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.)

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

hahaha ... no ... but is it not a shock that his legacy is greatly enhanced based on how his same squad from last season + Belgian Afro have folded this season ?

 

[Titch]

I see Ron is bigging up his drivers and making bold statements about getting back to winning ways.

 

[FB]

I that 5Live interview Ron also opened the door for Alonso to come back to MvLaren. Perhaps he is not as enamoured with the current driver line up at Wnitmarsh was?

 

[RasputinLives]

Or maybe he's just trying to stir the pot and try and unsettle the other teams with rumours just before the season starts.

A fiver says as soon as Red Bull are back on the pace he does an interview where he suggests they'd love to have Vettel in the team.

 

[Jen]

So Ron wants Lewis and Nando to return to the fold.

Is Ron better acquainted with Max than we were aware off?

 

[gethinceri]

Ja.

 

[Mephistopheles]

It turned out absolutely smashing the last time and anyway why would anyone want to give a drive to an old fart like Nando, he's way past it....?

 

[teabagyokel]

Jen - Haunted by that last big failure, you might suspect.

I don't think it is sensible to make such plans, who is to say either will be the best options by 20xx? What if Magnussen is great, or Vettel decides that Horner is outrageously obnoxious, or some 15 year old is beaten by Paul di Resta in F3 EuroSeries? What then?

 

[sushifiesta]

McLaren livery for this weekend:

 

[The Artist.....]

I think we've now found the real reason Whitmarsh was ousted. A complete failure of finding a title sponsor for 2014! (Or any sponsors for that matter).

Making an announcement in March 2013 that a new title sponsor would be revealed in November could have been a massive mistake, as it suggests to firms that it was already signed and sealed (so other firms may be less willing to negotiate)...

I also wonder if Martini discussed with McLaren about their car as well as Williams?

 

[FB]

Thanks sushifiesta I was just about to ask what sponsors McLaren would have this weekend and the answer is, none!

 

[Mephistopheles]

We've known that for ages, having no sponsors didn't stop Brawn winning both championships..

 

[Slyboogy]

Looks like the WEST McLaren livery although in reverse, with more silver and less black.

Kind of like it.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I like it as well..

 

[Slyboogy]

It's just a one off for this race.

 

[RasputinLives]

So Ron says but no sponser has been announced which I think is odd before the start of a season.

I have a feeling they have a deal on the table with someone but it all hinges on how competitive they prove to be in melbourne.

 

[soccerman17]

Clean, but almost boring. Better than the old, but hopefully once/if they find a title sponsor it will be a little more imaginative. Really would look nice with even a little splash of color. Could have even borrowed some inspiration from the great NASCAR Mobil 1 liveries

 

[Kewee]

I know F1 needs sponsors, but shit that McLaren looks great. It's a proper racing car. The only writing I can see is related to a racing car. Wonderful. What a shame that out of necessity it won't be long before its covered in writing not relevant to making an F1 car work, other than providing money of course.

 

[Olivier]

I don't know, Grey and Black? ... it's kind of ... boring ...

 

[sobriety]

I'm pretty sure hugo boss isn't essential to making a racing car work Kewee