According to McLaren technical director James Key, slow corners are responsible for the performance differences in Formula One: How good that this is no longer the weak point
The fact that McLaren has performed well in recent years, especially on high-speed tracks, can be seen quite well in the double victory at Monza 2021. But because the characteristic was also accompanied by poor performance in slow corners, the racing team wanted to change something with the new Formula 1 regulations and no longer be so dependent on one type of corner.
This seems to have been achieved with the MCL36: “We’ve sort of evened out the speed differences in the corners now,” says McLaren’s technical director James Key.
“We’re still strong in medium-fast corners. I wouldn’t call the fast corners a weakness, but they are nothing special anymore – average I would say,” Key said. “But in the slow corners we’re not in the difficult situation we were in before, when we couldn’t get the car to do what we wanted it to do. “
“Through the regulations and also through the design, we have found directions that have definitely improved our performance at low speeds,” says the technical director. “Some types of corners still catch us on the wrong foot, but we no longer have that imbalance of being very strong in high-speed and very weak in low-speed. “
And that, Key says, is also pretty important in modern Formula 1. After all, the high-speed performance of all the teams is quite similar. You can’t really stand out there anymore.
“Now the low-speed range is the performance differentiator, now that high-speed is becoming easier and easier with downforce,” says the McLaren technical director.
And even if slow corners are no longer McLaren’s big weakness, the racing team still has some work to do, according to Key: “We’re still not perfect at low speed, but it’s not the big obstacle it was in previous years either. “
