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.)

 

[Rutherford]

Honda simply hasn't delivered and they have been living off the nostalgia surrounding their partnership with McLaren for long enough now.

Imstead of building on what they had they built a new engine copying those of Ferrari and Mercedes, admittedly Renault have done the same, but unlike Honda, they have actually improved and made a big step forward.

 

[Il_leone]

Honda have not learnt a lesson from why their F1 team last time was ultimately a failure namely running things from Japan head office rather than letting people with the sharp end F1 knowledge and experience run it - Dave Richards and Ross Brawn


I remember Honda had to work a miracle back in 1991 with Senna where they managed to turn around and produce a more powerful engine in less than 3 weeks up against Williams Renaults . Sadly I don't see this incarnation of Honda doing it at the moment

 

[F1Brits_90]

I think this more about bahranis keeping alonso & wanting success now as only patenice can last long, but 1st 2015 & up to Britain 2016 yeah cut them some slack. But we got to remember as in same duration of time that mercedes made 1 of dominant engines f1 has seen. Honda have made 1 of the worst. They genuinely would be better off with 2016 merc engine

But i said on twitter. What happens if Mclaren have mercedes power but still getting beaten by force india, they no more scapegoat

 

[Incubus]

I have no idea whether there's any kind of relevance to that story but what does Mika Hakkinen's return to the McLaren fold (in an "ambassadorial/advisor" capacity) signify exactly? Does Mika still have any PR ties with Mercedes?

 

[F1Brits_90]

already planning for life without alonso & replacing a double world champion with another double world champion

although i was looking for something on autosport & loved this picture as it just summed up honda & mclaren situation up perfectly
Honda - We are not leaving & 100% committed to F1 & Honda
Mclaren - does anyone have Toto Wolff's Number

 

[Porceliamone]

What a bloody mess. I'm really sad to see McLaren in this shape and especially sad to see a great driver in the twilight of his F1 career stuck in an absolute dog of a car for so long.

 

[vintly]

Alonso's clearly a jinx. He put a hex on Ferrari and now McLaren.

 

[RasputinLives]

You see while Honda are taking the brunt of this I still Don't think Mclaren chassis is as good as they say it is.

 

[F1Brits_90]

You see while Honda are taking the brunt of this I still Don't think Mclaren chassis is as good as they say it is.

spot on i said that above

But i said on twitter. What happens if Mclaren have mercedes power but still getting beaten by likes of force india, they no more scapegoat

 

[Porceliamone]

I'm sure it's a combination of both. Either way, what a sad shambles.

That said, McLaren could still part ways with Honda as the engine supplier, retain a load of money purely from the sponsorship obligation in the contract and then take a replacement from one of the other engine manufacturers who are be obliged under the regulations to provide an engine option. Messy, but a possibility.

 

[Incubus]

That's what's interesting about it. During testing Ben Anderson who did the online testing blog for Autosport was involved in a bit of a spat with Bouiller because he kept insisting that the car looked frankly "awful" through turn three, where he was posted.
That showed for one thing that Bouiler reads Autosport but more tellingly that they are very keen in the McLaren camp to convey the impression that their problems are purely to do with the power unit, despite all evidence pointing to the car being a poor one also.

Laying the blame solely at Honda's door certainly doesn't point to a harmonious team/engine supplier relationship. So there probably is something big brewing up behind the scenes.

 

[Titch]

I think Honda are using McLaren as a test bed for their road cars, although for the life of me I can't remember when I last saw one on the road.

 

[FB]

I'm thoroughly enjoying watching McLaren go down the bog. Bigger teams than McLaren have dwindled and died in the past and, let's be honest, the history of the team was lost when Ron Dennis took over and gave Teddy Mayer the boot. This is not the team of Bruce McLaren, it was a platform created by Marlboro for Project 4 racing to enter F1 and it has had its day. I must to dig out the interview with Ron where he said any team principal has "10 aggressive years", well your Ronness you took over in 1981 so you and your team have more than had your moment in the sun.

I am also, rather vindictively, enjoying watching Alonso squirm and go down the pan with the team. His ego got the better of him last time he was at McLaren and it did the same when he left Ferrari. As you reap so shall you sow. I hope no other top team is daft enough to give him a drive for next season as there is enough young talent and experienced older drivers to fill the top teams without the need for Fernando and his inflated opinion of himself.

 

[vintly]

I'm thoroughly enjoying watching McLaren go down the bog. Bigger teams than McLaren have dwindled and died in the past and, let's be honest, the history of the team was lost when Ron Dennis took over and gave Teddy Mayer the boot. This is not the team of Bruce McLaren, it was a platform created by Marlboro for Project 4 racing to enter F1 and it has had its day. I must to dig out the interview with Ron where he said any team principal has "10 aggressive years", well your Ronness you took over in 1981 so you and your team have more than had your moment in the sun.

I am also, rather vindictively, enjoying watching Alonso squirm and go down the pan with the team. His ego got the better of him last time he was at McLaren and it did the same when he left Ferrari. As you reap so shall you sow. I hope no other top team is daft enough to give him a drive for next season as there is enough young talent and experienced older drivers to fill the top teams without the need for Fernando and his inflated opinion of himself.

Bravo Sir! I can't say I'm thoroughly enjoying watching McLaren's demise but I certainly don't feel sad about it. I'm with you on pretty much everything you say, especially Alonso. You can argue that he's been unlucky with his timing, and that's true enough. But hey, since when has being unlucky been an endearing quality? He's off-the-planet-super-rich because of luckier breaks and should be man enough to hold his head up and get on with the job with a smile.

 

[Kewee]

Maybe we should shift our thoughts on McLaren to the God thread and all start praying.

 

[Andyoak]

The whole McLaren Honda thing is such a cynical sponsorship ruse I have no sympathy for Ron.

And Alonso may be a great driver but has shown absolutely zero ability as a team player over many years...

It's not the Williams thread, but I feel they have handled decline much better and still offer hope for the future.

 

[RasputinLives]

Maybe Mclaren (and Alonso) will be reborn in electric dreams


McLaren open to entering Formula E

 

[Titch]

McLaren are doomed. Said it before, I'm saying it again.

 

[Il_leone]

F1Brits_90
That is the only answer Honda can give but its no use being 100% committed to Mclaren if the improvement gains are not there which is the real issue for Mclaren

if Mclaren were getting beat by Force India then I agree there are other problems and further embarrassment that a team with less than 50% of its resources can do a significantly better job


Whilst the Mclaren chassis is not one of the best given Barcelona is a track where it really shows whether a car is aerodynamically efficient or not. It is easy to blame the engine given it was not run at full power and a whopping 20mph slower than the straight is like racing GP2's

The trouble is Honda do not know what the problem is . It is easy to make gains by having a more powerful engine to masks any chassis deficiency like Williams have shown with a Merc engine they are well over a 1 second slower than than the factory team

Problems with the chassis can be resolvd quickly but engine development could take longer and be more complicated especially if you don't know what you are doing

 

[marksawatsky]

If Formula 1 had the Works Team/Independent Team system of MotoGP then McLaren would have a chance to catch up. Tighter competition is good for the show. Love McLaren or hate them, it's not good seeing them dead last