The biggest worry for Mclaren by far is the fact that they have Honda exclusivity - all the other suppliers had at least three teams last year adding to their mileage. That's hamstrung their development already.
Fin. please log in to view this image After two days: Mercedes-1088km Sauber-698km Ferrari-636km Williams-579km ToroRosso-526km RedBull-389km Lotus-181km McLaren-53km or to put it another way, Mer ###################### Sau ############## Ferr ############# Willi ############ Torr ########### Red ######## Lotu #### McL #
Danii Kvyat commenting on his off after just 2 corners of his RBR debut Better not make too many more!
Petr Hlawiczka @hlawiczka 33m33 minutes ago #F1 Testing in #Jerez - Day 2: Engine manufacturers' lap count please log in to view this image
So guys, two days in what do you make of McLaren Honda so far? Are they usual teething problems, or are they worse than that? As predicted in my first post in this thread- Fernando Alonso's odds have now drifted to 23/1 on Betfair after the first two days. Are these issues similar to Red Bull of last season?
Said it would be a dog on the Mclaren thread. Honda drifted away in effectiveness (not that they were terrible effective at their peak ) last time they were in F1, now they're playing catch up... Did anybody actually expect them to be competitive (apart from Ron Dennis)?!
Give Honda time. They were bound to have some gremlins just as they're bound to get them sorted. So... What's the thought on Ferrari? Genuine pace or a good amount of show boating?
Honda are in worse trouble than Renault were last year if this continues into the next test. Renault at least had TR and Caterham to fall on for lap data, Honda are effectively learning nothing by only having McLaren use their engines. From the small spectator videos of the Ferrari it looks solid through the corners and respectable under traction compared to other Ferrari's in the past from what saw.
There's a good amount of testing left for Honda to start getting to grips with their issues. I don't think anybody is really expecting McLaren to be competing for wins this season, so they're not under too much pressure just yet.
Ferrari always do well in the first test. You think 'Oh.. they might have a chance this year...' then come the 2nd test they say 'hmmm our wind tunnel doesnt work and nothing correlates...'
Lots of action this morning despite generally 'intermediate' conditions. Impressive stuff from McLaren. With the brand new power unit from Honda, they are, as expected, on a very steep learning curve – but considering the last two days, what they are doing this morning must be a huge relief to Alonso et al. What's more, their lap times aren't too far adrift and at last they are featuring on the leaderboard! Personally, I'm pleased for the whole Woking team but especially for Honda; I feel they've have had a bit of a raw deal with regard to 'loopholes' for all other power unit manufacturers whilst they are essentially discluded. I want to say more but this is a testing thread, and I think most know the details anyway. Best of luck to them…
Rosberg's broken down. No news on why yet, apparently engine shut down. So reliability not quite sorted yet.
