As you may know my son works at McLaren F1 where he is one on Lando Norris' performance engineers. He got myself and my wife a couple of day passes. Here are a few of the photos I took. I'll do one per post so it's easier to comment or ask questions.
Lando Norris with 'Little Lando' a super fan :)
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Lewis Hamilton with Rosco his pet british bulldog who often come to press day.
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Cool! I'd like to go to a F1 race someday. Trouble is, I usually have no time to travel to one as they have a nasty tendency to coincide with my busy season :(
Preparing to practice pit stop tyre changing.
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Quote from: Asmodean on July 05, 2024, 08:07:17 PMCool! I'd like to go to a F1 race someday. Trouble is, I usually have no time to travel to one as they have a nasty tendency to coincide with my busy season :(
Your busy season runs from March to December!
Changing the wheels. The pneumatic wheel guns are very, very loud!
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Quote from: Tank on July 05, 2024, 08:36:59 PMPreparing to practice pit stop tyre changing.
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whats that green thing sticking up out of the front nacelle like a gunsight? i assume its something you have to remove before you run, but what is itz?
where is the fuel tank?
The car being put together ready for practice on Friday.
They are unbelievably beautiful machines. They look like space craft under their skin.
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Quote from: billy rubin on July 05, 2024, 08:42:08 PMQuote from: Tank on July 05, 2024, 08:36:59 PMPreparing to practice pit stop tyre changing.
...
whats that green thing sticking up out of the front nacelle like a gunsight? i assume its something you have to remove before you run, but what is itz?
where is the fuel tank?
The green thing is a cover over an air data sensor.
The fuel tank is below and behind the driver. One of my son's jobs is to calculate the fuel load the car starts with.
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Ferrari pit, next to McLaren.
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They are making an F1 based movie. APX GP is a fictitious team with a space in the pit lane.
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Brad Pitt plays a returning F1 driver. He was in and around while I was there but I didn't see him. The car is a dressed up F2 car.
Link to the movie on IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16311594/)
Meeting Lando in the McLaren hospitality lounge.
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Looks like you had a splendid day. Thanks for the photos! :thumb:
Thanks for the photos from me too.
Quote from: Recusant on July 05, 2024, 11:21:12 PMLooks like you had a splendid day. Thanks for the photos! :thumb:
Oh I did! Best day ever. I had a smile on my face all day.
I joined the paparazzi crowd waiting on the inside of the paddock entrance. I met a chap Will and his son Luke. Luke loves Lando and was dressed as 'Little Lando' and had a scrapbook with all the drivers photos in. So we got chatting and when Lando arrived I got a few shots.
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Will and Luke waiting to pounce on Lando.
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I did not realise my son Andrew is actually famous in F1 circles. I should have realised as he has 45,000+ followers on Instagram. He got all of these when Lando and he had a radio conversation at the end of what (at the time 3 years ago) they both thought would be their last race together. It got a little emotional and on broadcast radio Lando said 'Are you crying Jaaaarv?' Within the hour Andrew hab 50,000+ followers on Instagram! He does not court fame. His mum was seriously pissed off at his instafame :D
Will knew about Andrew who had been chatting with me in the paddock. He only put 2 and 2 together later and was annoyed in a light hearted way that he hadn't recognised him and get a selfie!
Quote from: Icarus on July 06, 2024, 04:39:25 AMThanks for the photos from me too.
You would of loved it. Seeing the cars naked in the pits it is impossible for me to describe the absolute mechanical beauty and perfection. I got a close up look ar the gearbox/rear-axle assembly. It is a drool worthy work of art, as are the Mercedes engines.
Only McLaren photographers are allowed to take photos inside the garage. But Thursday is press and visitors day. If you look in the picture below you'll see a tape barrier. Anybody can take photos from outside that barrier. This shot was taken looking down from the pit wall.
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Looking up from the pit you can see the control centers used by the team boss, managers and strategy team during the race. They are known as the 'prat shacks'. This is Aston Martin's Prat Shack :)
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The pit straight. One of the largest as its purpose built. The cars only just fit in the Monaco pits with a few metres to spare. They are known as 'Bum rubbers' as you can't avoid physical contact moving around. You can see the photo barrier better here.
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We got out onto the track as well.
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Luke aka Little Lando was perfect cute driver bait. Here he is nabbing Lewis Hamilton for a signature. Lewis brings Rosco his pet Bulldog to press day. I actually think Rosco takes some of the pressure off of Lewis. Rosco loves the attention. If he could speak I have no doubt he'd walk around asking for a pat. He wanders around the paddock off his lead with a shit collector/minder during the day. He looks like he loves it!
