McLaren will make strides forward once Honda reliable, insists Boullier please log in to view this image Eric Boullier has shed fresh light on the problems which he believes are holding McLaren-Honda back by “seconds” of lap time. Despite expectations that McLaren’s early reliability with their new Honda power unit would be cured by mid-season, the former world champions remain ahead of only point-less Manor in the Constructors’ Championship and have got both their cars to the finish in the same race just once in nine attempts in 2015. Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai claimed after the British GP, when Fernando Alonso scored the final point in a race of only 13 finishers, that their reliability problems were “almost fixed” and they could now turn their attention more to improving performance over the second half of the season. But Boullier, McLaren’s racing director, has suggested that more fundamental problems with the hybrid power unit’s energy-recovery system remain. “It [the engine] is not completely down to only power – it has also to do with the driveability of the engine, which has proved very difficult and complex to manage so far,” the Frenchman told F1’s official website. “Let me give you an example: we all have the same power in terms of electrical power, but some engines are doing a better job in recovering the energy. That is why you see a difference in qualifying and the race. “We are not able today to unlock the full recovery potential because if we do it creates reliability issues – and that hurts us in terms of performance. But it is there! We just have to find the right remedies to unlock it.” please log in to view this image He added that the electrical issues were costing the team’s cars chunks of lap time on straights in particular. “I am repeating myself: if we can unlock the potential we will maybe be fighting – with some luck – for a podium. If you can deploy your MGU-K power on the straights on every lap, that is worth a lot of time. Today we can't do that.” Having conceded in recent seasons that their aerodynamics were not up to scratch, McLaren have been more positive about the performance of the MP4-30 chassis so far this season and Ron Dennis told Sky Sports F1 at Silverstone that “our car performance is actually extremely good here“ around the circuit’s sweeping corners. Indeed, Boullier believes that once reliability is solved McLaren can make big and immediate strides forward. “We all know the level of commitment from McLaren - that doesn't need to be discussed. But the positive is the level of commitment of Honda, and the fact we know that our cars have not tenths but seconds of potential that can be unlocked,” he insisted. “We cannot physically use that because we have reliability issues, but if we overcome those we will be able to make major steps forward, believe me.” While Boullier admitted the MP4-30 could also do with more downforce to be more competitive, he still isn’t ruling out regular Q3 appearances by season’s end in November. “We will feel competitive if we can be in Q3 all the time and fighting for top six,” he said. “That would be a major achievement even if it doesn't sound very exciting, as we are here to win. We still target being competitive by the end of the season.” But, even if McLaren fail to close the two-second gap to the front by Abu Dhabi, Boullier insists it doesn’t mean 2016 will be a write-off too. “No, because we have seen that Ferrari and Mercedes were able to do major steps between their first and second years. We also expect that in our case,” he added.
It would be pretty **** if they didn't think they were going to make strides A turd by any other name would still be a turd. McLaren trying to show that it is actually gold.
McLaren opposed to plans to limit 2016 pre-season testing Frustrated Alonso admits he is considering future outside of F1 By Pete Gill McLaren are opposed to plans to limit testing to just eight days in 2016 as the sport prepares to shutdown for a full three months after November’s Abu Dhabi GP. As a result of two more races being added to the calendar, and the season-opening Australian GP being delayed until April, there will be no in-season testing next year and the first of only two pre-season events has been put back until March. It means the sport will stay off track for three full months and the teams will be limited to just eight days of running ahead of the new campaign. Although the schedule has been agreed by the teams, it’s understood that the decision wasn’t unanimous. “The plan is for eight days of testing, we are not necessarily happy with that,” said McLaren boss Eric Boullier. “But it’s been agreed by a majority [of teams] a long time ago so we just have to deal with that.” McLaren have more reason than most to hanker after extra testing after their engine partners, Honda, sat out the first year of F1’s new turbo era. Since reuniting for 2015, the McLaren-Honda alliance has subsequently struggled to make inroads within the tight constraints of F1’s ever-diminishing test schedule. “Before we had some freedom in terms of testing and improving the car," complained Fernando Alonso. "If you found your car was uncompetitive in the first part of the season, you could still end the year in a competitive way. Now we have our hands tied for the season. "We run the car in Jerez and Barcelona for the tests and if it's competitive you will have a good season and if it's not you will have a bad season.” Alonso’s frustration is such that he admitted at the weekend that he