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.)

 

[racecub]

Whitmarsh needs to be changed

 

[Slyboogy]

Unlike changing a tyre...that will take a while.

 

[Josh]

Whitmarsh needs to be changed

What will that do?

Honestly everyone is complaining about Whitmarsh but it's not like Mclaren were any better when Ron Dennis was team principal the last decade or so.

 

[The Pits]

Maybe the guy who designed the stub axle or the wheel nut? or the guy who designed the drive pegs? or the aerodynamicist who did not notice that the hot air was overheating the rear hub? or any one of the three people on the rear left wheel? or the guy in charge of pit stop drill?

There were definite blunders at Bahrain, as in China, as in a few races previously, but I cannot remember if this was the same wheels, or even the same cause? I know from experience that you can believe that something has been fixed, until something else goes wrong.

I would also like to understand other teams issues. Mercedes in China lost a wheel, and they have also had a few pit issues.

I appreciate that McLaren are a top team, and should be better, but if it is a design issue, this may not be the easiest thing to get right.

Maybe they know that the wheel securing system is not as good as it could be, and have been working on a fix for a few months, and have had to run with the current set up in the mean time knowing that it is less than perfect, and accepting the risk.

Who knows. Who knows if they are already taking action, just not in time for Bahrain?

I do hope that if there is an issue, that it is sorted.

 

[Josh]

Then who do you suggest changing Whitmarsh with?

I just don't understand why some people are complaining about Whitmarsh and praising Dennis at the same time. He was very successful but the last decade or so when he was at Mclaren they weren't any more successful than they are right now.

 

[Slyboogy]

Briatore.

 

[Wombcat]

Honestly everyone is complaining about Whitmarsh but it's not like Mclaren were any better when Ron Dennis was team principal the last decade or so.

Yeah, already in the 90s McLaren (and Williams) always had a poor strategy compared to Ferrari.

 

[The Artist.....]

What will that do?

Honestly everyone is complaining about Whitmarsh but it's not like Mclaren were any better when Ron Dennis was team principal the last decade or so.

Well, actually, only about 3 people are complaining about Whitmarsh! But I agree, he is the best man for the job at the moment!

PS. The only place there was talk about replacing Whitmarsh was on message boards such as this one!

 

[Vortex]

Bring back Dennis yeah, I remember him getting pee’d off with all the arm chair experts thinking they know best. Quite ironic really.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Yes Whitmarsh cant and shouldnt be sacked

as the alternatives cannot be any better, Ron Dennis was just as bad so theres a great reason to keep a loser

Its like the banks that are deemed too big to be allowed to fail, Whitmarsh must remain as McLaren boss as the future without him would be unbearable. Ron Dennis, apart from build the team from nothing, is not much better than Whitmarsh so why change anything?

If it aint broke, why change anything?

and nothing is broken at Mclaren, just a few errant pitstops

Yes Whitmarsh should stay, as there is no one else who could do the job!

And here in Britain we lead the world again with innovative and ground breaking inventive business processes and methods

E.g. leave your drivers behind for the Mugello test, all the other teams are wrong as usual, Ferrari for example, how silly to take your highest paid driver when a low paid tester can earn his keep

 

[The Artist.....]

Cookinflatsix Let me just ask you something: Were you calling for Ron Dennis to be sacked when McLaren failed to win a single race in 2006? What about when they produced a car that could never even be raced? How about running from 1994 to 1997, covering 49 races without so much as a win? (Let alone a championship challenge?) You do realise how arrogant your posts sound - basically, you are suggesting that the director of a company, which you have no investment in, should be removed, whilst all of the investors appear perfectly happy with him in charge!

 

[racecub]

I bet theyre not all happy, not watching what's happenning at McLaren of late. Corporate united front though. But maybe theres a limit of what they'll tolerate.

 

[The Artist.....]

Yes, I bet they're furious:

5 front row starts, 1 win, a second place and 3 third places - I bet the stakeholders in McLaren are absolutely furious!

 

[racecub]

And 4 botched pitstops a gearbox problem, a diff problem, poor strategic decisions meaning cars not on the front row have consistently finished in front of the McLarens.

 

[Slyboogy]

McLaren always have a habit of shooting themselves in the foot, doesn't matter who's in charge.

 

[The Pits]

Maybe Whitmarsh should go, but that being the case, there are many up and down the pit lane who should be out first.

Stefano, Ferrari have not exactly been great under his stewardship, despite the capture of "key" personnel from other teams, and the largest budget.
Tony Fernandes/Mike Gascoyne/Riad Asmat - Are they really as close as they should be after 3 years (repeat for Virgin and HRT, although changes have been made)
Frank Williams, a mere shadow of the team who dominated the early 90's, now needing to take on pay drivers.

I guess that the only teams who should keep TP's are Sauber and Red Bull, but Christian Horner also seems to come under a lot of fire, despite success.

McLaren have shown strongly since MW took over, with realistically the third largest budget, they have been ahead of the team with the largest, the same team who have poached some "key" personnel. The car this season looks to be in amongst the top of the order, as I suppose should be expected.

Botched pit stops are acceptable, to a point, and I think I agree that the point has been passed, although I would add that the scrutiny applied to McLaren is rarely applied to other teams, so I am not sure how bad they really are in the general scheme of things. This season has been poor, but it is also only 4 races old, and there is a long way to go yet.

If McLaren manage to throw it away, despite having the strong car at the start which they have lacked the last 3 seasons, then more questions will need to be asked. but if one looks on the situation dispassionately, I think there are far more reasons for him to stay than go.

 

[Vortex]

Huh, I thought id managed to kill this Whitmarsh witch-hunt with my last post, guess I was wrong.

 

[racecub]

McLaren not letting the race drivers test despite one of them specifically asking to do so. Well theres a turn up.

 

[RasputinLives]

As I've said on the other thread racecub you're missing the point. I think they should have sent both of them but I understand why they won't send one and not the other.

 

[racecub]

Then Mclaren are more concerned about protecting Jenson from Lewis than improving McLaren relative to the other cars on the grid. And this kind of goes against all the talk that McLaren make decisions based on what is best for he team.