Il_leone
World Champion
Incubus I feel Alonso does not want a repeat of the situation with Hamilton at Mclaren in that K Mag might be viewed as Ron's boy (scuse the pun) and get over aggressive when it comes to racing and it will upset Alonso
cider_and_toast Mephistopheles
Mclaren's history with engines
80-83 Ford - not sure if having Watson - a British driver was forced because it would please Ford who were supplying a lot of teams whilst Marlboro backed De Cesaris because of his dad and then seem to have this expectancy they wanted world class drivers namely world champions
84-87 Tag Porsche - no real influence as Mclaren paid for the engines exclusively
88-92 Honda - it was either Senna or Piquet as their man and Prost suggested that Ron should go with Senna - little did he know how much Honda loved him to the point he began to question being given weaker engines
93 Ford - No other option with Honda quitting although Marlboro wanted a world champion as Senna was not committed
94 Peugeot - A gamble that failed with no world champions on board as Prost was prevented from coming out of retirement so they wanted a French driver in Alliott who was given test duties and had good success in Sportscar team. Persistent pressure for place him at the expense of Brundle did not pay off and he only got his chance when Hakkinen was sick for 1 race
95-date Mercedes
- no real pressure in 95 except from Marlboro who expected a world champion driver and the only left was Mansell who Ron never respected it proved to be a disaster
- a joint young driver programme with Merc which includes Heidfeld, Zonta, Di Resta, Paffet , Turvey
- the closest they came was placing Heidfeld who Mercedes rated but Ron thought Kimi was better long term
- persistent rumours that M Schumacher was going to drive for Mercedes never materialised as Ron was quoted as saying he would run the team the way M Schumacher wanted
So Mclaren have not really bowed to engine supplier pressure
cider_and_toast Mephistopheles
Mclaren's history with engines
80-83 Ford - not sure if having Watson - a British driver was forced because it would please Ford who were supplying a lot of teams whilst Marlboro backed De Cesaris because of his dad and then seem to have this expectancy they wanted world class drivers namely world champions
84-87 Tag Porsche - no real influence as Mclaren paid for the engines exclusively
88-92 Honda - it was either Senna or Piquet as their man and Prost suggested that Ron should go with Senna - little did he know how much Honda loved him to the point he began to question being given weaker engines
93 Ford - No other option with Honda quitting although Marlboro wanted a world champion as Senna was not committed
94 Peugeot - A gamble that failed with no world champions on board as Prost was prevented from coming out of retirement so they wanted a French driver in Alliott who was given test duties and had good success in Sportscar team. Persistent pressure for place him at the expense of Brundle did not pay off and he only got his chance when Hakkinen was sick for 1 race
95-date Mercedes
- no real pressure in 95 except from Marlboro who expected a world champion driver and the only left was Mansell who Ron never respected it proved to be a disaster
- a joint young driver programme with Merc which includes Heidfeld, Zonta, Di Resta, Paffet , Turvey
- the closest they came was placing Heidfeld who Mercedes rated but Ron thought Kimi was better long term
- persistent rumours that M Schumacher was going to drive for Mercedes never materialised as Ron was quoted as saying he would run the team the way M Schumacher wanted
So Mclaren have not really bowed to engine supplier pressure
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