Poll Should McLaren abandon 2013 development for 2014 car?

[Il_leone]

FB I think both drivers are contracted for 2014 - 1 is bringing sponsor money and the other is a world champion

Only situation I see is if Button retires because there were suggestions last year when he went through a mid season slump to do so
then it is either Rosberg / Di Resta or Hulkenberg in the car

Unless they want Maldonado who is going to bring money possibly

 

[sushifiesta]

I'll eat a dozen hats if Maldonado is a McLaren driver in 2014. He's done everything in his ability so far this season to completely reverse any perceived sense of competence that had developed over 2012.

 

[Greenlantern101]

a dozen hats

 

[Il_leone]

sushifiesta

Where Mclaren finish in the constructors that is £40m difference to where they should finish so plug that hole as well as pay for Mercedes engines

See
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22836984
http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/11/jenso...he-doesnt-know-if-theyll-win-a-race-3836958/?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22881935

Frankly this season is a write off and it seems the engineering team are too procedural in checking over every data and not using any instinct or visionary

I am sure they are fine engineers but the structure is a bit rigid for F1.

Well I am sure on top of Mclaren's list would be the three I mentioned because they don;t really have a chance of landing anyone else who meets their expectations of being a front runner

Maldonado is going backwards

 

[Mephistopheles]

I don't think the should abandon the car, instead they should abandon Sam Michael...

 

[Il_leone]

Mephistopheles I second to that I still believe it was one of the worst decisions to hire him

 

[Mephistopheles]

Sam Michael said this.

Some McLaren fans have called for changes in personnel in some of the senior positions at the team, but Michael does not expect heads to roll.
"If you focus on sacking people, to start with you have to be very careful because first of all you could sack the wrong people and secondly the people who are responsible for this car are part of this company and they are committed to it," he said.

Not if they sack you mate, I think that would be a big step forward.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...n-Grand-Prix-was-a-brutal-weekend-for-McLaren

 

[Jos the Boss]

If Mclaren still have their split design teams, the 2009/11/13 team need to pull their finger out as the 2008/10/12 team seem to be doing something right!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Which means next years car should be a peach Jos the Boss.

 

[JPS]

Bring back Ron and Senna and Prost. That's what I say. To hell with it. Bring back Kimmi....

 

[soccerman17]

If you ain't first your last. No way in hell they get first this year.

 

[sushifiesta]

What exactly has Sam Michael done wrong to deserve all this criticism? He has nothing to do with designing the cars and McLaren have been fairly solid operationally since mid-2012.

 

[Mephistopheles]

His record of success at any of the teams he's been with is zero, so it's not a question of what has he done wrong but, more of a question of what has he done right to warrant him being in a top team....

He's a Jonah.....

 

[Road of Bones]

Reverse Midas Touch, more like...

 

[Il_leone]

sushifiesta

His last role at Williams - technical director what did he achieve?


- he was there for 8 years and the closest the team came to winning the title was 2003... I know Montoya made a lot of errors but since then the team went steadily downhill with him. There were rumours that Michael favoured Ralf Schumacher from his Jordan days so one of the reasons why Montoya moved to Mclaren

They always seem to start well but fade away. the 2006 Williams was extremely fragile so how come under him they could not build a more reliable car

2009 was a good example having exploited the double diffuser rule surely Williams should have got more out of it then the results showed

at the moment Sam Michael seems to be the person to go to whenever there appears to be a problem to explain to the press and his speech at Spanish GP where the guys worked hard for 3 weeks and the parts were not ready to be used

Sorry that smacks desperation in not knowing what is wrong with the car. He is no Ross BRawn or Adrian Newey who would know what is wrong with the car and get them to focus on it

 

[sushifiesta]

In the first half of 2012, just after Sam Michael joined them, McLaren were making a lot of mistakes in pit stops. Since then they've improved and are regularly amongst the top few fastest teams and rarely make mistakes. You could argue that Sam Michael is the one who turned it around. As for Williams, are they any better off now? They had a better year in 2012 but they're nowhere again now.

There are plenty of people who the finger should be pointed at before Sam Michael when looking at what's happened to McLaren in 2013, unless he's been fiddling with switches in the wind tunnel when no one's looking...

 

[FB]

The problems at McLaren obviously lie far deeper than just one person but it wouldn't be a bad start in getting rid of Sam Michael who's track record in F1 is hardly stellar. He'd do a good job at somewhere like Caterham or Marussia where the need to achieve is less intense.

 

[McZiderRed]

He'd do a good job at somewhere like Caterham or Marussia where the need to achieve is less intense.

Is the need for Caterham or Marussia not to finish last, any less intense..?

Perhaps a Marussia mole at Caterham could suggest offering Sam Michael the job of "bringing experience" to Caterham...

 

[Quintessentially]

If they are going to start getting rid of people, they should start with Whitmarsh. If Ron had his way, both would be long gone

 

[Josh]

Wow, I had no idea you know Ron personally. Have any more inside info to share?