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.)

 

[siffert_fan]

In 2016 Alonso will be reminding everyone just how good he still is.

Those will be his pronouncements, at least. Whether his driving lives up to his own statements will remain to be proven.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Jenson managed to beat Vettel in 09 and he managed to be first of the losers as well on one occasion against Vettel Which is better than Hamilton did and some people reckon Jenson is crap a drivers record of achievement counts for nothing in some peoples eyes...

 

[siffert_fan]

And to some people, aging never effects peoples abilities.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Ageing is inevitable and will always affect peoples abilities in some form or other but there are plenty of drivers who have become champions over the age that the two McLaren drivers are at present, but time is definitely not on their side and let's not forget Lewis has just hit the big 3 0 and so his time is running out as well..

 

[racecub]

But not quite as much four or five potential championship years ahead for Lewis...and some.
The McLaren is not a championship contender this year. If it's fast and sorts out its teething problems, it might move closer in 2016..MIGHT. And that's another year older for Jens and Alonso.

 

[siffert_fan]

The main thing working in their favour is the continual infusion of pay drivers, who presence continues to make the fields weaker each year. As long as that trend continues, the drivers that truly belong in F1 can anticipate extended careers.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I actually agree with you racecub which is nice, I think that neither of the McLaren drivers have much chance of gaining another world championship and Lewis will probably get his third this year...

 

[Kewee]

Those will be his pronouncements, at least. Whether his driving lives up to his own statements will remain to be proven.

Alonso has always let his driving do the talking.

 

[siffert_fan]

Alonso has always let his driving do the talking.

Gee, and I thought the "six-tenths" claim sprang from his (modest) lips first.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Very good Mr siffert_fan

 

[Kewee]

I knew at least one person would bite. Will you still find reasons to discredit him when he wins a third title. Of course you will.

 

[The Artist.....]

The fact that Alonso isn't a 4-times world champion right now is down to his ability to shoot off his mouth! Without Hungary '07, he would have been WDC, and probably would have won again in 2008. (I suspect that Hamilton would have quit McLaren in 2008 had Alonso won in '07).

 

[Bill Boddy]

Without Hamilton breaking the team agreement in Hungary there would have been no rumpus at all. Then the Hamiltons exacerbated thesituation by going to the FIA.

 

[FB]

Just checked my calendar, looks like 2015 to me. Yup definitely 2015.

 

[The Artist.....]

Sorry, thought this was the Alonso thread! (My bad!)

 

[teabagyokel]

Kewee - I'll clarify. He's lost the ability because you need a Mercedes to be able to win.

 

[cider_and_toast]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31942251

This makes for some grim reading for McLaren fans. I've long argued that Honda take a while to get their engines up to speed however it could take far longer than anyone predicted. It looks like Alonso's hopes of one more title could be disappearing into the distance faster than the rear wing of a Mercedes.

There is one faint glimmer of hope, according to Jenson the car feels far more stable due to a new aero philosophy and should provide a good platform for future development. I guess we'll really see if Alonso can bring those mythical 6 / 10ths to the party.

 

[teabagyokel]

Looking at the Button and Perez fight, it looked like the McLaren was pretty decent compared to the Force India going around the corners. However, it did have the grunt of a geriatric asthmatic.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I think that's what Button is driving at. Last year they had a quick car that handled like a dog but this year they have a dog slow car that handles a lot better. I guess once Honda get their act together they can drive the car forward. It must be a lot easier to make a reasonably handling car go quicker with more power than a poorly handling car. As an optimistic estimate though, being down 200hp is a hell of a gap. I can't imagine how many tokens you'd need to make that up.

What have Honda been doing for the last 12 months ?? They could have quite legitimately stuck that engine into anything and ran it round and round and round to at least get some reliability and consistency. I don't understand it.

 

[marksawatsky]

Maybe somebody had already put this idea forward but engine manufacturers are allowed to make changes to the engines for reliability reasons, correct? Ok, so instead of running at reduced power levels like they did in Australia, why not crank up the boost, find out what is the weak point then make changes for "reliability reasons"? Sure, it means starting at the back, but they will be doing that anyways.