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McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne is looking forward to challenge that lies ahead of him in 2017. With an aerodynamic overhaul and wider tyres being introduced, he is hoping that some corners will be flat out for next season.
Vandoorne won the 2015 GP2 championship before taking a year in Super Formula in 2016, where he finished fourth in the championship. He also made his F1 debut in Bahrain of last year, replacing the injured Fernando Alonso.
"I'm really hoping that we'll be able to take Turn 3 at Barcelona flat this year," he said. "It's a corner that I've been able to take flat in the junior series, such as Formula Renault 3.5, so you'd expect it to be taken flat in Formula 1 as well, even though there's a lot more horsepower. I've still only driven it in the sim, but using our current predictions, it should be flat."
Many corners on the calendar (like Turn 3 at Barcelona) will be considered straights in 2017 as the driver will not have to brake or lift off the throttle due to the improved aerodynamics.
Vandoorne spoke about what it takes to master these turns: "When a corner is flat, you don't really think about it too much," he explains. "You know you can't do anything else except put your foot to the floor, and then be as smooth as possible with the steering wheel so as not to scrub too much speed off.
"So then your focus shifts towards other parts of the circuit: if some corners become easy-flat, then you shift set-up focus elsewhere; towards the slower parts of the track. We'll be working harder to extract the most performance from those areas of the track.
"High-speed corners will probably become flat, or close to flat; the mid-speed corners will probably become high-speed corners, and I think the low-speed stuff will still be very similar. It will just be a general step up [in cornering speed] everywhere."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (2)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Really excited to see Stoffel this year, he deserves this opportunity, partnership with Alonso should work well
mclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
Alonso is old guard his time is at an end, if this new kid can do something it would be good for Mclaren or else it's another long season with what will most likely be another mediocre car.