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]

I dislike this trait from Alonso where he expects number one status. And I'm fully behind the decision Mclaren made to not let him have it. However, I think the situation yesterday was different. Massa can't win the championship, and I think when that stage is reached the rules change. Any team that would have chosen not to do that on the last but one race of the season with their other driver out would be missing a trick. It also put Massa on the right side of the grid. I think this is very different to Alonso screaming over the radio "think of the championship" when he wanted Massa moving out of his way early on in the season. That's just how I see it.

 

[Jen]

I am still incredulous that a great many F1 fans assume that the average driver is a non-competitive gentleman, a 'true' sportsman and all-round good guy hero.

I would suggest that, on track and in the garage, every single one of them is an arse of the first order and, personally, wouldn't expect anything other - they are racers ffs or should be. Just my opinion, of course!!

 

[Brogan]

Perhaps so Jen, but some of them prefer to compete on equal terms, which presumably makes any win that much sweeter.

 

[Jen]

Any win is sweet! And whilst, they all know that they have teams mates, I suspect, it is not uppermost in their mind.

 

[Brogan]

Well clearly it is for some.
Hamilton for one has stated he only wants parity, not number one status.

Which is exactly what has been written into his contract at Mercedes.

 

[The Pits]

I thought about this quite a lot, and I think that the Parity/equal terms is quite an interesting debate in its own right. hmm, I feel a thread coming on.

 

[Jen]

I am not privy to Hamilton's contract, so couldn't possibly comment.

 

[Brogan]

Hamilton, Brawn and Rosberg have all made that clear.

Still, let's continue the debate on The Pits new thread to stop this one going off topic.

 

[racecub]

This is following on from something I read in the "did McLaren jump the gun" thread. I find it hard to understand how McLaren go about doing business. Clearly they must get something right because they have a successful business built from nothing. But they wanted to save money by cutting Hamilton's salary by a couple of million. That's not a lot in the whole scheme of things, but it sent out a message saying . You're not worth what we pay. You 're not worth the same as the other top drivers. Etc . I doubt it impressed Hamilton or his management and could have lead to more serious looking at what else was on offer. Now I read that Perez is signed on 11 million ( I think this is dollars though). No disrespect to Perez, but he is young, inexperienced and as McLaren themselves have stated, far from the finished article.And he's moving to one of the most coveted seats in F1. If they were desperate to save a few million (I think the initial cut offered to Hamilton was 2.5 mil down on this years salary) then why have they signed Perez on this amount? They could have got him for less. Too me it just seems an odd way to go about business. We're they playing games with Hamilton and it backfired? Did they just take him for granted? Or was it just bad business? Or something else?

 

[Jen]

"We're they playing games with Hamilton and it backfired? Did they just take him for granted? Or was it just bad business? Or something else?"

Conjecture?

 

[racecub]

Well anything I've missed. It seems a clumsy way go about business. I wasn't suggesting anything untoward, because I think they genuinely regret him leaving.

 

[Jen]

I was suggesting that pay scales cited are conjecture.

 

[racecub]

I know, but it's all we have to go on. I'm making the assumption that they are somewhere close to the mark.

 

[Hamberg]

I thought nobody knew the base salary and Ts & Cs of contracts? And correct me if I'm wrong but

No disrespect to Perez, but he is young, inexperienced and as McLaren themselves have stated, far from the finished article.

And Hamilton in 2007 was...

 

[Brogan]

And Hamilton in 2007 was...

The first rookie to score 9 consecutive podiums in his first 9 races and miss out on the WDC by 1 point?

 

[racecub]

I thought nobody knew the base salary and Ts & Cs of contracts? And correct me if I'm wrong but


And Hamilton in 2007 was...

The contract details are conjecture, but it's all we have to go on. In 2007 Hamilton is reported to have been on less than half a million.

 

[Viscount]

The offer they made to Hamilton was still more than any driver on grid currently receives (directly from their team) so I doubt they were implying you're not worth what we pay. As I've said for a while, signing Perez seems slightly more to do with the business opportunities he presents over talent. At the US GP Sauber had the world's richest man and the Mexican President as their guests among others. Whether or not Carlos Slim invests in McLaren, just having Perez there will link McLaren to other rich and powerful people with interests in South America and they can basically create a star of South America with Perez, which would give them many lucrative business opportunities across the globe.

 

[racecub]

His initial offer wasn't. He's on the same as Button this year and was offered a 2.5 mil cut. Alonso gets more. Granted they upped the offer When they realised Mercedes was a serious proposition I'm not questioning the decision to sign Perez here, I can see the possible business opportunity of markets in South America, though I don't think there are any at the moment in Mexico.l. I'm questioning how much they paid for him when they wanted to cut Hamiltons salary. I think they could have goy him for less.

 

[Josh]

racecub The reason why Alonso gets so much is because he's mainly paid by his sponsors, whereas McLaren would have to pay for all (or most of it anyway) from their own pocket. You can't really compare the two.

 

[racecub]

I know. I only brought Alonso in because someone sad Lewis was the highest paid. Different ball game with Ferrari, was the same when Schumacher was there. It's more the relatively high amount Perez is reported to be getting that seems odd if Mclaren want to save money.