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[Denthúl]

Bottom line seems to be: McLaren are not quite ready for prime time. Unless they get things sorted within the next few, this might open up a challenging season with 'outsiders' getting a realistic chance of winning races or making it to the podium.

Williams

I think every team will make the podium at least once this year. It is probably too much to hope for, but every team winning a race would be something special.

[Gaz]

If theres any team i wouldn't put down until the 1st corner of the 1st race its Mclaren, they have the know how, people and recources to get it right.

i just hope they put all that to work and are closer too the front come Oz

[bud]

Technical analysis: McLaren's new floor
By Craig Scarborough Monday, March 9th 2009, 17:42 GMT


McLaren may not be impressing with their out-and-out lap times so far in testing, but at the first day of this week's Barcelona test they surprised the paddock with a radical reshape to their car's floor.

Rather than a flat continuous floor inside the coke bottle shape, the MP4-24 has appeared with a curious cutaway section just ahead of the rear wheels.

A triangular section of floor is missing between the forward part of the floor, which follows the curve of the sidepods, and a squared off edge just ahead of the diffuser. This can be clearly seen in the photograph above.

The rules demand a flat bottom underneath the car, with no part of the car visible from below. In recent years this cut-out would have exposed the flip-ups that surrounded the sidepods, but the cleaner sidepod lines allows the team to try this new floor shaping.

A diffuser creates its downforce at two points: firstly at the kick-line between the diffuser/floor, then secondly at its leading edge.

By effectively moving this leading edge backwards, McLaren are also moving the downforce it creates towards the rear. This may be part of a McLaren strategy to focus downforce production on the front wing and diffuser, as both devices are efficient at creating downforce with little drag.

If these two devices can create enough downforce, then the rear wing can be smaller reducing drag and gaining speed on the straights.

With no question on the floor's legality, McLaren may have stolen a march on the opposition at a time that many observers have been questioning the team's testing pace.

McLaren confirmed on Thursday that the introduction of the new floor came alongside the use of a new front wing and top body. The team conducted back-to-back tests in the morning and afternoon with and without the parts to establish a baseline for the improvements, and will now work on honing the developments.

[texasmr2]

If theres any team i wouldn't put down until the 1st corner of the 1st race its Mclaren, they have the know how, people and recources to get it right.

i just hope they put all that to work and are closer too the front come Oz

I'm sure McLaren will not disappoint us but we should also include 'If theres any team I wouldn't put down until the 1st corner of the 1st race its Ferrari because you know they also have the know how, people and resources to get it right'.

[Frosty]

Kimi did a 1:20.314 today which is far faster than any lap by a 08 car last year the fastest time set in 08 car last year was 1:20.649!

[EDIT] I posted out of date times by mistake sorry! Latest ones posted
1. K. Räikkönen Ferrari F60 1:20.314
2. R. Barrichello Brawn GP BGP 001 1:20.966 +0.652
3. J. Trulli Toyota TF109 1:21.326 +1.012
4. F. Alonso Renault R29 1:21.937 +1.623
5. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.09 1:21.965 +1.651
6. A. Sutil Force India VJM-02 1:22.141 +1.827
7. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-24 1:22.328 +2.014
8. K. Nakajima Williams FW31 1:22.381 +2.067
9. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB5 1:22.517 +2.203
10. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR4 1:23.039 +2.725

[bud]

Kimi did a 1:20.314 today which is far faster than any lap by a 08 car last year the fastest time set in 08 car last year was 1:20.649!

1. K. Räikkönen Ferrari F60 1:20.868
2. R. Barrichello Brawn GP BGP 001 1:21.459 +0.591
3. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.09 1:21.965 +1.097
4. J. Trulli Toyota TF109 1:21.986 +1.118
5. F. Alonso Renault R29 1:22.060 +1.192
6. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB5 1:22.517 +1.649
7. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-24 1:22.810 +1.942
8. K. Nakajima Williams FW31 1:22.893 +2.025
9. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR4 1:23.039 +2.171
10. A. Sutil Force India VJM-02 1:23.170 +2.302

the day aint over yet either But Heidfeld also did a similar lap time yesterday.

[Jensonb]

Kimi did a 1:20.314 today which is far faster than any lap by a 08 car last year the fastest time set in 08 car last year was 1:20.649!

