After an encouraging first test in Barcelona, McLaren had to contend with a few too many difficulties this week in Bahrain, facing problems related to overheating of the brakes.
The Woking team failed to implement a solution on the track, so Lando Norris was forced to limit his runs over the course of the first two days.
However, there has been a lot of work at the factory to produce new brake ducts, designed to improve thermal management, and the hope is that these new parts can be ready to be shipped to Sakhir in time for the final day of testing.
However, team principal Andreas Seidl admitted that this is by no means an easy situation for the team to manage.
“After the good test we did in Barcelona, this first day and a half here definitely did not go according to plan,” said Seidl on Friday. “Unexpectedly, we ran into a problem with the front brakes, which we need to fix. So now it’s a race against time to have parts updated in time for tomorrow.”
“We will make all the changes we can make here on the track, which will allow us to work at least to advance the understanding of the car. Maybe we could even make some small updates to try to come up with something in terms of performance.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Despite these problems, even if the updated parts do not arrive in time for tomorrow’s sessions, Seidl said he was certain that the problem will be solved for the first race of the season, scheduled for next week in Bahrain.
“I am optimistic that, despite the time we have lost and the few laps we have done so far, we can finish these tests rather prepared for the first race weekend”.
In addition to having to deal with these brake problems, McLaren had to do without Daniel Ricciardo in these first two days, with the Australian who was stopped by a severe flu attack.
After getting some encouraging news today, Seidl looks hopeful that he will be able to find Daniel in the cockpit of the MCL36 on the final day.
“It is good to see that his condition is improving significantly and he is feeling better,” he said. “So I’m pretty optimistic to see him in the car tomorrow.”
#McLaren #race #time #brake #duct