McLaren considers extreme set-up for Russian GP
McLaren is considering running with a more extreme Monza-style set-up on its car at the Russian Grand Prix in a bid to help boost its straightline speed performance.
The team’s progress this year has been dented by a car that has more drag than its rivals, plus it has not been helped out by a gear ratio choice that is not ideal for long straights.
While the gear ratio issue cannot be sorted because teams are stuck with them for the season, McLaren still thinks it can boost its top speed through aerodynamic changes.
Following some encouraging results from a more aggressive set-up choice to reduce drag that was trialled in practice at the Italian Grand Prix, the team is ready to give it another run at Sochi.
Fernando Alonso said: “I think some of the ideas we tested in Monza where we improved on the Saturday were more for drag reduction, so will be implemented. Hopefully Russia will be the first opportunity to revisit those set-ups.”
Sporting director Gil de Ferran suggests a final decision on its plans for Russia have not been sorted, but says the success of the new setup in Italy means it likely it will be used
“I won’t get into details obviously,” said de Ferran when asked by Motorsport.com about the plans. “We always try to do the best we can and step forward.
“We’re trying to bring a little bit of aero developments every race but that’s not the only thing: we’re exploring different spaces.
“Like Fernando said, in Monza we decided to take a completely different direction and it worked well for that type of track, and maybe we’ll explore a similar direction again in Russia.”
He added: “The work hasn’t stopped. We’re full-on on next year’s car but we come into every weekend trying to do a little bit better, fight for points, and improve our position in the championship.”
Alonso is currently eighth in the drivers’ championship standings after his seventh-place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix.
Third F1 cars "very unlikely" to happen, says Whiting
Why Hamilton is the best he's ever been
Aston Martin: CFD data shows F1 rear wing does not hurt rules intent
Aston Martin says simulation data it gave to the FIA proved that its radical rear wing idea did not scupper the intent of Formula 1's 2023 rules to improve racing.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
US fan demand can support "many more" F1 races, says COTA chief
The boss of the Circuit of The Americas believes there is enough demand from North American Formula 1 fans to support “many more” races in the United States.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting
The traits that fuelled Alonso's unexpected Aston Martin F1 move
Fernando Alonso’s bombshell switch to Aston Martin sent shockwaves through Formula 1, not least at Alpine that finds itself tangled in a contract standoff with Oscar Piastri. Not shy of a bold career move and with a CV punctuated by them, there were numerous hints that trouble was brewing.