Formu1a.uno - In Monza, McLaren took what Ferrari wasted in MonteCarlo.

PHOTO CREDIT: McLaren F1 Team

Like every edition, Monza is able to offer various ideas of a technical nature, as well as give emotions on the track, and for this reason, it is one of the most interesting events on the Formula One calendar.

The temple of speed has always made it possible to see cars with the most atypical aerodynamic configurations on the entire calendar, precisely because of the characteristics of the Monza circuit.

The very long straights, separated by violent braking with slow chicanes, favor single-seaters with very low, almost neutral wings, which are practically not seen in any other races in the world championship.

The 2021 edition, if we want, was even more particular than the past race, since the current season we know is a transitional and conservative one for many teams, which are already technically and economically projected to the development of the 2022 wing-cars.

Focusing on the fight for third constructors place, Ferrari and McLaren expected a different Italian Grand Prix, almost the opposite, with the English team very convinced that the technical characteristics of the circuit matched well with the MCL35M, vice versa for Ferrari.

However, both teams performed above their expectations, with McLaren delivering a masterful overall performance, not just in the race, but throughout the weekend, and Ferrari finishing in second place as a team in terms of points collected.

ITALIAN GP FOR MCLAREN

The return to success after 9 seasons (with a brace for another) was by no means accidental. It is true that the contribution came from the retirement of the two championship leaders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, but both McLaren's were always close to the top positions.

The Orange team in Monza laid the foundations for a possible podium already in qualifying for the sprint race, showing a potential top. The final victory was the culmination of a perfect weekend, in which none of the drivers or mechanics made any mistakes.

At a technical level, the MCL35M of Ricciardo and Norris was equipped with a rather light set-up, one of the most aggressive among the various teams

The car designed by James Key is known to be a single-seater with great efficiency, as is the Alfa Romeo and is home on fast circuits. The trump card McLaren played right on the set-up, further exasperating its strength, adopting an extremely unloaded rear wing.

Illustration Credit: Rosario Giuliana

The mobile flap of the DRS in Monza had an extremely reduced chord, while the main profile was almost neutral. This made McLaren extremely fast on the straights, managing to be almost impregnable even for those following in the DRS zone.

In this regard, it is important to remember that the wake is all the more important when the wing of the car in front is large.

It should also be noted that the MCL35M is equipped with a Mercedes Power Unit, and the extra horsepower of the engine designed in Brixworth, first brought to the track between Silverstone and Hungary on the official car (Mercedes W12), by Spa also on customers, (McLaren, Williams, and Aston Martin) all met in Italy.

“The engine is a great engine and it helped us a lot,” an insider from McLaren told us.

The long-wheelbase also gives a certain stability in the fast corners, such as the Parabolica, where Ricciardo and Norris always managed to slightly open the gap from their pursuers.

Even on the front axle, James Key's car has adopted a very unloaded wing, with the last two flaps (the ones that allow you to adjust the incidence) substantially cut to reduce the resistance to advancement to the minimum possible.

Illustration Credit: Rosario Giuliana

With the double at Monza, McLaren returned to occupy third place in the constructor's championship with eight races to go, effectively managing to maximize the result in the only seasonal chance of victory.

ITALIAN GP FOR FERRARI

If it was a great celebration at McLaren in Monza, the same cannot be said for Ferrari.

However, the Maranello team was aware of the difficulties that would arise on the Monza track, the post-weekend statements by the two drivers, as well as those of Mattia Binotto, were clear.

The team arrived in Monza with the awareness of not being able to give great joy to the "fans", but with the certainty of not repeating last year's horrible performance with the SF1000.

The SF21 is a car that compared to last season is a clear step forward.

We have often emphasized that, despite the various limitations deriving from the freezing of the macro components, the work done by the Maranello technicians was excellent.

Since the SF21 was a close relative of the SF1000, there were many limits to be corrected: power unit, front axle, and rear instability. The latter was also chosen because that macro area of ​​the car was the most limited by the 2021 regulatory changes and where Ferrari thought and hoped to make the most profits.

The Monza track, on paper, did not go very well with the SF21 due to a matter mainly related to the Power Unit: the 065/6 Evo proved to be a clear step forward compared to 2020, however it still pays 25 HP from the most powerful Mercedes power unit, 15 HP from Honda.

Some problems in terms of reliability were seen on Friday in Charles Leclerc's car, with the Monegasque having to mount the old unit (the number one unit). Monza is a very demanding track for engines, where you are full throttle for almost 80% of the lap.

The updates regarding the hybrid part are eagerly awaited on the Ferrari, ready to be implemented in Turkey, if all goes well. In fact, some hybrid components from the past season are still present on the current 065/6.

