ll be working hard to learn about and evaluate on Friday. There’ll be a lot to assess and for sure other teams will be planning the same thing, so as always we’ll need to race hard, ensure good reliability, and optimise our strategy to be able to come home with more points.”
Eric Boullier Eric Boullier, Racing Director, said: “The whole team is looking forward to heading back to Barcelona. It’s a great circuit – one of the classics on the calendar – and it always feels good to start the second chapter of the season as we start racing again in Europe.
“This also means the return of our much-loved Brand Centre, and having all the teams’ hospitality units back in the Paddock brings a real ‘back-to-school’ feeling. For us, being Fernando’s home race, the support we receive is nothing short of spectacular, and the fans always bring another level of enthusiasm.
“Like most teams, we’re planning to bring some new parts to the car to test on Friday and decide which of these to take forward into the rest of the weekend, and the coming races. While for logistical reasons Barcelona was the most logical time to implement these, it’s part of a season-long plan to develop the car as we always do until the final race.
“We’re taking each grand prix weekend step-by-step, and hope we can begin to address the challenges we know we face with our package. We’re all gunning for a positive weekend for both cars in front of Fernando’s home crowd.”
The essentials
Focus points: Gaining a quick understanding of the car and the conditions. The teams had eight days of winter testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, but the weather was unrepresentative. Snow, rain and single-digit temperatures resulted in little meaningful performance testing, which gives the teams little relevant data going into this weekend.
Most demanding section: Turns One, Two and Three. Turns One and Two are deceptively fast, taken at 180km/h (112mph), and many drivers hit the inside kerbs to help rotate the car and aid direction change. Turn Three is a breathtakingly fast right-hander, through which the cars accelerate to 285km/h (177mph) at the exit.
Unique difficulty: Barcelona has an eclectic mix of corners, and that is the circuit’s unique difficulty. Sectors One and Two are high-speed, through which aerodynamic efficiency is crucial; Sector Three is all about slow-speed mechanical grip. To be fast, a car needs to work in every type of corner.
Braking: There are eight braking events around the lap, but only two significant stops – into Turns One and 10. Turn One is the most severe corner for the brakes, with the cars scrubbing off 215km/h (134mph) in just 100m/0.0621 miles, which subjects the drivers to 5.6g.
Power: The cars use 1.7kg of fuel per lap, which is average for the season. It’s quite a demanding race for the ERS as well because there are two long periods of full deployment.
Aero: After running a low downforce configuration in Baku, it’s back to maximum downforce in Barcelona. The eclectic mix of corners, particularly the slow-speed chicanes in Sector Three, mean the best lap times are achieved by maximising cornering performance.
Source (text and photos): McLaren F1 team