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It's not all glamourous. Cleaning the front axle on the Aston Martin.
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The nose/front-wing assembly cost around $250,000 a go. They contain tiny infrared cameras that point backwards at the front tyres so the engineers can see the tyre temperatures. This is one of the sensor feeds Andrew can see on his screen in real time during the race. The feed also goes back to the 'War Room' at McLaren head office where 50 or so engineers work during the weekend.
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This is the Haas pit. Haas are the only American owned team. The tripod on the right is a laser and is used in the chassis setup for toe in etc.
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The drivers all have their own Bum Bucket.
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$1,000.000 of noses waiting to be smacked into a wall!
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The comms system. All pit staff have ear-defender/headphones.
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Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.
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A group of Chelsea Pensioners (https://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/the-chelsea-pensioners) arrived. Dressed in Ferrari scarlet. I asked them why they were supporting Ferrari? I got a jolly abusive retort lol.
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Nothing is left to chance or skimped. This chap is marking out the stop point for the car, down to the mm.
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Even the safety cars are sexy. Provided by Aston Martin.
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Pirelli bring two lorry loads of tyres. 3 grades of slicks from a range of 5 based on the track shape, surface and expected temperature. They bring two tyres for the wet known as intermediate for damp and light rain and full wet for serious rain and/or standing water. F1 does not stop in the wet like cricket and Indi cars :)
The process was interesting. The teams take it in turn to take their wheel rims to the Pirelli garage. Pirelli fit the tyres and balance the wheels. The tyres then go back to a holding areas in the paddock behind the respective pits where they are marked up in sets. I don't know what happens to the old tyres. I will find out,
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Guess which hospitality suit this is.
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Max Verstappen's Red Bull.
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Happy mum and dad.
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Best bit of plastic ever!!!
I had to give it back :(
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Very cool bunch of photos! Looks like everyone is having a good time.
Quote from: Dark Lightning on July 06, 2024, 02:21:50 PMVery cool bunch of photos! Looks like everyone is having a good time.
Yes. Everybody so obviously loves what they are doing whatever it is.
Fascinating pictures Tank. Especially fascinating for "petrol heads" like a few of us here. Wall to wall big money is in conspicuous evidence there.
What is the purpose of the tiny little fenders/mudguards above the front wheels? They appear on other cars as well. They will cause some aero drag so they must be a worthwhile tradeoff.
Quote from: Icarus on July 07, 2024, 01:44:26 AMFascinating pictures Tank. Especially fascinating for "petrol heads" like a few of us here. Wall to wall big money is in conspicuous evidence there.
What is the purpose of the tiny little fenders/mudguards above the front wheels? They appear on other cars as well. They will cause some aero drag so they must be a worthwhile tradeoff.
Air flow control as far as I know. But I couldn't say with any certainty.
the sophistication of what is going on with this factory team as light years beyone what i have the ability to do. but i understand it completely, and if i had the mans, i would be doing exactly the same thing with my old iron.
tank, your pictures ar slow to load for me, but i will get them eventually.
Quote from: billy rubin on July 07, 2024, 11:00:43 PMthe sophistication of what is going on with this factory team as light years beyone what i have the ability to do. but i understand it completely, and if i had the mans, i would be doing exactly the same thing with my old iron.
tank, your pictures ar slow to load for me, but i will get them eventually.
Sorry they are full size images. I'll reduce them in future. Thank you for mentioning this.
This should be better?
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Quote from: Tank on July 05, 2024, 08:37:57 PMQuote from: Asmodean on July 05, 2024, 08:07:17 PMCool! I'd like to go to a F1 race someday. Trouble is, I usually have no time to travel to one as they have a nasty tendency to coincide with my busy season :(
Your busy season runs from March to December!
Yep. I work adjacent to construction industry. The cold, snowy months tend to be slower than those not, so... Kinda' same as the racing industry, really.
Quote from: Asmodean on July 09, 2024, 08:17:19 AMQuote from: Tank on July 05, 2024, 08:37:57 PMQuote from: Asmodean on July 05, 2024, 08:07:17 PMCool! I'd like to go to a F1 race someday. Trouble is, I usually have no time to travel to one as they have a nasty tendency to coincide with my busy season :(
Your busy season runs from March to December!
Yep. I work adjacent to construction industry. The cold, snowy months tend to be slower than those not, so... Kinda' same as the racing industry, really.
I see. And you are of course quite right.