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.)

 

[RickD]

teabagyokel - That's about right. Mainly due to either the drivers or the cars, but ultimately unsuccessful until McLaren focused all of their effort on one driver. Says to me that they can't handle looking after two drivers at the same time.

 

[racecub]

I'd say Mclaren try hard to focus on both drivers, though I must admit some of Whitmarsh's actions belie the words he speaks. Maybe when push comes to shove he just can't help himself showing favouritism. But that said, I think Ferrari and Red Bull are more focused on one driver than Mclaren.

 

[RickD]

As I said, McLaren do generally focus on one driver, except in 2008..

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yes RickD I don't know where people get the idea that McLaren don't or didn't favour certain drivers Mika was definitely the blue eyed boy over DC under Ron's rule Lewis was definitely the blue eyed boy over Alonso in Ron's rule and that carried on to Kovi.

So lets not try and pretend that this is a Whitmarsh thing....

 

[racecub]

What's a Whitmarsh thing? Do you mean the favouring of Button?

 

[The Pits]

Please, must we keep dragging this down to the same level time and time again?

 

[Mephistopheles]

I'm simply saying that McLaren have in the past favoured one driver over another it is nothing new, I don't know if Button is being favoured over Perez on a race weekend even if Whitmarsh and Button do seem to get on very well, there is no evidence to suggest that. that has been shown in a racing situation, quite the opposite in fact.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Think it's a simple case of McLaren wanting to build the team around Button, unfortunately for them Perez has other ideas. He wants to make an impression on the team and not just be another No. 2 driver. We were all slating McLaren before as Perez didn't seem to have the speed but now that he is showing the talent which got him the McLaren seat it is apparently causing rifts in the team.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I wouldn't say that F1Yorkshire Jenson has never been afraid of competition from his teammates, that's why he signed for McLaren in the first place to pit himself against Lewis...

 

[F1ang-o]

Mephistopheles
Did he heck.......JB was after LH' telemetery............

 

[The Pits]

Yet ironically, the world still got to see Jensons.

 

[ramilas1]

BBC headline (no story link yet)
- Honda confirms return to Formula 1 in 2015 as engine supplier to McLaren, seven years after quitting the sport.

 

[mjo]

Autosport's got it aswell.

 

[Josh]

It's official:

http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=7204-en

 

[RickD]

I think this is great news for McLaren and may see them back at the top of their game.

 

[Kewee]

It is good news, though it's a shame they're not with McLaren from the beginning of the new engine regulations. As it is 2014 will be a year in limbo waiting for their new partner and 2015 will be their year of transition. It will probably be 2016 before they begin to become competitive. Time for patience, don't expect too much too soon. We've been waiting for McLaren to get it right, we'll have to wait a bit longer.

 

[Jen]

I don't think it is the engine that is the problem though.

 

[The Artist.....]

Jen

This season, so far every race has either been won by a Renault or a Ferrari engine.... Not to suggest anything of course.....

 

[The Pits]

But the Mercedes has been on Pole 3 times.....

 

[The Artist.....]

The Pits

That was exactly what I was thinking after I pressed "Post Reply"