Mattia Binotto spoke of "change in technology from the hybrid side" because the red will be increased so significantly, as anticipated by Michael Schmidt AMUS,  the voltage of the electrical unit, approaching the 1000 V threshold, a value with which, Mercedes has worked with for a couple of seasons already.

In general, the higher the voltage, the higher the efficiency of the entire system. This will also reduce the size of the components.

Hence the words of Binotto regarding “hazardous materials” for which “formal approvals and certifications are needed”. Also to be simply transported.

If it weren't for the Power Unit appearance, Ferrari at Monza could have had a better performance without a doubt. It remains to be stressed that overall the weekend was anything but a disaster.

The Monza circuit has characteristics that were not so detrimental to the Italian car, beyond the long straights. Ferrari has always behaved discreetly in rear limited circuits, that is, those tracks in which it is important to have great traction, and to generate grip mainly on the rear axle.

Compared to McLaren, in terms of set-up, the Ferrari did not present a car that was too light, on the contrary, the rear aerodynamic configuration chosen by Ferrari is practically identical to that used in Belgium and Azerbaijan.

Specifically, the rear wing of Monza featured a main plane with little wing angle, but with a movable flap with decent size. The only change with respect to Spa concerned the removal of the gurney flap, to reduce part of the drag.

Illustration Credit: Rosario Giuliana

An aerodynamic configuration like this allowed Ferrari to still be fast in the DRS zones. Other music obviously when it was necessary to defend oneself in the straights with the mobile flap closed.

The fact that we did not choose a set-up that was too light was to avoid penalizing too much the front axle which we know is and will remain the weak point of the SF21 at the end of the season. After the problems encountered in Belgium, a more conservative set-up was chosen to guarantee better tire management.

Due to a slightly heavier set-up, the SF21 showed excellent times in the central sector, where the two Lesmo curves are present. 

In terms of actual updates, a new front wing was used on the Ferrari.

The new wing specification features 'cut' flaps in the innermost part to balance the lower rear load while eliminating drag.

Illustration Credit: Rosario Giuliana

If it couldn't have been more than that at Monza, the bitterness of the occasions that vanished at Silverstone and above all in Monte Carlo remains in Ferrari's mouth. Ferrari has had its own chances of victory but has never managed to achieve anything concrete, unlike Alpine and McLaren.

In the fight for third place, with eight races remaining, the battle remains close. McLaren certainly took advantage of his own chance of victory, maximizing the result with a brace.

From now until the end of the season we should no longer see big changes on the cars and the values ​​on the field will be conditioned mainly by the adaptation that the cars will have in the various circuits. It will therefore be essential from now on not to waste opportunities, being ready if Mercedes and Red Bull should make any mistakes.

Written By: Rosario Giuliana and Piergiuseppe Donadoni

Illustration Credit: Rosario Giuliana

Original Link in Italian: https://www.formu1a.uno/a-monza-mclaren-si-e-presa-cio-che-ferrari-ha-sciupato-a-montecarlo/

Formu1a.uno - Analysis: McLaren-Norris super binomial, why does Ricciardo struggle?

PHOTO CREDIT: McLaren Racing

The McLaren is not losing enamel. Lando Norris will long remember the MCL35M as the first car that, not only did he understand perfectly, it allowed him to hit that very subtle balance that allows him to stay on the limit for as long as necessary, avoiding mistakes. In addition to Sir Lewis Hamilton's radio certificate of esteem, “Such a great driver, Lando”, the Englishman claimed an extraordinary front row and the podium, probably the most deserved of the year.

He is making the difference in the fight with Ferrari up to now, in addition to the horsepower and the efficiency of the Mercedes Power Unit: 40 hp more than the drivers in red are more than compensating for Daniel Ricciardo's delay.

Nonetheless, Seidl, someone who has a deep knowledge of racing, does well not to underestimate Ferrari for the still long and uncertain continuation of this season. He knows perfectly well that many points have been left on track by the Italian team, sometimes due to small errors, others unfortunate as in Imola.

But it's fair to say that McLaren and Lando Norris were there when they had to. When those in front had a hard time. We have not only seen it in Austria, “which we have to be realistic, but it was also a suitable track for our car” according to Seidl. Norris took advantage of practically every gap from the start, setting the season very well with the team right from the tests.

In the last qualifying session, he was the driver who earned the most between Q2/Q3 about 7 tenths. Were it not for the accentuated understeer in the last two corners, he could also have claimed pole position.

