Seriously, today got me reflecting a little on the situation at McLaren.
4 races in to the season, and no points. Plenty of data, but no points. But that's ok, they are building for the future, after all, you have to be a works team to make it these days.
I have a rather large issue with McLaren Honda at the moment.
They left F1 at the end of 2008, and handed Brawn a world championship winning car, and much research on KERS which was never used, but was held on to by Honda. They failed to set the world on fire in their last tenure in F1, with only one race win, but this time will be different, right? we can hark back to those days in the late 80's where Honda were at the peak of their powers, sweeping all aside.
So much for that.
I know that me writing this is pretty much a guarantee that they will get everything sorted, but at the moment I am struggling to see when things are going to turn round.
Honda started PU development a year behind the other manufacturers, so you would expect a bit of catch up, however, they also had a target to aim at, which none of the other teams had. Additionally, they have a reputation for reliability and technical excellence in the road car sector which I am fairly sure they would seek to reinforce through their F1 involvement.
How can it be then, that 4 races in to the season they have used 3 of the 4 allocated PU's (mostly, details are available on another thread) they are significantly down on power, having had to keep things turned down to protect reliability (
!!) and the ultimate indignity today of a D.N.S for Button?
Last season, both Ferrari and Renault started out on the back foot, especially Renault, however, I do not recall issues like McLaren are currently having (although Mr Horner I am sure would tell you different!!).
Now Honda are way behind the curve, and with the other teams all being a year ahead in terms of development and understanding, and it looks to be a long way back to the front.
So, what next? There are rumours of a big development for Spain, which will hopefully make a difference, but it is hard to tell the potential, in comparison to the opposition, they have similar numbers of development tokens for the engine, although it is impossible to tell just how good the car actually is until they have comparable power. One or both of the drivers will almost certainly be hitting penalties towards the middle/end of the season. I would also make assumptions that Alonso and possibly Button have clauses to release them in the event of poor performance.
And I feel Honda will need to keep on it, to protect their reputation, but will any other team want a Honda engine?
My view is that this stint as an engine supplier will not yield the success that McLaren are looking at, and other options will be pursued at the earliest opportunities, although I am most likely wrong!!
4 races in to the season, and no points. Plenty of data, but no points. But that's ok, they are building for the future, after all, you have to be a works team to make it these days.
I have a rather large issue with McLaren Honda at the moment.
They left F1 at the end of 2008, and handed Brawn a world championship winning car, and much research on KERS which was never used, but was held on to by Honda. They failed to set the world on fire in their last tenure in F1, with only one race win, but this time will be different, right? we can hark back to those days in the late 80's where Honda were at the peak of their powers, sweeping all aside.
So much for that.
I know that me writing this is pretty much a guarantee that they will get everything sorted, but at the moment I am struggling to see when things are going to turn round.
Honda started PU development a year behind the other manufacturers, so you would expect a bit of catch up, however, they also had a target to aim at, which none of the other teams had. Additionally, they have a reputation for reliability and technical excellence in the road car sector which I am fairly sure they would seek to reinforce through their F1 involvement.
How can it be then, that 4 races in to the season they have used 3 of the 4 allocated PU's (mostly, details are available on another thread) they are significantly down on power, having had to keep things turned down to protect reliability (
!!) and the ultimate indignity today of a D.N.S for Button?Last season, both Ferrari and Renault started out on the back foot, especially Renault, however, I do not recall issues like McLaren are currently having (although Mr Horner I am sure would tell you different!!).
Now Honda are way behind the curve, and with the other teams all being a year ahead in terms of development and understanding, and it looks to be a long way back to the front.
So, what next? There are rumours of a big development for Spain, which will hopefully make a difference, but it is hard to tell the potential, in comparison to the opposition, they have similar numbers of development tokens for the engine, although it is impossible to tell just how good the car actually is until they have comparable power. One or both of the drivers will almost certainly be hitting penalties towards the middle/end of the season. I would also make assumptions that Alonso and possibly Button have clauses to release them in the event of poor performance.
And I feel Honda will need to keep on it, to protect their reputation, but will any other team want a Honda engine?
My view is that this stint as an engine supplier will not yield the success that McLaren are looking at, and other options will be pursued at the earliest opportunities, although I am most likely wrong!!
