McLaren tips?

[5billionping]

I was doing a McLaren save file, but I was struggling to get into the points, so I just gave up. I'm starting again, but this time I'm gonna take whatever guidance I can get and try to put it to great use.

[Garuda One]

The first season can be tough with Mclaren because of how weak the car is at season start. I think it’s effectively the worst car on the grid with the exception of Alfa Romeo I think.

I managed to get Norris into points in Saudi and got a P7 in Australia and Baku after the Ferrari’s crashed each other out(hilariously) both races. But Piastri is so SO underrated that getting him up to P13 was a massive achievement for me at Baku.

I followed kinda what they did in reality- I focused my parts on high speed cornering and had basically all new set ups by Austria and had Norris reliably fighting Mercedes around P5-P6. Unfortunately Piastri is just so bad in the first season it’s hard to get him into points regularly with the year one car. In my opinion anyway.

This being said- I play without cheesing as much as possible. I don’t over adjust the sliders in developing parts (1-2 clicks at most in certain areas) and I don’t hardly ever use stuff like avoiding kerbs instructions.

Even if you’re not min-maxing by mid season 2 you should have your car strong enough to be fighting for podiums with Norris. Don’t worry about acceleration- that’s 99% engine manufacturer dependent. I think prioritizing high speed corner performance is the best approach, with low speed being secondary. The middle of the calendar is a bunch of circuits with high speed corners as far as the game is concerned.

[Ngoc]

It’s far from being the worst car after Alfa Romeo is the worst car of the top 5 team so it should be possible to get some point but not automatic you need to set it up right and do things right and a bit of luck

[Garuda One]

Originally posted by Ngoc:

It’s far from being the worst car after Alfa Romeo is the worst car of the top 5 team so it should be possible to get some point but not automatic you need to set it up right and do things right and a bit of luck

Is it though? At game start Alpha Tauri, Alpine, and Haas are all faster in almost every area. I think Mclaren starts 13th fastest car in top speed and around there for DRS efficiency but is 17th out of 20 at every cornering attribute (I think maybe last at low speed) and is close to last in acceleration. I think their cooling ratings are near bottom too. If that’s car 17/20 that puts them right at the bottom with Alfa Romeo, no?

Regardless, I think I’ve done Bahrain 3 times with Mclaren S1 GP1 and never managed to get points. Closest I got was Norris P11 once I think. Mclaren is a tractor at game start, which is fair, cause they were in reality too.

[Ngoc]

13 fastest car doesn’t put them just above the 19 that is Alfa your math. Kinda sux and I played many with Alfa and I always fight with the other 4 lower team never with Mercedes I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on all your data

I just started a new carrer right now for you just to show you that you have no clue
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3051221796

7th mean 4th best car not 9th! and for the very first car all that really matter are all the characteristic that are 7th (and 1 that is 11th) so around the 5th car at worst if not the 4th car

how can people lie so pointlessly, mostly 7th and only 1 13 and you think is just before alfa romeo you must be another of those fools

[Garuda One]

Uh. We are talking about Mclaren not Mercedes. I don’t know why you’re so defensive and we’re not even talking about the same thing lol. I’m at work also and going off memory- I can’t actively check right now but I’m pretty sure Mclaren’s car at season start is bottom 2-3 in every category except top speed and DRS efficiency.

Maybe there is a language barrier issue here or something but I’m not sure what point you’re contesting. Are you saying I’m lying about how bad the car is at season start? Or that I got Norris to P7 at Australia and Baka? Cause as I said before, the only reason I we managed that was cause both Ferrari’s DNF’d of both GP’s.

[Ngoc]

Meclaren is actually the 6th-7th thanks to the driver as cat per se probably an even 8th
And you are right I mixed up the team was talking about Mercedes earlier and I mixed them up the order is

10 Alfa Romeo
9 Williams
8 Alfa Tauri
7 Mclaren as car 7 a bit behind but good river and very good facilities and decent budget
6/5 Alpine More money slightly worst car
5/6 Hass Less money better car

[nh2008]

Theoretically the McLaren is the 8th force in terms of car performance. But with Lando's skill they fight with Williams, Alpha Tauri sometimes with Haas for 12-14 place at the beginning of the season.

The key is (as always) the car developement, with a strong design package in Australia you can fight for points. Then of course the good race strategy and race management is also very important.

[Arashi]

At the start of S1, your car would not be able to race RB/FRR/Merc/AM. Alpine usually takes the last two spots in terms of points, but they are beatable with some skill+luck.

If you want to make things easier, you can poach Ocon or Gasly at the start of the season. The AI will automatically pick up Piastri, who although a absolute gigachad IRL, but unfortunately a hilariously bad driver in game.

This will open up a path for you to consistently score points with two good drivers fighting the remaining Alpine driver. I personally prefer poaching Russell as McLaren but he is kinda expensive. And Alpine is definitely your most direct competition in terms of point scoring in the beginning.

Haas should not pose a big problem as their drivers are not very good. It's not uncommon for them to out-qualify you but it's generally not that difficult to overtake them in the race. If you are having trouble beating Haas then you should try to improve your race management before attempting a McLaren run.

By Baku your first set of upgrades should start rolling in and beating Alpine should be a piece of cake as long as you are maximising pace in car development. As your car improve further into the season you might be able to start challenging Merc depending on your progress.