Not sure if its been mentioned but Ferrari have overtaken McLaren in the constructors Championship this weekend PHP: Pos Constructor Points 1 Red Bull/Renault 367 2 Ferrari 290 3 McLaren/Mercedes 284 4 Lotus/Renault 255
I genuinely can't see any trajectory for Mclaren other than the one suffered by Williams during the 2000s if they keep this up.
When Mercedes announced Hamilton I never thought McLaren would sabotage Hamilton, but I'm starting to think they might be. McLaren have worked with him for years, they know he likes oversteer and hates understeer - they know he has amazing car control and unlike other drivers he could easily handle extreme oversteer. He is fast in practice in Japan but when it comes to the crucial moment (Q3) he has too much understeer ends up 9th. Then in the race he has a mechanical problem. Okay these things may occasionally happen, but then we get to Korea... In Q1, when the midfield drivers switched to options and improved significantly, McLaren had more than enough time to send Hamilton back out but decided not to. Being (at the time) 42 points behind with 5 races to go, you'd think the last thing McLaren would want to do is take big risks - so why did they have to rely on Senna messing up his lap just to get past Q1? In the race once again he has a mechanical problem. It's a shame we didn't get to see JB's race pace but I'm convinced he would have been quicker than Hamilton - just look at his pace on Friday. There was also a slow pitstop for Hamilton in the race but I think this was a genuine mistake. The team don't like him and Button is now the no.1 driver at McLaren, which makes Hamilton the no.2 driver. In 2007 Alonso was affected by a number of mysterious problems, all of them conveniently after Dennis and Alonso started having issues. Now Hamilton is leaving McLaren and could take the No.1 to Mercedes, and it was clear from Monza that there is friction between Hamilton and Dennis -- and now Hamilton struggles with set-up and keeps having mechanical problems. It's all a bit suspicious.
It's a valid and well structured argument (as always), but i still can't get my head around the thought of a team deliberately sabotaging their own driver, especially whilst they still have a (mathematical) chance of winning the WCC.
I hope they aren't, things have been suspect since the announcement but that could be a mix of bad luck and bad timing. I don't think they would muck up Hamilton and I hope I am right.
I really don't think they would sabotage him, that would be quite bonkers but I do think they would write this season off with Hamilton. The less he walks away with the better for McLaren. Live to fight another day and all that. Makes total sense.
He does seem to be doing terrible to say he is driving a Mclaren, they have had a very steep downward spiral in recent races, same as Mercedes. As if they have given up on the drivers leaving.
I just think that both parties are fed up of each other now, Hamilton stated himself that he can't wait for the year to end and also his mechanics rejected an offer from Lewis to got out after Japan so that he could explain why he left and have a chance to say goodbye to them Also while Whitmarsh was complimentary of Hamilton's fighting drive yesterday after Quali he spent more time talking about Jenson being 'unlucky' rather than talking about Lewis being in third.
Conspiracy theorists of the world unite! If true (McLaren sabotaging his car), its just mad, unprofessional and could be deemed dangerous! If not, then they need to get a better mechanic and make sure all the nuts and bolts are on a bit tighter! Either way, I think it paints McLaren and its management team in a worse picture than Hamilton, you could see in Japan and Korea he's been driving the "nuts" off that car but setup issues and failures that weren't occurring earlier in the year are hampering him, AFTER he said he's leaving..
If Mclaren honestly sabotaged Hamilton's car then it's backfired given that they are now 3rd in the constructors'. One side or the other being somewhat unprofessional - that could happen. Several Mclaren engineers were quoted as saying that they were fed up with Hamilton's behaviour when the rumours were flying around.
Conspiracy or coincidence? It's certainly not Hamilton's lack of trying in these last races; if something else happens in India, it'll be one coincidence too many, I think. On the other hand, it's worth bearing in mind that Button could only qualify 11th in Korea.
And Perez doesn't really have a stellar record in qualifying either! McLaren to struggle to get out of Q2 in 2013?
I did warn you that McLaren would not want Lewis to take the number 1 to another team! Damn I'm good! Maybe I'm not as crazy as I make out, but just an Eddie Jordan Mark 2? Just need the weird shirts...
You wear a piece too? In that case, I’m like Vijay Mallaya, I’m fat, Asian and never have any money!
