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.)

 

[teabagyokel]

... Renault 2007 being the exception.

 

[Il_leone]

The Pits I remember Eddie Jordan said Mercedes wanted Schumacher when they were not too fussed about signing Button for 2010 and everyone thought he was bonkers and he turned out to be right

It does not surprise if Renault have Alonso given they are making huge progress and it is the only place where he will be loved

AS for replacing him at Mclaren -Honda they usually want a reputable world class drivers namely a world champion driver and don't they have an option on Button for 2018 to exercise anyway before considering all other options.

Now Button could turn around and say he retires which does not leave any real options for Mclaren because neither Vettel or Hamilton would move and getting Kimi would require mega bucks anyway for inconsistency in return

 

[Bill Boddy]

Presumably Button will be well paid for driving round in the warm-up lap before pulling in to the pits where he will retire.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think he'll park up on the warm up lap somewhere near his apartment. Prob get back just in time to watch the race start and have a beer.

 

[Olivier]

Teamwork!

Twitter

 

[cider_and_toast]

Formula 1: McLaren-Honda looking for gamer to become simulator driver

Just when you thought McLaren couldn't sink any lower and become any more desperate.

Apparently they can.

If you feel a strong breeze this evening that will be Bruce McLaren spinning in his grave.

 

[gethinceri]

Teamwork!

Twitter

Lovely.

 

[teabagyokel]

It's fair to say the simulator is more likely to complete 15 laps. Physically. Pushed by two members of the Hampshire Lightweight Boxers Union.

 

[The Pits]

Does Nissan not do something similar?

All jokinv aside though, is this an admission that the chassis is not as good as they would like yoi to believe? I mean, how can you stop an engine from unplanned rapid disassembly in a sim run?

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast Unfortunately you will not be paid the salary of a world champion

 

[Il_leone]

A bizarre story apparently Mercedes are willing to offer Honda assistance

 

[Il_leone]

McLaren 'have to deliver the impossible' to keep Fernando Alonso for 2018

 

[Incubus]

There was a point during yesterday's race where the true scale of Honda's problems was all too plain to see, after the first round of pit-stops. That was when Alonso was circulating behind the Torro Rosso pair of Sainz and the out-of-sequence Kyvat. The three cars were together on the last corner but despite the combined toe of the two in front and DRS on Kyvat Alonso was about a dozen car's lenghts behind by the time their reached the end of the straight.

The way those Torro Rossos got away from the McLaren in the straight just looked so visually embarrassing... almost made me cringe. And against two cars that had a year-old engine too. That's when you know McLaren have absolutely no hope of turning things around in any meaningful way for the foresseable future. You just can't overturn this sort of power deficit within a season. Shame, because as Alonso's quali lap showed the chassis looks quite handy...

 

[RasputinLives]

Yet later on he streaked down the straight past Massa like he wasn't there.

 

[Incubus]

I know but that neatly illustrates the complexity of this current hybrid formula. Power, torque, fuel management and reliability have all become so interconnected as to being effectively one and the same thing. You play around with the battery-saving, turn the engine up and down at different phases of the race according to tactics and so on... Over a race distance it's pretty clear the Honda is still forcing its drivers to stick to fuel-saving mode far longer than anyone else, or so it seems.

 

[Titch]

I think McLaren should buy some Jaguars, and scrap their cars

 

[Il_leone]

Incubus Toro Rosso have this year's Renault . It is Sauber who have a year old Ferrari engine. The question is at Canada on a power track will Honda have made improvements on the engine

I think we saw that Mclaren need a decent engine and Alonso really did stick a knife in them last weekend about their reputation, their money and image and then mentioning he needed more power in front of the Honda boss after his quali laps

 

[F1Brits_90]

I take no credit for this, as i saw this on twitter post the announcement of F1 2017 coming out ps4 xbox & pc on aug 25

What happened when Alonso and Vandoorne finally drove a race winning McLaren Honda in 2017?

They turned the PlayStation off.

 

[Galahad]

Looks wrong without the Marlboro stickers, doesn't it?

 

[The Artist.....]

Looks wrong without the Marlboro stickers, doesn't it?

It's not just the lack of Marlboro - but also the lack of Shell branding - and the number 11/12....

The Marlboro stickers were rather minimal when racing in, e.g. GB...