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MP4-19B showing promise?

1K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  WILLIA///M 
#1 ·
New McLaren continues to impress on day two
Wednesday June 02 2004

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All eyes were on McLaren's new MP4-19B when it had its first run on a dry track at Silverstone on Wednesday, and once again the results looked promising.

Although Kimi Raikkonen was a bit further down the timesheets than he had been on Tuesday, the Finn was still able to keep pace with the front runners. Raikkonen amassed 66 laps at the British circuit, clocking a best time of 1:18.454, which put him fourth for day two, 0.363 seconds behind P1 holder, Takuma Sato.

However, Raikkonen's day was not without hiccups. His track time was cut short when a brake problem with his MP4-19B took longer to fix than the team had expected.

Day two's quickest driver, Sato, also had problems, with his running being curtailed in the afternoon. The BAR driver completed only 67 laps after being sidelined with a transmission problem. But his 1:18.019, which he set during a short three-lap stint, was still quick enough to ensure he finished the day at the top of the timesheets.

Cristiano da Matta wasn't far behind, though. The Toyota driver's fastest time, also set during a three-lap run, was only 0.054 seconds slower than Sato's, while third placed Michael Schumacher was a further 0.142s back.

Schumacher only worked a half-day, handing over to Rubens Barrichello in the afternoon. The Ferrari team-mates both concentrated on tyre testing and set-up. Barrichello was fifth quickest, finishing ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya.

Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso were next on the timesheets, with the latter suffering an engine blowout. However, and rather strangely, Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk declared at the close of play: "A very positive day for us, particularly on the engine side as we reached our targets with the engine evolutions planned for Canada."

Antonio Pizzonia and Christian Klien completed the top ten, with only Jordan's Giorgio Pantano and Nick Heidfeld slower.

Wednesday's Times:
01 Sato BAR 1:18.091 67
02 da Matta Toyota 1:18.148 124 laps
03 Schumacher Ferrari 1:18.290 76 laps
04 Raikkonen McLaren 1:18.454 66 laps
05 Barrichello Ferrari 1:18.509 34 laps
06 Montoya Williams 1:18.650 86 laps
07 Trulli Renault 1:19.090 126 laps
08 Alonso Renault 1:19.143 80 laps
09 Pizzonia Williams 1:19.292 43 laps
10 Klien Jaguar 1:20.557 104 laps
11 Pantano Jordan 1:21.104 85 laps
12 Heidfeld Jordan 1:21.411 59 laps
 
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#4 ·
Mr. Know-It-All said:
It's not a problem with the motor, it's a problem with cooling underneath the chasis. The underpinning of the McLaren cars are so freakin' tight, there isn't enough adequate cooling on one side of the engine compartment and it overheats and blows up. The engine isn't the culprit, the chassis is (so I've heard).

If you go over all of Kimi and David's "kerblamo's", I believe the majority of the blow-ups come from the left bank of the V-10.
Excerpt from Mclaren online (official homepage)

European Grand Prix - Review :

The cause of the failures will be investigated by Mercedes-Ilmor but it's suspected they were caused by a batch of pistons from which all the engines for this race have been built.
http://www.mclaren.co.uk/season/grandsprix/07euro/index.htm
 
#5 ·
Kaz said:
The McLaren car will be 'promising' as soon as the motors quit going KABLAMMO (quoting David Hobbs) during race weekend.
David always has an interesting descriptor in his bag of verbal tricks. Sort of like David Fehrety is to golf commentary. Hummmmm, is there something about being a David that begets colorful sports language?
 
#6 ·
Mr. Know-It-All said:
Of course the chassis builders can't possibly be at fault...It has to be the engine makers.

A batch of bad pistons? For 6 races PLUS the entire pre-season? If it was that simple you'd think an outfit like Merc/McLaren would've figured this out before the season even started.

Why is it that last year's engine was significantly more reliable than this seasons, when the spec calls for a more reliable engine?

Trust me, the problem is chassis side, not engine.
At the rate Mercedes has been shedding their engine designers, I wouldn't be so sure there aren't some known problems in there. Their big steal from BMW Werner Laurenz is, "... no longer in the F1 program." Hmm, sounds ominous.
 
#7 ·
I also think it's on the engine side. Mercedes hasn't kept pace with BMW or Ferrari engines in the last couple years and now are behind Honda as well. In trying to keep pace they've pushed the envelope too far. In fact, now that I think about it they haven't been really competitve since Berylium was banned.
 
#8 ·
I don't think it's the chassis. The 19 traces back to the stillborn 18 pretty directly. There seems to be indication that the eigines have been altered significantly in the last 2 years relative to the chassis. I recall hearing somewhere that the new Ilmors have a wicking problem... I find it a bit hard to believe, but supposedly the blocks seep oil, which implies significant engine design changes (not for the better).

Nor have I noticed (not that I've been able to watch every race this season.. argh!) that McLaren engine failures had any correspondence to weather conditions.
 
#10 ·
racerdave said:
Yeah, they'd be better off asking Jordan or even Minardi if they want to swap for their Fords because at least they *finish* the race.
I'm sort of guessing they'd like to be competitive, too. :p
 
#12 ·
I see they may have the new car ready for Canada or the USGP. I find that hard to believe. I'd love to see it in Montreal. Someones got to push Michael. I'm really starting to lose interest. If Michael dominates in Canada again this will be my last year until he retires or someone develops a car that will take on Ferrari. Go Kimi and pray for sunshine.
 
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