Afaik fuel loads will be made public in 09. Meaning there is no fuel speculation anymore after qualifying. In 2010 refueling will be banned and thus qualifying probably will be made on fumes again.

What is the reasoning behind this? Why should the teams tell their fuel loads,it makes no sense

I'm lost too. There was talk about some pretty revolutionary idea like all drivers running and the one with the slowest time being knocked out after each lap, was that rejected?

And why can't them simply declare fuel loads after Q2 and run in Q3 on fumes. Recent format is really good imo.

Isn't it to do with the lap rule, where the slowest drops out each lap?

I don't think it's true. Can you post any proof of such claim?

Yes I can:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72459

Heheheh, hey man it relates to internal relations between different teams. Up until now teams had spotters (spies) to follow routines of other teams during testing. More spotters mean more costs. It doesn't say they will reveal fuel loads before race

But it would make sense.
The only reason they weren't made public was in case certain spotters didn't have bits of information.

But if all teams share freely, there's no harm in making it public because ... by sharing it freely they are making it public!!

@bankoq:
Hey man, I think you're wrong. It's not about testing but race weekends. And you do know why they never told their fuel loads up until now, do you? The reason for that wont be valid anymore so we can be pretty sure this information will be made public.

nice video

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyAA90drw0

This video is not available in your country.

copied it here

http://avenueshosting.co.uk/lewis.php

seems a bit smaller then the youtube one.

what country are you in? i can (hardly) understand youtube blocking nazi-stuff in germany, but where the heck is that lewis-video offensive (brazil and spain aside)?

Bosnia and Herzegovina, but we don't have any internet restrictions or censorship.

Thx, Anomnader

I get the same message in Poland. Makes no sense.

In Finland its no dice also Thx for the other link Would have been great video without some fanboy comments.

true and maybe some of the bad aswell as the good.

My understanding of english language failed me

Show some of Lewis mistakes rather then just dwell on the good overtakings.

thanks for explanation

Hard to be a celebration of overtakes if it incorporates a bunch of mistakes ;)

I would like to remeber this thread is about the MP4/24, not about bashing Lewis.

I don't believe anyone is bashign Lewis, knowing he makes mistakes isn't bashing in my mind.

please let us get a new www.site when the new car is launched. That is one category, mclaren has never been at the top in. Otherwise im very confident. The test's has gone well. kers has been implemented without any alterations to the bodywork, they are building the third car already, all in all it looks pretty promising, so lets slaughter the reds this year

I dont understand

the mclaren site has always been crap in comparison with others i think, but that is just my opinion,

I don't think you are far wrong. The eshop is a case in point, form over function

I don't like the Lewis banner, theres more to McLaren then Lewis.


Maybe a McLaren fan site should be developed, there doesn't seem to be many of those around. I have the hosting, just not the time.

Critizising a video is Lewis bashing? GTFU

so now i can definitly not wait. Ferrari has introduced their 09 challenger and it looks nice i must admit. Hope that mclaren has done a kick ass job and presents a car thats

I reckon it's gonna be silver ...

;)

Q&A with De La Rosa

He seems positive, not as much as Ron Dennis did though. Just 1 Day and 16 Hours to go.

I do honestly think McLaren will produce a stunner, one that looks very fast.

They seem to have an upper hand on KERS and cooling, the paint scheme will disguise the ugliness of the aero.

Some say the engine freeze worked in McLaren's favour, others attribute their much improved engine to the hiring of former Cosworth engineers. Whatever the case, McLaren has been very cometitive the last couple of seasons and it will probably be again. So no matter how ugly it is, if at all, the speed should make the car pretty at least in the eyes of their fans.

isnt it about time we get a teaser pic. one where the cover is just slightly removed
about the looks, i have no doubt its going to be a mclaren's sense for detail and color scheme does half the job, lets just hope it kicks ferrari's ass, thats the most important, but i got good vibes

I can't wait until tomorrow

Tim Goss proved us wong, he and his team produces championship car. Now its Fry's turn.

Me too... I really hope for blacks front and rear wings!

