McLaren

[blacktulip]

From Itv sport

McLaren has admitted for the first time that its MP4-24 car is simply not yet fast enough and isn't ready to fight for wins, just two weeks before the new season starts in Australia.

The Woking-based squad, which last year won the drivers’ world title with Lewis Hamilton, perennially vies for Formula 1’s top honours with Ferrari and had appeared to have adapted well to the sport's technical overhaul for 2009 following the initial pre-season tests.

But this week the team slumped to the bottom of the timesheets at the final major test of the winter in Barcelona, with Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen each propping up the order on one day apiece some two seconds off the pace.


This came despite the MP4-24 running with a new front wing, resdesigned floor and top body – a package of Melbourne-spec performance updates new team boss Martin Whitmarsh now acknowledges has resulted in a “performance shortfall” which it is “working hard to resolve".


Indeed Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug – who has ironically seen the German firm’s customer engines help power Brawn GP to its stunning timesheet-topping times – admits that on current form McLaren is firmly on the back foot heading to Melbourne.

“There is a lack of downforce and we are currently working hard to solve this problem,” Haug said.

[blacktulip]

“Basically, the car feels good - that is what our drivers say.

“However, we are currently definitely not fast enough, not competitive enough to aim for victories."

While headline lap times from pre-season testing are notoriously difficult to interpret, the unusual site of a McLaren being the slowest car in a full 10-team field prompted speculation that all was not well with the MP4-24.

McLaren chairman Ron Dennis, who handed over team principal reigns to Whitmarsh on March 1, attempted to play down its troubles earlier this week, although he did concede that its pre-season programme hadn’t entirely gone to plan.

But after Hamilton ended the Barcelona test 1.9s slower than the pace set by Brawn GP, Whitmarsh has now confirmed it is suffering “chassis-centric” problems centred on its aerodynamic package.

“It is a combination of factors,” he said.

[f1diva]

well they have 4 days of testing to do next week, which the other teams don't, so that will play into mclarens hands. However it is obvious they will not make up 2 seconds in 4 days, but the development time will help.

The in season testing bad could hammer the nail in the coffin for their 2009 season though so they really do need to get their heads down and resolve that lack of downforce.

I wonder how Norbert Huag is feeling seeing Brawn's cars at the top, Mercedes have been working with Mclaren for nearly 15 years and they are 2 seconds slower than BGP who have had Mercedes engines for 15 minutes, ouch

F1diva
xxxxxxx

[blacktulip]

I, as a McLaren fan do not now think they will be in the first three, but watch out as time goes by they will start to dominate again

[blacktulip]

from ITV.F1. sport
The struggling McLaren team, meanwhile, continued to find itself cut adrift at the bottom of the timesheet with Lewis Hamilton signing off from pre-season over 1.2s off countryman Button’s pace.

The strong winds sweeping around the circuit hampered the team’s assessments of new aerodynamic parts, although it will be pleased to put 121 more laps on the troublesome MP4-24.

McLaren remains at Jerez for two further days as it tries to solve the aero problems that have left it marooned at the bottom of the times ahead of the first race.

Heikki Kovalainen will complete the team’s testing programme.

[blacktulip]

In other words McLaren are way off thae pace and not looking good at this point in time

[blacktulip]

ITV F1 sport report
McLaren appeared to make a much-needed step forward in performance at Jerez on Wednesday as Heikki Kovalainen lapped almost a second faster than the team had managed so far this week.


After the Woking squad’s top brass admitted last Friday that it was unlikely to be competitive enough to fight at the front in the season-opening grand prix in Australia, McLaren has faced a crucial final week of pre-season testing as it tries out a raft of new aerodynamic modifications on its car.


Lewis Hamilton had been unable to get within a second of either Fernando Alonso's (Renault) or Jenson Button’s (Brawn GP) benchmark times on the previous two days, with his best lap standing at 1m19.121s.


But Wednesday’s session, which saw just McLaren and Williams continue in action, was far more encouraging for the team with Kovalainen topping the times on a 1m18.202s – moving the MP4-24 to within 0.4s of Brawn’s Tuesday pace.