Talking about McLaren’s tire management, Toto Wolff said: "They demonstrate their superiority on every tire type. We have a similarly fast car to them, but only on one lap. McLaren can reproduce that every lap."

Christian Horner sees differences depending on the track and outside temperature. "Their advantage is always greatest where the tires are most stressed. That's why we looked much worse in Miami than in Jeddah."

Conclusion: McLaren must have something beyond high downforce and balanced car balance. Wolff praises the rival: "They're not doing anything illegal. We have no doubt that they're operating within the rules, whatever they've found."

It's becoming increasingly clear that the McLaren engineers have a clever solution for keeping the tires cool. "Five degrees makes a huge difference," explains Wolff.

This is precisely what's troubling the opponents now. "We don't know," asserts the Mercedes team principal. "But we're working hard on it. We're not just sitting back and watching, but trying to find the key through experimentation and development work."

According to Wolff, the McLaren secret isn't some kind of brainwave, but the product of continuous improvement of the car since the major turnaround at the 2023 Austrian GP.

Red Bull is taking a different approach. The dethroned class leader is firing on all cylinders at McLaren in the hopes of eventually hitting the mark. Somehow, people in Milton Keynes don't want to believe that...

[...] everything is above board. But they also have no idea what could be causing McLaren to let its tires caress themselves like that.

After the Miami GP, Christian Horner initially expressed his conciliation: "Hats off to McLaren. They taught everyone a lesson today. They're doing a better job with tire management than the rest of the field."

On one point, he agrees with Toto Wolff is: "We need to find out as quickly as possible what McLaren is doing. Whatever it is, it could be a match-winner next year as well."

Clearly, the trick has nothing to do with the current ground-effect cars. Andrea Stella, of course, offers no explanation. He only says: "We have to thank our engineers for creating factors that allow us to keep the tires within their window."

He admits that some aspects can be carried over into the new era of Formula 1, while others need to be adapted to the 2026 cars and their aerodynamics.

Stella also denies that the exceptionally good tire management in the race has nothing to do with the problems that sometimes make it difficult for drivers to set the perfect lap in qualifying.

Andrea Stella: "We don't pay a price per lap for caring for the tires better than others. It's no problem for us to get the tires into their working window quickly. In qualifying, drivers are more likely to complain about a lack of feel for the front axle.”

The opinion is now gaining ground in the scene that the engineers in Woking have found a particularly clever solution for circulating air in the brake ventilation drums, keeping the brakes hot while keeping the tires cool. The external shape of the drums is standardized.

Inside, you have complete freedom. You're not allowed to install any explicit cooling elements, but you're not restricted in the choice of materials.

An insider speculates: "Perhaps they circulate the air in such a way that it stays cool in the crucial areas and shield the heat through the use of certain materials."

Rob Marshall is said to be the father of the system. He has been carrying the concept around with him for years, but has only now made it work. That would be bitter for Red Bull. Marshall was at Red Bull for 17 years before moving to McLaren in early 2024.

Stella also made an interesting statement - "Even when it gets hot, our car stays cool. We've developed a very efficient cooling system." This also affects tire temperatures. If the car as a whole gets too hot, it radiates to the tires.

Stella's statement also explains why the McLaren is near the back in terms of top speed. More cooling reduces efficiency.

We have a similarly fast car to them, but only on one lap.

Their advantage is always greatest where the tires are most stressed. That's why we looked much worse in Miami than in Jeddah.

zelot je napisao/la: 05.05.2025., 14:25 Cisto da ne prodje ispod radara, lijepo je Pia natjerao Maxa na gresku.
Pritisak dugi niz krugova nakon kojeg se Max ipak prekocio i tako izgubio vodstvo.
Eto, koliko god je covjek stroj, ipak je od krvi i mesa.