was considering a future outside of F1 when his McLaren-Honda contract expires in two years' time. “I love motorsport, all categories, and F1 is not as exciting as it was in the past – at least to me to drive the cars just two or three seconds faster than a GP2 car,” he said. please log in to view this image Fernando Alonso pushes his McLaren car during qualifying for the Hungarian GP Newcomers Haas are permitted to unlimited testing until the year they enter the sport. However, along with the rest of the field, they will also be restricted to eight days of pre-season testing in 2016, a restraint which is expected to persuade the team towards appointing two experienced drivers for their first season in F1. The cancellation of in-season testing, meanwhile, has also been met with alarm from Sky F1’s Martin Brundle. “If in-season testing is cancelled then where are we going to see young drivers?” Brundle mused. "And just as importantly, how are young engineers going to emerge into this business because there’s no testing now worth talking about? “You’ve got a bit of Friday running for the second half of the field that need the dosh – to sell those seats on Friday morning – so actually some kind of arrangement with a GP2 team and a secondary team in Formula 1 is eminently sensible for a top F1 team." please log in to view this image McLaren have scored points in just three races this season McLaren, who also have young fliers Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne on their books in addition to former world champions Alonso and Jenson Button, have already publicly acknowledged they are open to GP2 teams entering F1 with customer cars. "We like the idea that a GP2 team, could come along and buy or rent two McLarens," Boullier told F1 Racing Magazine. "Straight away they would be competitive, without all the investment. "Then the show would be better and it would give, say, our two McLaren young drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel, the chance to do something. One of the problems today is the cost of being competitive. This is a solution to get more competitive cars on the grid, without prohibitive costs."
They want you to laugh, it masks the sound of Alonso smashing his head against the wall in frustration.
Taken from Autosport this morning...seems a little over ambitious from Honda (you know, for a change!) Honda aiming to match Ferrari with Formula 1 power unit update By Ben Anderson Monday, August 17th 2015, 08:53 GMT please log in to view this image Honda is aiming to match Ferrari's power output with the updated Formula 1 engine it will introduce for the forthcoming Belgian Grand Prix. The Japanese manufacturer has suffered a trying season since returning to F1 as works partner to McLaren this year, and has lagged behind rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault with its first effort at exploiting the new V6 hybrid turbo regulations. For Spa, the power unit in the back of the McLaren-Honda MP4-30 will include arevised internal combustion engine, featuring changes to the combustion chamber, intake, exhaust layout and gear-train system, according to Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai. Arai told AUTOSPORT his company's existing engine was "much better than Renault" during the most recent race in Hungary, and that the upgraded version will take it closer to Ferrari's output. The aim is then to match the class-leading Mercedes unit with a further upgrade over the winter, ready for the 2016 season. "Spa is the final upgrade for this year, with ancillaries to follow in the following race," Arai told AUTOSPORT. "Mk 3 [will be introduced] in Spa [and] we have already started development on next season's power unit. "Mk 4 will be on the same level as Mercedes, that is the target; Mk 3 will be on a level similar to Ferrari, which is what we're aiming for. It's a big step." CHASSIS HIDING GAINS please log in to view this image Arai suggested the limitations of the MP4-30, which McLaren has updated continuously over the course of the season, masked Honda's engine performance in Hungary, where Arai said the unit was running at full power. "[The car has] not so good mechanical grip, or aero, compared with Red Bull there is still a big gap," Arai added. "We have checked the GPS data; the chassis and aero package needs time and fine-tuning, such as wing angle, ride heights, suspension settings. "[Engine] unreliability has meant lots of parts were changed in winter testing and so things like flow-vis and taking data has been done during the season in FP1, due to the unreliability in the winter." REASON FOR OPTIMISM McLaren-Honda has suffered a large number of failures of various engine components this year, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button having both used six engines already in 2015. However Arai reckons events at the Hungaroring give the alliance reason for genuine optimism, not because Alonso finished a season's best fifth but that neither the Spaniard nor team-mate Button suffered a single engine component failure. "From the start of the season we knew there was a cooling problem, so we turned the engine power down a lot," Arai told AUTOSPORT. "We upgraded the power unit in Spain to 'Spec 2' and we have almost perfected the heat rejection. "Due to the compact package, you have the very skinny [bodywork] and everything on the inside had many issues regarding heat rejection, which causes a lot of damage for the MGU-H, the MGU-K. "Finally, in Hungary, we have no problems and we have a good package."
