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.)

 

[KekeTheKing]

You said something had been clarified, and I asked you to clarify something else Josh

What I asked you to clarify was the massive chasm in messages being sent to Lewis in the closing stages of the race and the messages being sent through the World Press afterwards.

It was a rhetorical question....

 

[Josh]

It was all in hindsight and not once, not once, did they blame Hamilton. They said "in hindsight when dealing with someone like that you should maybe have done something different" but not once did they explicitly blame Hamilton or say that he should have let him past.

 

[KekeTheKing]

And guess what Josh I never said they did. I love when people conjure up a straw man just so they can display their indignation with a certain driver.

 

[Josh]

And do you not even recognize the vast discrepancy in messages being sent? 7 laps to go....."GO FOR THE WIN!" After the race, "he should have just brought it home......" Clarify that Josh

And now I'm the one showing my "indignation" with a certain driver? Get a grip. You're not even worthy of my time. Good day to you

 

[KekeTheKing]

When you go looking for a confrontation Josh , don't be surprised when you get one.

 

[Josh]

What the fuck are you talking about? I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with your accusations and your little crusade against Mclaren here but don't say shit about me when it's not even true. I was merely disputing what you said, not looking for a "confrontation" as you claim.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Maybe you should read what I said again then Josh

 

[FB]

Guys - can you tone it down please. This should NEVER be personal and, remember, this is just sport. I don't care if you favourite driver had a good or a bad day there is no need for these sort of discussions to become personal.

Thank You

 

[KekeTheKing]

I haven't taken offense to a single word. All good on this end.

 

[Incubus]

I haven't seen much discussion about it but when it comes to the fight between Macca and Ferrari I thought possibly the most significant aspect of Valencia was the Hamilton's tyres on the mediums went off quicker than the Ferrari's.
Is it just on this type of track and temperature, or has the respective tyre situation been turned around compared to the beginning of the season?
It was highly significant in terms of how the rest of the season pans out. Possibly.

 

[Fenderman]

There may not have been much in it since Hamilton was gaining in the latter stages before he "hit the cliff" and I think Alonso's times had started to drop off at about the same time. Time to check out tyre analysis stat's, methinks.

 

[F1ang-o]

Fenderman
Groundhog moment

 

[Fenderman]

Saw that then, you did! Bizarre it was and a Yoda moment, to boot.

 

[Olivier]

This is something I stole, borrowed from another site:

Stint 1 Stint 2 Stint 3Stint 4 Stint 5

Lewis HamiltonSoft (13)Medium (15)Medium (27)
Jenson ButtonSoft (10)Medium (16)Medium (31)
Fernando AlonsoSoft (15)Soft (13)Medium (29)
Felipe MassaSoft (11)Medium (16)Soft (7)Medium (19)Soft (3)

 

[Incubus]

There may not have been much in it since Hamilton was gaining in the latter stages before he "hit the cliff"

------------------------------------------------------

Precisely. "Before he hit the cliff". And it didn't seem to me he was really gaining in the latter stages either, I remember Hamilton lapping 6 tenths in one lap but the gap never got under 3.5 sec.

 

[Fenderman]

Well here for our delectation are the lap times from lap 34 on:

Hamilton Alonso
L34 1:46.975 - L34 1:46.122
L35 1:45.279 - L35 1:45.764
L36 1:44.627 - L36 1:44.518
L37 1:44.324 - L37 1:44.141
L38 1:44.423 - L38 1:43.754
L39 1:44.091 - L39 1:43.921
L40 1:44.379 - L40 1:43.666
L41 1:44.477 - L41 1:44.018
L42 1:44.374 - L42 1:44.692
L43 1:44.007 - L43 1:43.808
L44 1:44.275 - L44 1:44.139
L45 1:44.105 - L45 1:44.308
L46 1:44.436 - L46 1:44.215
L47 1:44.440 - L47 1:44.102
L48 1:44.607 - L48 1:44.617
L49 1:44.640 - L49 1:44.689
L50 1:44.748 - L50 1:45.354
L51 1:45.226 - L51 1:45.333
L52 1:45.292 - L52 1:45.272
L53 1:45.373 - L53 1:45.140
L54 1:46.152 - L54 1:45.329
L55 1:49.334 - L55 1:45.259

Hamilton out, Alonso’s last couple of laps:

L56 1:46.102
L57 1:48.930

 

[Incubus]

Fenderman I'm not quite sure what you are trying to demonstrate with the chart? That Hamilton was gaining or that he hit the cliff or that Alonso's tyres were also worn? I'm not sure it shows any of those tbh?
Looking at the times from Hamilton's last 15 laps they look pretty much even stevens, and only on the last full lap of Lewis's did he lap considerably quicker which might have had something to do with the fact Alonso with 3 laps to go had effectively the race in his pocket by then.

 

[Fenderman]

Incubus I extracted it from the FIA records and simply provided it so that we all have the information. Make of it what you will.

 

[Slyboogy]

Their times aren't very consistent are they? Apart from Hamitons last 5 laps

 

[tooncheese]

Olivier, Pirelli publish in depth stats as well, with N/U meaning New/Used.

Alonso: SN SN (15) MN (28) 2
Webber: MN SN (19) SN (38) 2
Massa: SN MN (11) SN (27) MU (34) SU (53) 4
Hamilton: SU MN (13) MN (28) 2

Fenderman, Hamilton had no worse wear than Alonso, but Alonso had a 4 second and Hamilton barrier back to Raikkonen.