[EDIT] I posted out of date times by mistake sorry! Latest ones posted
1. K. Räikkönen Ferrari F60 1:20.314
2. R. Barrichello Brawn GP BGP 001 1:20.966 +0.652
3. J. Trulli Toyota TF109 1:21.326 +1.012
4. F. Alonso Renault R29 1:21.937 +1.623
5. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.09 1:21.965 +1.651
6. A. Sutil Force India VJM-02 1:22.141 +1.827
7. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-24 1:22.328 +2.014
8. K. Nakajima Williams FW31 1:22.381 +2.067
9. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB5 1:22.517 +2.203
10. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR4 1:23.039 +2.725

The Brawn GP continuing to show good pace considering it's belated debut.

The McLaren seems to be moving up the field a bit, possibly just a result of the areas they're testing, might be that they're already on their way to solving whatever problem they have.

[cap-dude]

Just a few note worthy points.

An extreme fin from Red Bull



Also, taking about STR and Sebastians. Both drivers have the same initials, SB and SB. But not only that, Buemi's middle name is Olivier. What is Bourdais, but of course Olivier. So we have Sebastian Olivier Buemi, and Sebastian Olivier Bourdais. Seriously I wonder if it's even a conspiracy. It's crazy

[Denthúl]

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:20.314 55
2. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.907 66
3. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:20.966 111
4. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:21.182 121
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.347 66
6. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:21.615 127
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.834 82
8. Alonso Renault (B) 1:21.937 111
9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.991 88
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.039 14
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) no time 6

If you had asked me this time last year if I ever thought I'd see Barrichello's name appear that high up the list, I'd have said no. But it brings back some good memories

[Bruno_Brazil]

I'm really impressed with BGP's performance with such a short to time to work !!

[Griff]

Bottom line seems to be: McLaren are not quite ready for prime time. Unless they get things sorted within the next few, this might open up a challenging season with 'outsiders' getting a realistic chance of winning races or making it to the podium.

Not neccesarily. It may have this effect but it is just as likely to do the exact opposite with Ferrari getting run away wins resulting in a fairly boring first few races.

Also Hekki is 0.06s behind Alonso who was 4th yesterday.
Williams was 0.15s infront of them yesterday was second today.

Thing is testing means nothing and it would be a good time fot McLaren to sandbag as they just brought out their new floor

[cap-dude]

It's a fair question. It's what makes this season so exciting. McLaren could very well lose out, but I highly doubt it. Also, there's BMW. They've fulfilled their ambitious targets year after year. In fact, they aimed to be a title challenge this year. But lets face it, they already done that in 2008. The reality is that we won't know anything for sure until March 28th.

It's possible Williams could be back on the podium. It's possible Toyota are going to in fact win a race. It's possible Brawn GP will be right up there from the first race. It's possible Piquet won't score a single point (or likely ) But you get the point, there's an opportunity for every team, and every team looks to be in good shape.

To be honest I think this year will be extremely close, and that the drivers are going to be the driving force. In 2007 you could see the drivers were only as good as the car they were given. In 2008, things evened out, and we saw BMW in the mix, we saw every team on the podium bar Force India, and even victories from Kubica Alonso and Vettel. However, something tells me this year we'll see the field even closer. So drivers will be what separates the field.

[scotty]

It's possible Toyota are going to in fact win a race.

They are my dark horses for this year.

[Bruno_Brazil]

It's a fair question. It's what makes this season so exciting. McLaren could very well lose out, but I highly doubt it. Also, there's BMW. They've fulfilled their ambitious targets year after year. In fact, they aimed to be a title challenge this year. But lets face it, they already done that in 2008. The reality is that we won't know anything for sure until March 28th.

It's possible Williams could be back on the podium. It's possible Toyota are going to in fact win a race. It's possible Brawn GP will be right up there from the first race. It's possible Piquet won't score a single point (or likely ) But you get the point, there's an opportunity for every team, and every team looks to be in good shape.

To be honest I think this year will be extremely close, and that the drivers are going to be the driving force. In 2007 you could see the drivers were only as good as the car they were given. In 2008, things evened out, and we saw BMW in the mix, we saw every team on the podium bar Force India, and even victories from Kubica Alonso and Vettel. However, something tells me this year we'll see the field even closer. So drivers will be what separates the field.[2]

[EwanM]

It's possible Toyota are going to in fact win a race.

They are my dark horses for this year.

I believe they are very fast, the question is who is better? Glock or Trulli?