McLaren fixes tech issues and is prepared to take on Singapore
Formula One team McLaren have resolved a series of high-downforce issues and declare that their vehicle will be prepared to take on the high-calibre Red Bulls and Ferraris in the Singapore Grand Prix this
weekend.
The team faced various difficulties with balancing stability and versatility in their current model, with their most recent stunt in high-downforce trim resulting in disappointing finishes for driver Jenson
Button. But principal race engineer Philip Prew revealed at the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in that he is confident the cars will perform amongst the best at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
“This is a big weekend, particularly big after the difficulty we had with a lack of pace in Hungary, which is our reference for high-downforce, slow-speed," Prew commented. “It should be competitive between
Red Bull, Ferrari and ourselves.”
Prew also acknowledged that Red Bull’s dominance is at stake given the increased heavy load tests on front wings and floors issued by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). “The regulations now in place over bodywork testing means it should be a level playing field,” he predicted. “The advantage that was felt to be being gained by Red Bull and Ferrari is harder to exploit,
if that was indeed what they were doing. I'd like to think it will be very close, but you'd have to be a bit brave to say where we'll all end up.”
As well, Prew revealed that McLaren’s progress has not only derived from its advanced upgrades, but from exploring the mistakes of past equipment and implementing that knowledge effectively.
"We have some big upgrades, but also our understanding of our car and how to exploit it [and] how to get downforce from the car has improved since Hungary,” he stated. “We're optimistic that [we] can close
the gap and we hope to be competitive. Coming out of Hungary we recognised our pace was not where it needed to be. Since then we have had a whole number of upgrades on the car, some have run already at Spa and Monza and they will carry over. In addition, we
have further upgrades here in Singapore; a new front wing and other devices that will look to improve downforce.”
He added, “We know some of the upgrades are working because we've seen them in previous races, albeit with different downforce levels. We're hopeful that what we've added to the car over the last six weeks
will be sufficient to close that gap up.”
McLaren will hit the tarmac on September 24 for the Singapore Grand Prix first practice session.
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