Formula One: McLaren looking to catch up to Ferrari and Red Bull
Pady Lowe, the McLaren Engineer director has said that the team may have problems in the upcoming race, as far as matching the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull is concerned.
In the last race at the German Grand Prix, McLaren only managed 4th and 5th places. Ferrari, who seems to have finally got the upgrades right, finished 1st and 2nd, they were followed by the Red Bull driver, Sebastian Vettel.
He said that Ferrari and Red Bull were clearly much faster than McLaren at Hockenaim and the team is hoping to close the gap in the next race. Lowe added that Ferrari had been working hard to get up to speed with Red Bull and have done remarkably well, while McLaren may not be able to match the 2 teams but still would look to run them close. He added that Germany was a step towards new advancements for the team, and Hungary should be another step in the right direction.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button currently occupy the top 2 spots in the driver championship; between the two, they have 4 race wins this season, from 11 races.
The last 2 races though have been a source of concern for the team, McLaren tried to put in the Exhaust Blown diffuser. This is their own version of the upgrade but the team has not been able to make it work to their liking so far.
The upgrades help the car increase and further improve the Down force; it gives the car better control at the cornering speed. The diffuser is believed to be at the core of Red Bull success this season.
Rest of the teams also tried their hand at the diffuser, but it has been Ferrari who has got it right. The Italian team introduced it in the European Grand Prix and since then their cars have been much faster.
McLaren were planning on putting in the diffuser at Silverstone but after testing on Friday, the team decided not to go ahead with it.
The British team though did install the diffuser at the German Grand Prix, but still could not make it work to perfection. Red Bull and Ferrari clearly had the edge over McLaren and now the team is once again back to the drawing board and trying to figure out new ways to make the diffuser work to their advantage. This was the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix in May that McLaren did not have a driver on the podium.
Lowe said that according to his analysis, McLaren is trailing Ferrari by 2 races as far as the diffuser upgrade is concerned, and compared to Red Bull the team is half a season behind.
He said the team did get some positive feedback from the drivers after the German race, and has built on that to the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team’s Engineer director said that there has been a lot of work done, which is still underway on the diffusers, and Hungary Grand Prix should be a better outing for Hamilton and Button.
He said that it’s a good thing that Hamilton and Button are both on top of the standings, he added that the lead they amassed in the earlier races meant that the disappointments in last 2 races still gives the team time to push hard till the end of the season.
Pady Lowe said that Red Bull did take the season by storm in the early stages, McLaren did catch up well but now it’s Ferrari who have mastered the new upgrades. He added that whoever is able to handle the diffuser better till the end of the season would end up taking driver’s and also the constructor’s title.
Tags: