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 Alonso would have won no titles with Mclaren. He would have been beat by Lewis in 2008, Button in 09 and then came the Red Bull era.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I doubt that ditching Alonso would save mush/any RasputinLives money since his sponsors will be paying his salary and McLaren could well end up having to fork out money for a successor who might not bring as much..

 

[The Artist.....]

RasputinLives

I'm not convinced that Hamilton would've beaten Alonso in 2008; Hamilton seemed to be doing his best (along with the FIA) to throw away the 2008 championship -also, in 2007, Alonso had struggled somewhat with the change in tyres from 2006

 

[teabagyokel]

Well, we never found out because someone threw their toys firmly out of the plan, leading to an utterly catastrophic chain of events.

 

[Andyoak]

I'm sorry but the silly tart blew the vicar and told the press.

Alonso is no master of mind games, the press, or getting his way with a team. He ****ed up his relationship with McLaren, Ferrari and Renault through pure selfishness. There's no evidence of those mythical 6/10ths just a rampaging ego.

I liked him when he took his holidays in Tenby.
A sniff of success made him a twat.

 

[teabagyokel]

After he left McLaren, he often found that the place he ought to be is the place he just left.

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives You know Alonso did bee-tch about had Mclaren supported him in 2007 he would have won the title

2008 - I think Alonso would not have made the errors that Hamilton made to win the championship

2009 - okay given how Mclaren went that would have been a lean year for him BUT he could have re-signed with Mclaren

and probably won 2010 and 2012 in a Mclaren


---------------------

Already Alonso is saying Sainz should be someone Mclaren should go for and he will bring in Spanish sponsors away from Toro Rosso

I wonder if Repsol would be interested in supplying the fuel as well

Signing Sainz - I am not sure how Mclaren will PR him given he is not a world champion but the son of a famous world champion

 

[FB]

Aren't Cepsol the Spanish fuel company backing TR?

 

[olegg]

What would Alonso to think, if he saw behind the window this

 

[Il_leone]

FB I suspect they were only backing TR because of Sainz so if he went to Mclaren they would probably go with him and their brand logo would fit perfectly on the Mclaren at the moment since it as a hint of orange

 

[FB]

Just flicked the page over on my Peruvian calendar and it said 1st of April which may well explain this story - Ferrari could be considering an engine supply to McLaren!

 

[Il_leone]

FB apparently Mclaren have put in a request for Ferrari engines

Mclaren being a B team to Ferrari ? That just seems unthinkable

 

[cider_and_toast]

And in other news Holland and Germany have agreed to enter a joint team for the next Football World Cup.

 

[The Pits]

That just seems unthinkable

Do you know how you can think the unthinkable?

With an itheberg.

 

[teabagyokel]

And in other news Holland and Germany have agreed to enter a joint team for the next Football World Cup.

It will be simply called 'Germany'.

 

[Olivier]

FB apparently Mclaren have put in a request for Ferrari engines

Mclaren being a B team to Ferrari ? That just seems unthinkable

Ferrari can give them 'Alfa Romeo' engines. Problem solved

 

[Il_leone]

still inferior engines you'd think as Ferrari customer teams have a poor record

 

[RasputinLives]

Alfa badged engines.

 

[teabagyokel]

Badged engines? There is genuinely no-one who believes Red Bull have a bloody clockwork engine rather than a Renault hybrid.

Pointless fiction.

 

[RasputinLives]

Yep. But it will be on the engine.