Is this the start of cracks beginning to form? Sounds like Honda are suggesting that their engine will now be as powerful as Ferrari and it's now the McL chassis that will hold them back. Really hope they get the whole car to work together soon. Would be good to see more competition at front.
But the McLaren is an amazing car, only behind the Mercedes on aero apparently. I think both McLaren and Honda are guilty over overstating their current ability.
Boldly claiming they're much better than Renault is a bit iffy as well, they had one decent performance but were still beaten by all 3 of the finishing Renault powered cars and have yet to otherwise outperform them this season. Also, they're saying they'll be as powerful as Ferrari after Spa and Merc at the end of the season but have they forgotten that everyone else has tokens and will find extra juice between now and the end of the season? Ferrari are saving theirs for Monza, double whammy of home race and lots of long straights means they're expecting some kind of significant increase, which will take them further ahead and Merc will also introduce a new model sooner rather than later. Overall, I suspect this is just more PR face saving by Honda who are trying desperately to not be subjected to the negative reponse that Renault has had from their works team. For it to be a worthwhile venture, Honda need to pick up other teams but nobody is going to willingly take the Honda engine right now with the teams at the back enjoying a relationship with Ferrari, the Mercedes teams being happy with that PU and the Renault guys suffering one bad unit (they won't switch to another bad unit).
"Honda is aiming to match Ferrari's power output with the updated Formula 1 engine it will introduce for the forthcoming Belgian Grand Prix." Not laughed so hard in a while. But let's hope it's at least enough of a step to give them chance of a points finish through pace rather than luck.
Exactly this. The truth is, the McLaren car probably is fairly good. How good? nobody really knows. The simple fact is with the Honda power unit being turned down, they have had to run less aero, less aero = different suspension settings etc etc. They haven't once been able to run the car in a normal way (perhaps until Hungary, and even then, given it was likely the first time, the chances of them having totally nailed that setup is close to zero). The power unit has held them back in every imaginable way, even in developing the chassis and aero. Basically Honda are saying "We've made big gains, over to you, boys". The Actual McLaren car, IMO is probably around the Williams area, who i think have 4th best car, boosted up to being able to fight for second best mostly by having the best engine.
the chassis is good, it's why I tipped them for a double points finish. Have you seen the fuel consumption for that engine? almost 30% more than the others and it's producing almost 10% less BHP, you take that extra weight to power ratio then look at their race performances at Monaco and Hungary, then their Quali results. If McHRT get half the missing BHP and improve the fuel consumption they may be the surprise package at Spa. That said, I'm not holding my breath for the new PU upgrades to work.
I can't imagine the fuel consumption is a massive is a massive issue and whilst they obviously have issues switching everything on a 100% the one lap pace just hasn't there. For me, McLaren are kidding themselves that they have a great car and have focused purely on the size zero concept. Even with a Merc engine I don't think they would threatening. I appreciate that they have no doubt made sacrifices because of reliability but normally you can see the natural ability of a chassis in certain sectors on certain tracks?
But we have kinda seen that! all of their best results have come on narrower, twisty tracks, their worst results have all come at "grunt" tracks (the sort Williams tend to impress at) If you look at specific sector times, they aren't losing anywhere near as much time in technical sectors (generally on the pace or a fraction faster of cars like the Toro Rosso) even when running less wing than they want, then when they get to the straights they are losing a second almost right away. It's impossible to say exactly how good the chassis is, because it's not on a level playing field with being forced to run less aero. The fact it is even close to matching cars running more aero suggests it's fairly decent.
Take Monaco out of the equation ( Manor?) and in the last race they wouldn't have made the top 10 if it was for retirements or incidents, so no we haven't seen anything to suggest it's purely grunt - although it's probably the main reason. I don't recall them being competitive in any sector of any race off hand and true aero and chassis tracks like Barcelona have done nothing to convince me otherwise. The quali pace is poor and if you can't get it together for one lap you've got Bob hope.
