McLaren problem is the opposite to what they had last year. Whereas 2013 was needlessly agressive with building a brand new car. This year they banked on reliability being the big factor and went to conservative. Now most of the top cars are all finishing and McLaren have an underdeveloped car that simply doesn't have enough downforce. Being 2 second a lap slower than Merc (and half a second slower than FI) with the same engine is horrendous for a team of their stature. The bright side is it might be a more fixable problem than last year and they might recapture Melbourne form at tracks like Montreal and Monaco, but as a fan of Jenson who i know doesn't have long left as driver, this wasted time is painful.
Focusing only on reliability during the testing rounds may have seemed clever, and who is to say won't yet help deliver more early points vs the championship leaders. However, it feels a little too relaxed, as Horner said in an interview if you are not pushing the boundaries you are not competitive. McLaren seem to be suffering from arrogance, without realising it themselves. Are too many thinking someone in the team will be smart enough to fix it because it is beginning to have the that look of a cultural problem, a lack of hunger. I am sure everyone works hard but the edge seems to be missing and that is a leadership issue. The sooner Eric steps up to the challenge to undo the legacy of Whitmarsh the better but so far his interviews have been lacklustre. Come on McLaren, sharpen up, you are being missed and we need a team to upset the balance. We need a minimum of 3, better 4 teams, capable of winning races and championships.
I think McLaren were so stunned by their failure last year they have deliberately gone for something they know would work, without being spectacular, in the hope others will have got it wrong. Up until Aus it looked like a good bet. Question is whether the car is too conservative in it's design philosophy so that it's development potential will also be limited, or have they factored into the design the possibility that they can still go aggressive with updates through the season? Also, I'd imagine everything is going into the 2015 Honda project. They have no real sponsors to please in 2014 so no need to spend great wads of money on development this year, knowing that they will be in a good position next year.
Is it crap? or is it the drivers making it look worse than it is? Magnussen got a great 3rd place in Aus, but who is to say it couldn't have been 2nd, or challenging the Merc with someone like Alonso/Vettel/Hamilton/Hulk at the wheel? McLaren have a very uninspiring driver line-up this year, one of the worst they've had imo. Magnussen is an unknown quantity, and Button always struggles without the perfectly set up car and, despite his WDC, isn't really among the 'top' drivers in F1, maybe he scrapes the top ten.
I think that's a bit harsh, they took a big gamble on Magnussen. Uninspiring would have been to stick with Button and Perez. Button in a decent car is very quick. The McLaren is a solid package this year but I'd say it's only equal to the Ferrari at the moment. How good is any car or driver for that matter? I'd question how good Alonso is these days, once upon a time he was clearly very good, but years of underachievement may have taken the shine off him but everyone thinks he is the dogs nuts even though he has done sod all since 2006.
i'll be very interested in how they do this weekend. Seems Aus was perfect for their strengths and Malaysia for all their weaknesses, so their might be a clearer picture of where they really lie. Surely a lot of the development for this season will carry over? Obviously the new engine will change some things, but i'd be worried if they have their third brand new philosophy in three years. To blame the drivers would only be valid if they were a much smaller amount off the pace. We saw how Button compares to Hamilton and the other top drivers for three years and there wasn't this kind of deficit. As for Magnussen if a highly praised junior champion that picked up a podium in his first race isn't inspiring then you're a hard man to please.
They are lacking downforce. However, they have good ride this year, and so far the parts in the factory are correlating on the track, which is a much better sign than last year. Unfortunately, whether or not they can ramp up the development speed to threaten race wins is another story. Button needs to be more agressive on the track when things aren't fullyhooked up and it is his biggest weakness. However, he is a super quick driver on his day and he will be developing this car well. At the moment, they just haven't got the downforce- they have good speed into corners but are struggling to balance and struggle get on the power on the way out. I'm not technically minded and a complete and utter novice in that sense but to my untrained eye I would think it is rear downforce they are struggling with because the upgrades have all been front end aero and they haven't bridged the gap. To quote Felipe Massa last weekend: "We just don't have enough rear downforce," said Massa of a trait that will hurt the car a lot more here than in Australia. "Each time the circuit grip comes down, we fall back," he pointed out, "and that's a sign of lack of downforce.". Given the relative fall in performance of both of those teams in Malaysia, it suggests that the Mclaren could have those same issues. I'm hoping to learn a lot throughout this season by following it properly each week and reading many articles- so can anyone tell me in what ways rear downforce can be improved, and perhaps why the Mercedes, and seemingly Red Bull, have got that advantage?
He did okay Well he took Massa apart, looks like he'll do the same to Kimi and has been the main challenger to Vettel, but is it because he's good, or the car is built around his driving style, I guess we'll only know when he moves to Williams or McLaren next season.
I'd hardly call coming 2nd 3 times in the last 4 years nothing. In 2012 most agreed that he had no right to put that Ferrari where he did. He wiped the floor with Massa. He's comfortably ahead of Kimi. I presume this is deliberately provocative because I can't think of anyone who thinks Alonso hasn't dine anything since 2006 (even SilverArrow)
https://twitter.com/mclarenf1/status/452000104694964224 @McLarenF1: The covers come off to reveal @GulfAir, title sponsor of the #BahrainGP, on the livery of the #MP429. #F1 http://t.co/TP1ejsPXgV
*cracks of thunder in the background* Did somebody say my name and mention Alonso in the same sentence?
For all of his hype, he hasn't won a WDC since 2006, despite having 3 years when he went into the last race with a chance to win it.
McLaren going on a race-by-race deal with various companies? Esso in Aus, Gulf Air this weekend, who next?
The rumours going around is the new McLaren sponsor maybe telephonica/movistar/O2 which would obviously add more wood to the fire of another rumour.
I've also heard rumours it's Rakuten, although that may not be until 2015. Rakuten would also mean a return to a red and white livery apparently.
