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.)

 

[Incubus]

Well JB and FA started the race on different tyres so presumably the plan was to split their tyre strategies all the way through, which was obviously no longer possible after the crash.
With weather on friday there'd been no time to do much in the way of race sim on saturday so everybody was a bit in the dark as to how to how the mediums would go over a long race stint.When it became obvious the that the mediums were the way to go during the race it was a bit too late for Button to switch strategies, so McLaren failed to anticipate the situation early enough.

 

[Titch]

I think that MacLaren are just using the races and the drivers as extended tests, especially Button. When they get the cars (if) they get the cars up to racing speed, they will look for new drivers.

 

[Il_leone]

well when points are up for grabs it looks like another daft Mclaren strategy seeing that Mercedes and Ferrari would have been the cars to indicate the difference between the super softs and mediums.

I do wonder who is making the decision in the pitwall ? We are supposed to believe that Mclaren have got some of the best engineers in the business

 

[Porceliamone]

It's starting to look like the barren Williams years for McLaren. I hope the cycle isn't as long as theirs was though.

 

[The Pits]

I think that there is a small difference, in that McLaren have significant external income streams to support the racing, and input from Honda, to keep a reasonable level of finance. I think that it is only a matter of time before things get back to where the expectations and finances dictate.

Williams, from my recollection, went through a barren period, and as they did not have the additional revenue streams, were not able to "spend their way out of trouble" in the same way that McLaren will hopefully be able to.

That said, If the Honda partnership does not work out, options are looking a bit thin on the ground, just ask Red Bull!!

 

[racecub]

Alonso will have to take a new engine for Bahrain. Despite hopes to save the engine from the crashed car, it was too badly damaged.

Fernando Alonso takes second engine after Melbourne crash

 

[ATL11]

How easy is it to make a tinfoil hat? I'm imagining a roll of tin foil, hold one end on forehead, wrap around and around, scrunch extra bit on top into an antenna?

Would you be able to make any ear flaps?

 

[Il_leone]

Alonso may not be allowed to race pending Doctor's clearance so Vandoorne RasputinLives might get his chance

 

[RasputinLives]

I will believe it when I see it!

 

[ATL11]

Why did Alonso have a crash, bang his noggin & think it's 1995? Oh hang on...

 

[sushifiesta]

Seems likely that Alonso will miss China as well to me. Aside from the lung issue rib fractures by themselves probably aren't going to heal fully in 4 weeks.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Other than losing an engine, this a best-case scenario for McLaren.

 

[teabagyokel]

It'll do them no harm at all to assess the cut of Vandoorne's jib in an F1 car.

The sort of decision nature has to make for McLaren - see Montoya doing one in 2006 as another example.

 

[cider_and_toast]

With the state McLaren have got themselves into over the last 3 or 4 years you can bet they will make the wrong decision.

 

[The Artist.....]

I understand that Alonso has now formally been ruled out of the Bahrain GP.... Will we see him again?

I had a strange dream the other day that Kimi Raikonnen was fired by Ferrari, and Alonso was hired, with Ferrari going on to win the constructors championship.... I wonder if there's any chance of that happening!?!

 

[sushifiesta]

Will we see him again?

Yes

I wonder if there's any chance of that happening!?!

No

 

[teabagyokel]

The Artist..... - I suppose there is a non-zero probability of that happening. We can all dream.

 

[Il_leone]

You know this could spell the end of Alonso if Vandoorn does something mega at the weekend ala Hamilton

 

[ATL11]

You know this could spell the end of Alonso if Vandoorn does something mega at the weekend ala Hamilton

Be interesting if this bloke did something similar to Grosjean at Melbourne for Bahrain, who would get dropped when Alonso was fit again?

 

[Il_leone]

ATL11 Neither Button or Alonso will get dropped for 2016 but Mclaren would sign him for 2017 for sure before say Renault steal him