R&D engine page. Where we are compared to the other teams

R&D Aerodynamics page, showing where we are in comparison to the other teams

R&D Chassis page showing where we are in comparison to other teams

Unlikely wrote:

Er.

Too much information?

Unlikely wrote:

Quite the opposite.

Ah yes. I have now tried zooming in.

Nice. Sounds like they got the Vettel AI spot on.

Perhaps the real McLaren should 'recruit' the AI dev team?

German GP continued...

Race day:
Car on pole position on the grid, hamilton alongside and bottas in third. Riccardo and Kimi the only two cars in top ten to start on S, everyone on US. US means I'll have to pit around lap 7, to swap them for S and then I'll need another stop around lap 24 for a set of MED. Stupid vettel, he really screwed my race day up yesterday.

Lights, go green and we're racing. Hamo and I are neck and neck into turn 1, i have the inside line and dont leave him enough space, lewis goes careering off into the wall. I get a 5 second time penalty. Still leading until drs is enabled then bottas passes me on the straight after turn 4. Running 2nd when engineer tells me power will be down on the ICE due to wear and tear. I come in for my stop on lap 7, off go the US and on go the S. I come out P14. I start to try to make up places. Engineer on the radio again, ERS power will be down to a fault in the system. Lovely. As i have fresher tyres i'm catching the guys trying to one stop, by lap im up to P10. Engineer on the radio again, this time i'm using too much fuel and need to try to fuel save. As he says that, we get a saftey car. Alonso's engine has blown up (bob was seen near alonso's car before the race started. suspicious).

The team offer a strategy change, come in now under the saftey car and switch to the MED. I agree, i come back out in P14 behind verstrappen. Still under saftey car, but my gear box isnt sounding too good. A few laps later lights go green for racing, as i come out of the hairpin at turn 5 i have no forward momentum. Engineer on radio again, problem with gearbox, I've lost gears 1 and 2. However i should be able to continue. I soldier on, reduced power, reduced ers, while fuel saving, with 2 gears missing and on the slower tyre. lovely.

10 laps to go, my earlier stop under the safety car is yeilding benefits, with 10 laps left i'm up to P5. Due to the degradation the entire grid has had to do a 2 stop strategy. My fuel saving issue has been resolved, but theres more bad news rain is on the way before the race ends.

8 laps to go, Vettel is on a flyer as he just put on a set of US, he's catching me at 2 seconds a lap. The eventually tries a pass inside me at turn 1, i still recall Q2 bitterly, i give him no room at all and run him off the road. He goes spinning off, i expect a penalty, but there isnt one forthcoming, just a warning from the stewards. Nice one, he deserved that the cunt.

5 laps to go, still in P5, its started raining, i got gears 1 and 2 back but lost gear 4 a few laps ago. I'm not gonna pit for INTERS if i can help it.

2 laps to go, rain is getting worse, car is becoming difficult to drive, Sainz and Hulkenberg running in 3rd and 4th get caught in a tangle and both endup facing the wrong way on the track, i come limping by to inherit P3. Thanks lads.

Last lap, i'm running on vapours, no 4th gear, power reduced and hulkenberg is gunning me down quickly, we get to the stadium section, fuck he's right behind and i have a 5 second penalty as well. If he's sensible he'll just follow me over the line and get P3. He doesn't he tries to dive inside me, outbrakes himself on the wet track and goes in to the gravel. Hilarious, unfortunately im laughing so hard i go off as well. Noooooo! Two corners from the end. No no no. Luckily i haven't beached the car and Sainz is still over 10 seconds away. I cross the line in a fortunate 3rd position. Even with the penalty, Sainz couldn't make up the time deficit.

What a knackering gp.

I have problems for the next GP in Hungary now. Current engine setup will do 77 laps, the ICE is at 85% wear and gearbox is at 85% wear as well. Changing the gearbox will result in a 5 place grid penalty, which at the hungaro ring is a bad idea. I really want to save my new and last of my 3 alloted ICE's for belgium gp which is after hungary. Decisions, decisions. Do i try to limp through this GP or do i take new parts and a penalty?.......

* Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment in Dino's Mclaren Adventures! *

Dino, it occurs to me to ask whether you do a parade lap to get the tyres in their operating window pre-race?

this is currently on the PSN weekly sale, £32.99

Partly inspired by this thread, and cos it's on gamepass, i've found myself playing F1 2015 last few days.
It's a far more basic package than the current version, no career stuff (so the benefit of no cut scene nonsense!), you can't even put your own name in! Just pick a driver and you're them for a season.
But the actual driving seems pretty good. There's an intensity and focus to F1 racing that appeals, which would prob explain why i've found myself playing this over Forza horizon 4...and having watched a lot more f1 in recent seasons, i'm finding that i can actually pick up and remember the circuits much quicker than when i tried F1 games before.