The MCL35M is a super-efficient car that doesn't put a lot of energy on the tyres unless you decide to 'smash' them with setup. The C5 Soft 'disposable' compounds have certainly helped, on a track, albeit a demanding one also for the traction phase, but with fewer heating problems than the front ones compared to Baku, with the MCL35M being able to make the most of the extra. grip offered.

The Englishman brings his McLaren to impressive levels as well as his trend, which even shows a slight approach to Mercedes while Red Bull took off on the W12, on average 2 tenths ahead in the Austrian events.

The continuous innovations introduced by Red Bull and McLaren are working, while for Brackley, it is now evident that the optimization of the W12 is not enough, so much so that the first real updates for the car of the world champion team will arrive at Silverstone.

Aside from a more normal performance in Spain, Lando has developed very well every weekend. If a positive result was expected in Austria for the characteristics of the track that greatly rewards efficiency, the Monaco podium, taking advantage of Leclerc's debacle and Bottas' problem, it seems, is the photograph of this first part of the season.

The new floor brought to the second Austrian race by McLaren. 7 flow diverters have been added to move the Y250 vortex more externally.
Illustration By: Rosario Giuliana

Ferrari and McLaren are very close, but the Woking team made no mistakes and are deservedly ahead.

We know the MCL35M is a very effective car on the straight, it is not so much the one with the highest speeds, but it is the one that reaches them first, even if traction is not the real strength, especially towards the SF21. After an initial and more uncertain phase of understanding, which also happened to Red Bull, the updates have improved the car's loading points, making it more consistent especially in the distances and out of corners when the track allows you not to jump on curbs or bumps.

Stability was affected in a positive way, automatically also the ease of balancing it. This would have helped Norris to boost performance and Daniel to get closer to finding a car with more load in the medium-slow sections.

The new rear endplate used by the MCL35Ms in France.
Illustration By: Rosario Giuliana

In this phase, McLaren seems to have reached a 'beneficial' efficiency, not too far macroscopically to the Ferrari SF90. Clearly, the regulatory aerodynamic cut has flattened the differences with a W12 that has seen the strengths of the 2020 car eliminated.

Why does Ricciardo struggle? In the ninth race, a new driver, especially if he is of high profile and experienced like him, should be able to be quite close to any teammate but this was not the case for the Australian.

The new front wing was used by McLaren in Spain.
Illustration By: Rosario Giuliana

The good race at the Red Bull Ring only partially redeemed the disappointing qualifying but above all, it gave us some more information on why the difference is so great.

According to the data collected, Daniel still loses a lot compared to Norris in the slow medium corners. The more the corner is high speed, the more the difference with Norris becomes thinner. It is mainly a matter of interpretation.

“We have made some important steps forward from the start of the season to now, but to get the most out of our car we need a special driving style which is not natural for Daniel. For this reason, it fails to be effective,” Seidl said a few weeks ago.

Ricciardo has certainly not unlearned anything, but he has driven all high-downforce, high-rake cars throughout his career; Red Bulls were undoubted, as was Renault, especially the one from two years ago, albeit with a lot of drag. The MCL35M, on the other hand, is very different and uses a much less pushed rake setup, slightly lower than last season's MCL35.

Before the Baku GP, the Australian spent many days in the simulator trying to take a step back and figure out what was wrong with his driving style. “I'm trying to adapt it to make the car work better. Sometimes it's frustrating to see that what you've been doing for years with other cars doesn't work, but as I said, I'm taking a step back and I think this has led me to understand a few things about how to better interpret the car”.

This corner approach aspect is something that requires a substantial change of approach. In Austria, we saw Norris bring a lot of speed into the corner by often sacrificing the apex of medium-slow corners by clearly prioritizing wider and faster sliding. This minimizes traction as much as possible which is not the strongest point of McLaren, unlike Ferrari. Take full advantage of mid-corner stability, further improved with the latest updates, rather than letting yourself be slowed down by a vain search for agility when entering and exiting. Then let the aerodynamic efficiency and the Mercedes power unit, does the rest on the straight.

Ricciardo otherwise seems to feel better using the curbs more, closing the car more to straighten it quickly on the way out, a bit like Leclerc drives the SF21 with corner set a lot to V-shaped and less to U. But with the MCL35M it doesn't work. It's a question of feeling, style, habit and obviously trust.

The key can be to trust the car a lot more when driving, modifying some of its fundamental preferences even using a little more 'dirty' load than Lando if necessary and a little better understeer. An even stiffer and more drag car could help.

Written By: Giuliano Duchessa and Piergiuseppe Donadoni

Illustrations By: Rosario Giuliana

Original Link: https://www.formu1a.uno/analisi-binomio-mclaren-norris-super-perche-ricciardo-fatica/