from Finland I said

I don¨t like "what if¨s", but with this version of Donkey, Bahrain and Monaco would have been two more victories, with some close calls at Malaysia and China.
Oh, whishful thinking

Where can I get a higher resolution of this stunning pic?:

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires/200...i/diapo_278.jpg

Lewis better not be too light again.

Thanks man

Does this looks like a possible one stopper race to you guys?

No, soft tyres are not to be trusted...

I don´t think so..imo

Well, I suspect that Lewis is among the lightest, but with speed shown in Q1 and 2, this should be easy victory number 3. And Ron will kick his and Nicole¨s collective asses if he brainfarts this time around

Superb performance from Lewis.

I think he'll have a sensible fuel load. He normally does. And he had that kind of margin all though the various sessions.

Lewis makes very few mistakes, no need to worry

He's got more speed in his pocket than a drug dealer at a rave.

It'll be Hungary 09 all over again.

Even if he is lighter than RBR and BGP, I think he's got the pace to fly in the first stint.

But from the Q3 - Q2 disparity, yes, he's probably 2-3 laps shorter than RBR's

Third in the WCC is really in their grasp now....either way a fantastic season by the team.


Congrats to Andy and everyone at the team for an unbelievable season for us fans to watch. The team has really showed us fans what it means to develop a car throughout the season. It has been fun for us (probably not so much for you guys Andy). Thanks and GL this weekend.

Careful though; with KR likely to pick up a couple of points tomorrow from 11th on the grid (presumably with a good fuelload) and Kova possibly to start from 18th after a gearbox change (didn't they say he had transmission problems?), it still only takes a problem or crash for Lewis to hand 3rd to Ferrari, in extremis. Mclaren deserves it, but it's not "won" just yet.


Seconded. Mclarens development pace is incredible, second to none in this business.

It has been a wild ride indeed

yea if he is much lighter then he better fly like half a second per lap on that first stint.... things are looking a bit too easy im scared.

especially with Kova way down there, we need him to beat Kimi tmrw just in case

Which is why I am afraid Kova may have his gearbox changed. That would put him 18th and out of position to keep tabs on Kimi. From 13th he could well get into a race with him, but not from 18th.

Kovi gets a grid penalty for gearbox change...

GRRRRRR!!

I really want us to clinch that third place in WCC...

J

3rd place is a near certainty me thinks..fisi has zero chance of points tomorrow.kova is starting way back but he has a very fast car under him

its going to be straight out b/w lewis and kimi and theres no way that red car is matching the mp4-24 tomorrow

Difference is 67 mil. for third to 62 mil. for fourth. But I suspect that bragging rights for being in front of scuderia way surpasses 5 mil.
Also, one more time, thanks to couple of our insiders on this board, for the work incredibly well done from month of may onwards. My utmost respect, I wish that company I work for can adopt this kind of work ethics and never give up attitude sometimes in this century.

And yeah, this one does belong here

great to see ron back.i have huge respect for whitmarsh but that doesnt stop me from saying the mclaren garage looks looks a little empty without ron.

Indeed.

Ron was so charismatic... and I so miss his Ronspeak!

I think actually it works pretty well with MW being the public face and organiser, with Ron back at base making the bold moves.

Maybe Max accidentally did us a favour

Vettel thinks - Damn it, how can he be so fast and yet maintain teeth THAT white!

Wow, 1st race without Mosley and Ron is already back! Maybe he'll be back next year, if so, Kimi has already an advantage against Anthony!

Well, as a McLaren fan, I don't really like that Hamilton has clearly been given number one status. It's pretty undeniable that it's the case.

With that said, Kovalainen had an opportunity to earn equal status, just as Hamilton earned equal status with Alonso in 2007. (Remember, Alonso was initially given Number One status that year. The "switch" at Oz, the heavier fuel load/"Cease and desist" order at Monaco, etc.) The fact is that he just hasn't. Don't look just at Q3 times; look at Q1 and Q2 times, when everyone has been on equal terms in fuel and tires. With a few exceptions, Hamilton has dominated Kovalainen over two seasons in both sessions. Granted, Q1 and Q2 don't mean everything if you have a car that's going to make it to Q3 and compete for the win; but when Hamilton consistently beats Kovalainen in both sessions, it says something. Race pace is another area where it hasn't even been close.

Sure, Kovalainen has been disadvantaged being in the pack at times, but even considering that, his race pace just hasn't been good while Hamilton's has been fantastic. Valencia is an excellent demonstration; he was only a lap longer than Hamilton on the first stint and had the opportunity to overtake on overlaps, but he just couldn't maintain enough pace over a race stint to do it. Despite having a great starting spot and no problems with traffic, he couldn't even maintain enough pace over a long stint to hold off Raikkonen for the podium.

This is not to diminish Kovalainen as a driver. I actually think he's a very talented driver. I believe he can be a consistent winner if he gets in the right situation and gets his confidence up. But it's just not working out for him at McLaren, unfortunately.

I'm not really a Hamilton "fanboy," either. I'm a McLaren fan, and as such I cheer for him. But I'm happy with either McLaren driver succeeding. I want to see a swift return back to equal status, though, as I see it as proper sporting conduct and an honorable trait of McLaren's history.

