Whats happened to McLaren?

Lucy Lu

I have been McLaren fan the past 8 years and am very depressed about their season so far. Is Ron Dennis taking his eye of the ball? Has he too many projects going at the one time?

I really hope their season improves once the races move back to Europe

Doctor J

Allegedly one of the senior Merc men has been given the chop this morning.

Woden

so is that an actual admittance to engine problems now?

leeroybrown

From what I've seen of the F1 season so far the engine does seem to be McLaren's biggest problem. If it's proving unreliable in races they've probably been knocking down the red line 500 or more revs too, leaving them slightly down on power.

I wonder how long it would last if they tried to run it at the full target spec.

Doctor J

Well if Raikonnen can only get a few laps out of a fresh one, I'd guess it's not very long.

There are already rumours of a new new McLaren being made, which would be two new cars in two seasons scrapped by them.

Kalina

Apparently there's a lot of upheaval within McLaren at the moment, the whole outfit is moving to a new factory I read somewhere andthere are some personnel changes going. I'd say they will get their act together within the next few races, though by then it may be too late to catch up to the Ferraris.. and maybe even the BARs with the way the scroing has been.
A bit off topic- but what the hell has happened to DC? The state of his hair!! I know he's getting the boot next season but that's no reason to let himself go completely!! :dunno:

Doctor J

Stop, you sound like my mother, she's been in Coulthard's fan club since it started, made the same remark on Sunday

Kalina

Originally posted by Doctor J
Stop, you sound like my mother, she's been in Coulthard's fan club since it started, made the same remark on Sunday

Ah, but in fairness he looks awful. Trulli and Alonso were going that road aswell last year, terrible.

I read on F1Racing.net that Kimi is getting seriously ticked off with how things are run at McLaren and is thinking of jumping ship as soon as he can. Possibly he'll be looking for a seat with Ferrari when Michael goes which will leave things open for Montoya at McLaren.

Lucy Lu

If kimi leaves McLaren it will be a shame as he is suited to the team. I bet Montoya is starting to have doubts about his move. He is leaving a competitive team for non competitive one now

Doctor J

I don't think Montoya is worried. Once McLaren finish their move into the new premises they will have one of the finest facilities in F1. They may suck this year, but I guarantee they will be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Dr. Dre

I thought they had already moved in, in the middle of last season ?
There was a feature about their new HQ on ITV last year, fine setup - ultra modern.

Kalina

According to F1Racing the move is yet to happen.
I watched the race last night, missed it at the weekend, and have to say Kimi's engine blowing looked very dramatic. I hope they can get the problem ironed out in the next few races cos he must be itching to race Schumacher and he hasn't got anywhere near him this year.

Doctor J

F1 is in enough trouble without 'The Most Boring Man On Earth'™ as a champion. One more interview with him and another private team will bite the dust due to lack of interest in the sport.

Kalina

Originally posted by Doctor J
F1 is in enough trouble without 'The Most Boring Man On Earth'™ as a champion. One more interview with him and another private team will bite the dust due to lack of interest in the sport.

Do you reckon Kimi is boring? The same thing was always said about Hakkinen but I think nothing could be further from the truth. Both Mika and Kimi just don't seem to articulate themselves very well in an interview situation. They're like two peas in a pod really. While it's always good to have an interesting and colourful driver, like Irvine say, as long as they can be interesting behind the wheel that's the most important thing.
I think the lack of interest in the sport is happening anyway, Kimi won't be able to do anything about that unless he beats Schuey to the championship this season!

irishman_abroad

I thought they had already moved in, in the middle of last season ?
There was a feature about their new HQ on ITV last year, fine setup - ultra modern.

Yeah thier trackside HQ is huge now but thier new base of operations in Woking is only finishing now. They will be making thier F1 cars as well as selected cars for Merc there.

The problem with McLaren is that it has gotten too big and Ron Dennis (who imho does know his stuff about racing) has been promoted to big boss and has had to delegate the actual workings of the team to his "underlings".This has left the team being run by commitee instead of by a single man.

It is an anagous situation to what is going on in the general world of GP now. You have Bernie making all the decisions and all the teams wanting to get his power. But the teams cant all agree on anything. Lesson here: Sometimes its better to have a "dictator"/figurehead who rules ruthlessly than a democracy.

Case in point is Ferrari annexing the proposed qualifying changes because they are getting the best of it right now.

btw. I know its an extreme example but yop get my point

Also this new building has been his baby and he has been pouring a lot of time and effort into it over the past year further distracting him from the job which should be at the forefront of his mind.

AngelofFire

its a terrible start to the season i would of expected a lot more from ron dennis. however i have faith in him to improve the team. apparently a revamped chasis is on the way.

PlasseyMinstrel

There's no doubt the main problem is the engine - and its very serious - both reliability and speed are problems (usually mutually exclusive). I really think they should revert to last year's engine - they've lost too much ground at this stage to risk more.

The whole thing about upheaval and company growth isn't major I reckon. Paragon (the new facility) was probably a waste of money but it can only benefit them in the long run. Company expansion shouldn't directly affect the performance of the car immediately. Ron Dennis is taking on a lot at the same time but the technical team still only have one definite job.

neokenzo

At the rate McLaren is going, I would think thier would end 5-6 in the Constructor championship. Its a pity McLaren is always having reliability problems. I'm a big fan of them but lately they are just really dissapointing. Most teams are going forward big time except for them. And their are on of the big teams. We are not talking about Minardi like. They need to put their acts together and fast eitherwise it would be a really dismal season.

aine

I actually feel very sorry for Kimi, I think he genuinely has the talent to be one of the big players, it must be very frustrating for him not finishing so often due to engine probs!

The Beer Baron

Coultard is crap though.

I mean he's really fallen into his fat Los Vegas rhinestones and cheeseburgers era.
Get rid of him. Rakky and Montoya, the cool and the crazy- that'd be some team combination.

Stop Ralf and Montoya from playing silly buggers even thought they're on the same team. I'm sure they'll still continue their traditional hatred though;
shunting each other, cursing each other, attacking each other and basically acting out the Ben Hur chariot race every time they come near one another and spending the rest of the month bitching about it. - yeah F-1's really the sport of kings!

aine

Originally posted by The Beer Baron
Coultard is crap though.

I mean he's really fallen into his fat Los Vegas rhinestones and cheeseburgers era.
Get rid of him. Rakky and Montoya, the cool and the crazy- that'd be some team combination.

Stop Ralf and Montoya from playing silly buggers even thought they're on the same team. I'm sure they'll still continue their traditional hatred though;
shunting each other, cursing each other, attacking each other and basically acting out the Ben Hur chariot race every time they come near one another and spending the rest of the month bitching about it. - yeah F-1's really the sport of kings!

what is the story with the two of them....I mean is there an actual reason for the fistycuffs or do they simply not like each other?!

neokenzo

Probably just dislike each other. I think both of them are a bit arogant for their own sake and thats why they dont get along at all.

Finally Kimi FINISHED a race Hopefully, this will keep up and more higher than 8th!