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.)

 

[Titch]

I'm not a Ron Dennis fan.

Who's going to replace him.

 

[gethinceri]

I'm a Ron Dennis fan.
Eddie Jordan is wearing himself as a hat, as usual.

 

[Titch]

Eddie Jordan, is he still around ?

 

[Il_leone]

All I say Eddie Jordan seems to have sources in the paddock who know the inside stories

BUT this power struggle at Mclaren could be even worse that the political battles at Ferrari

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Well Ron's out... Still a 25% shareholder but placed on gardening leave.
Dennis claims "spurious grounds" forced him out of McLaren

 

[cider_and_toast]

By spurious he means over seeing a huge decline in peformance since he ousted Whitmarsh.

 

[teabagyokel]

I heard he was on "domestic horticulural sufferance", but I might be wrong.

 

[Incubus]

I'm no Dennis fan but at this point it should be remembered that without him taking over in the first place there may very well not be a McLaren at all today. The little team he bought into in 1980 was in danger of going the way Lotus did in the 90's.

 

[RasputinLives]

True. But without Bernie taking over F1 in the early 90s they'd be no F1 today and we're all dancing in the street at that news.

 

[Il_leone]

Incubus
You could not call Mclaren a little team given they had won the world title with Hunt and Emmo back in mid 70's but a team in decline when Ron took over
--------------
rufus_mcdufus

What comes around goes around ! Forcing out Whitmarsh when Ojjeh was off sick he got a dose of his own medicine in return

 

[FB]

Interesting - '£160m at risk' from Dennis's McLaren ousting

 

[Kewee]

Sad news. Regardless of anyones opinions of Ron Dennis he's guided McLaren through its greatest successes.

 

[Il_leone]

If this is the terminal decline of Mclaren then it would be sad to see another great name now becoming an also ran

FB

Clearly neither of the other shareholders saw the value of what Ron had in the pipeline and are probably fed up waiting for him to deliver

Interesting the Bahraini shareholders decided to appoint 3 more directors to the Board to oust Ron by majority vote

 

[KekeTheKing]

Joe Saward claims that Dennis and Ojjeh fell out over the Bahrain crisis and the decision not to race there in 2011.

There's been a lot going on behind the scenes at Macca.

 

[Road of Bones]

So McLaren is now to be run by committee...I think we can all guess how well that's going to work

I bet Jenson is even more delighted to be retir...sorry, taking a sabbatical, now. One wonders what's going through Alonso's mind today, too.

I feel bad for Stoffel - he's held out for what used to be a plum drive, just to see it all crumble to dust on the verge of achieving his dream.

 

[gethinceri]

Joe Saward claims that Dennis and Ojjeh fell out over the Bahrain crisis and the decision not to race there in 2011.

There's been a lot going on behind the scenes at Macca.

Got a link to Saward's claim KekeTheKing?

 

[Incubus]

Wel in any case that now leaves Frank Williams as pretty much the only member of the old guard left. The only one left from the time when I first got into F1, the only member of what was the traditional Big Three at the time - Ferrari, McLaren and Williams.

 

[KekeTheKing]

gethinceri - He actually answered a couple questions posed in the Comment section after his Brazil notebook.

Notebook from a cafe in Miami

 

[gethinceri]

Thanks,
I like Ron even more.

 

[Titch]

Well someone from outside F1 is about to replace him. That should be helpful. Not.