Alonso never had number 1 status. There was no 'switch' in oz he simply beat hamilton there with his extra few laps of fuel. At monaco he was dominated all race and the cease and desist was a standard call that all teams do late in races. The problem with what you say about Heikki is that he was never given a chance to earn equal status (it should be a right). From his first race at mclaren he was fueled much heavier than Hamilton so the mclaren agenda is quite clear. Hamilton owns number 1 status at mclaren. And why should a driver have to earn it? Why handicap one of your drivers? Why not give him 1 lap more fuel instead of 4?

Sure, Kovalainen has been disadvantaged being in the pack at times, but even considering that, his race pace just hasn't been good while Hamilton's has been fantastic. Valencia is an excellent demonstration; he was only a lap longer than Hamilton on the first stint and had the opportunity to overtake on overlaps, but he just couldn't maintain enough pace over a race stint to do it. Despite having a great starting spot and no problems with traffic, he couldn't even maintain enough pace over a long stint to hold off Raikkonen for the podium.

This really is going over old ground that's been pounded to death but that first sentence spelled disaster for the rest of your post; the important question to ask yourself is why would McLaren hire a 2 x WDC then demote him to No.2 behind a Rookie?

When you know the answer to that question then please come back and let me know?

Hamilton owns number 1 status at mclaren - that should read "Hamilton earned number 1 status at mclaren"

I agree that Kovalainen should have just been placed on equal status at the start. I don't agree with him having to "earn" it. But he did have to earn it, if not for the inherent fact that Hamilton just had an amazing year as a British rookie driver with a British team.

Despite that, he DID get opportunities to earn it. Kovalainen got preferential fuel strategy for qualifying a number of times in 2008. Silverstone 2008 is a perfect example. He was given two laps less than Hamilton in Q3 even though Hamilton was ahead of him by a wide margin in the championship. Hamilton blew by him in the opening laps and sailed off to one of the greatest wet weather wins in F1 history, while Kovalainen fell back to fifth in the same car (which was the best in cool/wet conditions) and was even lapped by Hamilton. Like I said earlier, Silverstone 2008 was probably the race that sealed Kovalainen's fate within the team.

I've addressed the Oz 2007 switch in the other thread, as well as Monaco. No need to carry that on here.

I'm not arguing that Alonso definitely had clear number one status. I'm arguing that it was evident. He was the two-time defending WDC, and RD was proclaiming him to be McLaren's next great champion. Hamilton, on the other hand, was a rookie in the team who, despite having clearly great pace, also appeared to be erratic (testing crash) and needing to smoothen some rough edges. No one would have expected him to do as well as he did, if for no other reason than that he was rookie.

Guys, I'd like to remember you once again that this thread is about the Mp4/24 and not what happened in 2007.

Noted. Thanks.

Soon for the MP4-25 thread anyway, if Kimi joins hopefully we can have to seperate threads

MP4-25 - Car
McLaren - Team and Drivers

Hopefully some insiders can post the latest details in a new 25 thread, something concrete.
Pity this season can't just continue as we seem to have the car almost sorted, its a worry that they could screw up again or some one do a way better job.

I wonder if the admins can give admin permission rights to certain threads only? It would be good for threads like this and the ferrari one for respected members who post mostly on the car developments

Boy... nobody rides the Silver Donkey like Lewis.

I doubt they are going to screw up as much as this year, but I have this awful feeling that Ferrari are going to create a real bullet next year. But still I think we should be at least a lock for the podium in Bahrain

@Anomander

I will take care of the threads tomorrow after the race, just like you suggested.

Who would have put money on that image of 2009 after Silverstone?

Our young German prodigy is rather showing signs of being ungracious in defeat. He didn't come across as being overly sporting in Brazil I have to say, and whining on and on about KERS in the press conference rather stank of sour grapes. Don't get me wrong - I like the guy and think the true greats are similarly competitive. But I look forward to some epic sulks in years to come.

Great end to the season so far for the team that started it at the back with drivers incapable of development and set up. Well done all at Woking - let's hope the MP4-25 is the real deal.

Whilst everything Should point to them "building a real challenger" they still seem to be in a state of upheaval, quite a few people have left and they seem to be turning into the old style Ferrari, Alonso might be able to give them direction, but I really have no clue what the hell is happening over there, it can go either way, hopefully no team will be dominent next year.

Hamilton looks almost bald there.

if you had given Hamilton a podium for the rest of the season at that point, he might have bitten your hand off.

I remember when he said his big target for the season was to finish ahead of Jenson in one race

never underestimate the ability of the Mac folk to polish a turd... fingers crossed for tmrw. hope all goes smoothly

But they are riding very different animals.

The Silver Donkey is more suited to low speed tracks like this while the Red Bull is designed for high speed ones.

Well, the guys in Maranello are probably the same as the ones who created the F2007 and F2008 at least and those were real good cars. They don't have the reliability of the F2002 or F2004 but they were still very good.

Domenicali might be a moron compared to Todt / Brawn but I believe if you have quality engineers back in the factory the car can be great even if the managerial side of the team doesn't know too well what to do.

I wonder if they go about designing just a general good car, or do they go, we have 10 High speed tracks and 7 low speed tracks, lets make our car suit the 10 tracks even if it means we are substandard at the others?

hmmmm, not quite agree, quality engineers need managerial direction more then anything, if they don't then those skills can be wasted.

Maybe you're right, IDK. Either way I can't wait to see the 2010 cars

Will it be any visual difference on the 2010 cars?,Or will they pretty much look like the 09 cars?