Current McLaren

Arguably one of the big teams in Formula One but lately they don't seem to be able to get the basics right.
Some of their strategy and decisions in the last few years has left more than a few observers scratching their heads.

Just a few for starters:

• Leaving Kimi out on a badly flat-spotted tyre, resulting in it exploding on the last lap.
• Leaving Hamilton out on tyres so badly worn they were down to the canvas; Bridgestone themselves demanded that McLaren bring him in and McLaren refused, keeping him out for a few more laps. That decision arguably cost Hamilton the first rookie WDC and is one which will haunt him and McLaren for the rest of their days.
• Not sending Button and Hamilton out to get banker laps in during Q1.
• Sending Hamilton out on used tyres in Q3, with rain forecast, meaning it would be impossible to set a fast lap time on his second attempt on new tyres.

Their major updates seem to send them further down the grid, instead of challenging for pole positions and wins. As the season progresses they tend to get worse before getting better, by which time it is generally too late.

It's often said of them "write them off at your peril", but is this necessarily true?

The last time they won the WCC was in 1998 and their last WDC was 2008, before that 1999.
Their days of regularly winning championships seem to be well and truly behind them.

It's all well and good coming up with reasons why they haven't won championships.
The fact remains though, they have won just one WDC in the last 12 years.

So where to now for McLaren?

(I wrote this in rather a hurry so I will flesh it out when I have more time.)

 

[RasputinLives]

Il_leone De Vries has announced he'll be driving for ART in GP3 in 2016.

 

[Il_leone]

Interesting move but does suggest his route to GP2 next season already then

 

[RasputinLives]

Sky are doing a special show this evening dedicated to showing how the Mclaren would have been an awful car last year whichever engine it had in it

Did McLaren hide behind Honda in 2015? - Tonight on Development Special

Bet Ron has it set to record on his TVO box.

 

[teabagyokel]

He'll describe it as bovine effluent regardless.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Makes me wonder why Sky would bother making a program that eases Honda's pain and trashes McLaren? Does Murdoch have any financial involvement with Honda or the other way around?

 

[Greenlantern101]

How easy is it to make a tinfoil hat? I'm imagining a roll of tin foil, hold one end on forehead, wrap around and around, scrunch extra bit on top into an antenna?

 

[The Pits]

I thought that it was all a little bit underwhelming, not really a proper slating, just Mike G, who at least knows what a shit F1 car looks like, and someone who can draw really good pictures.

What they are basically saying, is that the McLaren chassis was not great, and the engine was bad, as opposed to the car was ok and the engine was rubbish. Not sure it makes much difference really, neither Honda nor McLaren came through last year without serious denting to the reputation.

 

[cider_and_toast]

It just seems like a pointless program Greenlantern101. We know last years McLaren was rubbish so a program saying that the chassis was more rubbish than you thought is a relatively pointless thing. It's a bit like saying 'sure the Titanic sank but the paint job was rubbish and they never did manage to get the deckchairs lined up neatly'.

 

[teabagyokel]

If it was as good as the 2013-14 McLarens, it was crap.

 

[Slyboogy]

Weren't McLaren raving on about how they had one of the best chassis's last year?

 

[Titch]

There was certainly some ranting going on, I'm not sure it was about the chassis though.

 

[Incubus]

McLaren claiming they had one of best chassis was clearly a ridiculous assertion considering their high levels of tyre wear - despite the low speeds at which they approached corners, and the perpetual complaints drivers had about the car's alance.

 

[Il_leone]

Well last year's Mclaren chassis can only be judged on performances on circuits like Monaco, Hungary and Singapore. Their best finish was 5th place and they had 3 DNFs as well

So really it is hard to judge but again it is the assertion that they were let down by Honda power

 

[The Artist.....]

Well, apparently Honda have only used 18 of their 32 tokens so far. (leaving 14 to play with). In contrast, Ferrari have used 23 (and Renault 7). Mercedes have used 19.

 

[FB]

Just watching the replay of FP2. Ant Davidson said he met up with one of his old Honda engineers who told him they are looking forward to 2017.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Are Honda pulling out then?

 

[sushifiesta]

Alonso's time today is 5.3s faster than Button's time in qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix last season. Pretty huge progress but they've still got a hell of a long way to go.

 

[Titch]

They are mid field now.

 

[Il_leone]

Well they have jumped ahead of Sauber who they ought to be beating , Manor who will be the back end boys, Haas who actually had similar times were they not eliminated and Renault who have undergone major restructuring


If it is rains they might a few points here and there but can't see to them challenging the top 3 Mercedes, Ferrari and Toro Rosso

 

[The Artist.....]

Can anyone explain McLaren's strategy with Button today.

1. Up until the first stops, he was right with Alonso. They called him in 4 laps later, and he was 16 seconds behind.
2. At the restart, they put the supersoft tyres on; these were always going to need changing, and would mean that any cars that chose to non-stop to the finish would need to be overtaken. However, the McLaren is still slow in a straightline, making overtaking nigh-on impossible!