Dinostar77 wrote:

so I sat in the car and got knocked out in Q1.

Did you have to (or choose to?) do that or did you actually select a menu option saying 'Skip Q1' or similar?

Sounds like a satisfying race to make up for the earlier mistakes. Looking forward to hearing about Belgium.

Dinostar77 wrote:

there isnt an option to skip qually, i just fast forwarded q1.

Ah, ok. Did you do a parade lap yet?

Belgium GP: Major aero update for the car has brought the car close to RedBulls for performance.
My mistakes from Hungry are causing me problems im having to swap around fairly used engine parts mgu-h / mgu-k / es etc. I dont really want to start from the back of the grid. Car is pretty good in practice, no issues.

Qually is pretty straightforward, Q3 i get the car to P3. Alonso is P5, so we have a very quick car.

Race day: Its another wet one, though its forecast to dry up sooner, so i didnt compromise the car setup for the wet. I should be quick in the wet.
Lights out and we're racing. Once again i dont get the best of starts and Bottas passes me as does verstrappen. On the run down to Eau Rouge i turn the engine to max and play chicken with max. I have the outside line going down to Eau Rouge, i really should backoff, but i keep my foot planted, i will have to lift on the crest as its very wet, but we aren't there yet. Max yields and i emerge out of Eau Rouge in front of him. I loose traction and the rear starts to slip, I'm gonna go in the wall unless i can correct this, max goes past. fuck.

The rest of the opening laps are tough i struggle alot with putting power into the rears on the exit of slow corners, im losing places. fuck.

Down in P7 now and the track is starting to dry up, engineer says its not long now till we have a dry track, as i get towards the end of the lap, i get a last second call to box. The team want me to out on MEDIUMS which i have a problem with. I haven't run them all weekend. They are 1.6 seconds slower than the SS, which are 0.3 seconds quicker than the S. Its a spur of the moment call, i think i can make a set of SS last to the end of the race. I overide the team decision as the car is coming into the pits.

I'm blisteringly quick on track, i'm flying the other front runners have gone with the MED which means i catch and past them eventually. Up to P2 now with less than 6 laps to go. I have a problem though, I've taken too much life out of my tyres. The team suggest i pit for a fresh pair of SS. I'd come out in 5th if i do. That would leave me 5 laps to get back to P2. Its a big ask. I decide to stay out. Three laps to go, my tyres are in the 67-70% used range and the front left is alittle worse. i dial back the brake balance to try to even out the wear when braking.

Alonso is right behind me now in P3. He put on S tyres and still has plenty of grip. I begrudgingly have to yield to my teammate,down to P3.

Two laps to go, im struggling badly i just want to get to the finish line in third. Vettel and Max who both have damaged cars are catching me, too quickly for my liking.

Last lap, I'm halfway through the final lap, tyres are all in the mid to high 70's of wear, this is really bad. I have no grip, only a few corners to go.... BOOM... NOOOOOOOOO! Puncture! Left rear, i struggle in vain to keep the car in a straight line. Max and Vettel go screamng past. Fuck fuck fuck. I get to the last corner, which is a chicane, controlling this thing is a nightmare, another 3 cars pass me. As i come out of the final corner i try foolishly to power it home, i end up spinning, hit the wall, destroy my front wing and cross the line backwards in P8.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.

In hindsight i realise what i did wrong (i think). When the race started i changed the diff to 50% which meant it was open, idea being that id get help from the diff for traction in low grip conditions. As the race progressed i should have gradually tightened it, but i forgot. I think when i got towards the last few laps the open diff was asking too much of my rear tyres, which already had to cope with additional braking wear due to me switching the brake bias. I caused the puncture. Fecking idiot.

To compound matters, i got back to the motorhome where i got told that my result wasnt good enough and im underperforming with the car and its ability. Feck.

Anyway its onto Monza now and potential penalties for the bloody Mgu-h / Mgu-k and Turbo Charger. The thing is after Monza is my favourite track to drive on in the entire calender, Singapore. I want zero penalties on the grid for that one. Decisions.... decisions...

Bob, still at Monza. Hopefully get some time to play over xmas and update this thread