MCL38 Surpasses Expectations

Andrea Stella assures that the MCL38’s low-speed performance is better than anticipated, easing concerns about factory simulations and correlations. The car’s real-world gains exceed initial projections.

Stella, the director of McLaren F1, has acknowledged that the MCL38 has exceeded expectations in low-speed performance.

This appears to be good news for the Woking team, but it could potentially signal a problem: does this mean that the factory simulations and correlations were inaccurate? Could this lead to more insidious issues later on?

“I think we should differentiate between what is correlation and what we measure on the track with the expected data. From this perspective, things are proceeding more or less as anticipated,” reassures the Italian.

“But the other point is this: once you bring such improvements and particularly this extra aerodynamic efficiency, what is the lap time gain?”

“You run your simulation and you think you’ll gain X. But it seems you gain X and a bit more in reality. So, it’s not a question of correlation between development and the track. It’s rather that the bonus in terms of lap time seems to be slightly greater than what you would simulate.”

“What we are seeing and what we expected is simply more downforce in all conditions. But the car, compared to what we expected, also seems to perform well at low speeds – perhaps slightly better than we had predicted based on our development tools, which is good news.”

“But obviously, it’s something we need to understand very precisely, so we have the correct information to continue evolving in the right direction, as our path seems very profitable in terms of lap time and also appears to make us competitive on circuits with low-speed corners.”