McLaren sets goals and hopes to close gap with top teams
F1 News
- GPblog.com
McLaren has set its sights on improving speed through the slow corners for 2021. The team also wants to see improvements when wind plays a major role during a session.
The power of the MCL35 in 2020
According to Technical Director James Key, the 2020 car was at its best in the fast corners and when the weather didn't change too much. "I think our strengths have been typically the high speed corners," he explained to Autosport.com.
"Certainly from the beginning of the season, we were very competitive in the medium and higher speed corners. Straight line braking has been another strength of ours as well, which benefited us on some tracks - like Austria for example," continued the Brit.
Two key areas for improvement for McLaren
Key therefore knows where the biggest gains can be made for the British racing team. "I think in terms of weaknesses, we still need to improve ourselves a bit in low speed," he says. He does, however, already see improvements over 2019, as Key says it was a lot less of a weakness in 2020.
In changing conditions, the McLaren is also nowhere near as good as it could be, Key knows. "We need to understand that actually, but it's not one of those overnight fixes. So that's what we're really targeting. I think if we can iron some of that out, we'll have a more consistent car from one race to the next."