I seriously doubt black wings but i'm sure it'll look good. As excited as i am about tommorow, i'm more excited about the upcoming portimao test as it will give the first real rough indication of how we compare to the ferrari and others.

I think Mclaren will be a mile ahead of Ferrari, Renault and Williams, but the fight will be with BMW in Portugal at this stage, I think. Toyota might be anywhere in the pecking order - it's hard to tell how competitive they are. Judging from their launch car, though, they seem to have produced a pretty basic aero kit for now, and will be, like other teams, whacking on a far superior kit close to Australia.

i'd never underestimate Ferrari ... dont be surprised if they 1-2 qualy and race in Australia ... like in 2004 when many people thought Ferrari blew it because they had a very conservative looking car. And we all remember who was untouchable in 2004 ...

Tyre development (where normally you can gain 1+ seconds in one step) is no longer available.

Here's hoping for them to be a mile ahead. Been watching F1 since 2002 and I'd see macca dominate in the same vein that ferrari did. Well one can dream can't he.

ssshhhhh, dont you want me to get any sleep tonight its a winner im shure off it

I simply cannot wait for the launch! I bet their still assembling the car. Would utterly love to be there. I have a good feeling about the '24. I can feel it in my water.

I doubt the livery will change much though. Unless they have some major new sponsorship deal. Perhaps a subtle variation of the basic silver+red, but nothing much. A little more black would be nice.

15H 57M 47S...46S...45S...44S...

We all know it was totally down to the tyres. Bridgestone made tyres exactly for Ferrari in '04, because there were very few other teams using the japanese company's tyres. Remember '05? Ferrari came out with a car which was a logical evolution, which would have dominated that season as well in my opinion had the tyres not got to last a whole GP. Also, don't forget that Michelin were decimated by the fact that their tyres were too wide near the end of '03, and they had to rethink the entire structure (why do you think Ferrari came back so strong near the end of that season?). They were still feeling the effects during 2004, I have no doubt, and also the fact that they had to supply three strong teams - Williams, Mclaren and the upcoming Renault.

But those who wear red-tinted glasses always gloss over this fact, don't they? Oh yes, of course, "it must have been the Ferrari chassis..."


You should have been watching seriously since the early nineties, like I did (before then I watched on and off). Then you would have seen domination, in the form of Williams in 1996. Or you would have seen Ferrari produce a dog of a car in 1997 that the brilliance of Mickey the Shoe managed to haul into a championship fight (many attribute this also to the loss of Adrian Newey to Mclaren). I'm definitely not a Ferrari or Schuey fan - Mclaren all the way since I started watching when Senna was around. Even so, Mclaren produced several dogs in the mid-nineties, and then started becoming competitive when Newey worked his magic with the new 1998 rules. I therefore think Red Bull might do quite well this year in the hands of the excellent, and underrated, Webber and the much talked about Vettel.

Many of you are setting yourself up for a huge fall.

Not wanting to bring up spygate but the MP4-24 can use all the banned techs now right? Snazzy brakes, Tyre gas etc???

Great. Thanks for your input. Why do you bother posting on a Mclaren thread if all you want to achieve is an argument?
The technology is old now. And probably irrelevant considering the fact that we have new rules and therefore totally different cars. I don't know for sure, but the tyre gas is not necessarily the best for the new slicks, but then I am no expert. However, I suspect that a team of Mclaren's wealth has probably come up with their own solution by now.

I also think Hamilton was better on the brakes in '07 anyway - look at his Monza pass on Kimi, and some onboard footage compared with the Ferraris. Again, I don't know for sure. Part of Alonso's downfall that season could be attributed to him requiring the brakes from Renault (was it Carbon Industry?), which weren't necessarily integrated totally with the MP4-22, again considering that the Mclaren was designed before he demanded these brakes.

Not really here to cause an argument but you are setting yourself up, we do not know the conditions or speed of the car.

It will be stunning, I have no doubt about that, McLaren have the tendency to produce stunning cars and with their great cooling system, expect a heavily streamlined F1 car. The interesting part will be the wheelbase, the rear tyres will be eaten alive this season so they may want to look into it.