McLaren an Honda - my thoughts are that McLaren should stick with Honda. I know that goes against the grain a little but there reasons for splitting with Mercedes haven't changed, they will always be 1 step behind the works team. If the rumours that Ross Brawn has stepped in and given help to Honda to get their engine up to spec, then sooner or later the engine will come good. At that point a works Honda will be better than a customer Mercedes engine. I know this will mean they loss Alonso, but the team has to be bigger than a driver. It will require them to do some rebuilding, but it will be better in the long run. Lastly, Lando Norris...... I just prey he's good, how did his test go?
IMHO , Perez is going to have to be careful . If he is hoping to secure a drive with a top team who will want him ? It's clear he is not a Team player , Merc won't want him , I doubt Ferrari will , who does that leave ? Plenty of other driver options , Hulk ( I realise he has a contract with Renault , but never say never ) , Ocon , Sainz , at the moment the top teams hold all the cards ( IMHO ) , he brings money , so maybe a return to McLaren ?
Was there a view of it from outside? I only saw the onboard from Grosjean, so didn't see if there was anything on the outside that caused Sainz to move across and put Grosjean on the grass.
No, he just seemed to move to block the inside but Grosjean was already there. Should know better, he's not a rookie anymore.
From the over camera it looked like he moved twice, so I'm not a 100% that he didn't know he was there.
ye, it was the way he came back for the 2nd one that made me think there was something on the outside, it looked like he'd lost control after he'd moved back from putting Grosjean on the grass, like he was stuck in the middle of a sandwich and had touched someone outside. It probably was Sainz not seeing him, vision isn't great in an F1 car, surprised they haven't gone the production car route and added a screen with camera's or warning sensors, guess they don't wanna lose that tine bit of wing-mirror downforce..
The mail is a pretty reliable source, as in you can rely on the opposite being true. So it seems like McLaren are sticking with Honda in 2018, let hope (again... again) that they can actually sort out a problem 4 years late.
Can McLaren win with Mercedes? Didn't Mercedes refuse to supply red bull as they feared they would be competition?
When you've been kicked in the nuts for three years, you must yearn for someone who only kicks you up the arse.
Brundle mentioned that he heard there would be a Merc in the back before the end of the season, but said he didn't believe it. Maybe Alonso saying September was telling?
I think McLaren would get the latest spec PU. By running different fuel and oils they will already have a worse PU, and then they'll probably have their own ancillaries as well so that's more performance lost. Mercedes car and PU and developed together so McLaren would need to have a significantly better "car" to beat Mercedes and their whole package.
Am I right in thinking the engine mounting points were standardised between manufacturers? So a switch before 2018 is possible on a purely technical level. Harnessing that power properly may well take longer. This move, if confirmed, must surely call into question Honda's place in the sport. Running around at the back with Sauber is not what they envisaged in F1. The only way this would work for them is if this is a temporary solution, and McLaren agree to return to Honda power when Honda hit certain performance targets. Being able to develop the engine away from the limelight may be what they need.
I can't see how anyone at McLaren can have any faith in Honda anymore. The token system is gone so we effectively have unlimited development if you're happy to go over your PU quota. McLaren are still chewing though their engines but with nothing gained. It's not like Honda are bringing new ideas to try at what has effectively become a season long test. It happens to me plenty in life where I just can't understand how people in power have gotten to their position, and somehow keep their position despite brain numbing ineptitude. Honda are struggling with dyno correlation apparently.... why not bring a mix of PUs to a weekend and just test them? It's not like it's compromising their position as the worst team on the grid? I hope McLaren can escape Honda and I dread to think of what will happen to Sauber. I fear they may be defunct by 2019.