McLaren's Next Engine Partner
Discussion
Given that things aren't going terribly well with Honda, what options do McLaren have to try and resurrect some semblance of competitiveness in the near future?
Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
Ron Dennis has stated that they cannot beat a manufacturer team to the world championship while using the engine of that manufacturer. That would rule out Mercedes and Ferrari. Renault engines are not exactly the class of the field. The best option at the moment has to be sticking with Honda in the belief that they will get it right by 2017. If they are not regularly winning races by then, I expect it will have to be time to swallow pride and write a very large check to Mercedes.
Leithen said:
Given that things aren't going terribly well with Honda, what options do McLaren have to try and resurrect some semblance of competitiveness in the near future?
Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
A fez powered mclaren is about as likely as ron marrying max mosley.Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
The honda can be made to work, just as ferrari have improved their lump, but the problems go deeper. Mclaren have produced dogs of cars (for a team of their budget) for a few years, last years being flattered to deceive by the dominant merc engine, so the absolute pup honda has turned up with shows the whole package up for what it is. And when the car was last competitive they were throwing championships in the toilet through repeated strategy blundering. And now you get the impression that they're deluding themselves that being called mclaren-honda is some kind of magicfix ointment that they're waiting to start working
I've been saying for a couple of years they need someone to restructure and rebuild the team; I get the feeling whitmarsh was always ruled from afar by ron and I think ron needs to let go. This could be a brawn-like character who can build a team as he did with fez and merc, or as we've seen with fez there's hands less visible that cut and restructured the team.
hairyben said:
...I've been saying for a couple of years they need someone to restructure and rebuild the team; I get the feeling whitmarsh was always ruled from afar by ron and I think ron needs to let go. This could be a brawn-like character who can build a team as he did with fez and merc, or as we've seen with fez there's hands less visible that cut and restructured the team.
Ron's ego has its good points, and bad. 
Ron should sell up, if he can.
Mermaid said:
Macca F1 - go back to what worked - BMW engines, esp turbocharged ones. 
Go back to Peugeot, they did flamey stuff too.
https://youtu.be/_bct74R42qk
hairyben said:
Leithen said:
Given that things aren't going terribly well with Honda, what options do McLaren have to try and resurrect some semblance of competitiveness in the near future?
Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
A fez powered mclaren is about as likely as ron marrying max mosley.Back to Mercedes? Might be a tail between the legs moment.
How about a nice red Ferrari power unit in the back? Might make selling the road cars a tad difficult.
But what options do they have? Renault don't seem much better than Honda.
Dire times.
The honda can be made to work, just as ferrari have improved their lump, but the problems go deeper. Mclaren have produced dogs of cars (for a team of their budget) for a few years, last years being flattered to deceive by the dominant merc engine, so the absolute pup honda has turned up with shows the whole package up for what it is.
DrDeAtH said:
Jewson has said a few times, that this years chassis is better than the last one. Just the power unit has issues.
Jewson ladder chassis? - http://www.jewson.co.uk/tools-fixings-ironmongery/...McLaren have no choice but to remain with Honda, nor I suspect do they/would they have any plans to change.
It's very early days and they have contracts with several parties based on this relationship, not least Alonso himself IINM.
Whilst I understand they're in a development year, I find it strange that the engine is this bad given that they've had an extra year to develop than everyone else.
Even Renault at least had a mildly-reliable and competitive unit last year; certainly enough to win with Red Bull three times.
I wasn't expecting Alonso and Button to fight for wins, but I did think they'd at least be firmly in the points at this stage.....
It's very early days and they have contracts with several parties based on this relationship, not least Alonso himself IINM.
Whilst I understand they're in a development year, I find it strange that the engine is this bad given that they've had an extra year to develop than everyone else.
Even Renault at least had a mildly-reliable and competitive unit last year; certainly enough to win with Red Bull three times.
I wasn't expecting Alonso and Button to fight for wins, but I did think they'd at least be firmly in the points at this stage.....
jeremyc said:
Why not design and build their own engine (apart from the cost and timescale issues, of course 
)?
It would match their corporate desires to take on Ferrari and Mercedes both on the track and the road.
where are they going to get that kind of money from?)?It would match their corporate desires to take on Ferrari and Mercedes both on the track and the road.
we are talking about at least £500M minimum and 2-3 years...
I am somewhat staggered at what a mess Honda seem to be making of this, do we know who is actually doing the work?
Soul Reaver said:
Why are F1 engines so difficult to build? Every man and his dog the world over builds engines to every spec imaginable from top fuel to WRC to LMP1 to jonny getting 1000hp out of his Audi 2.0 tfsi.
The reason that they're so difficult/expensive is because a few are so good, have such a lead in experience and cash/time invested and are willing to continue to invest huge huge huge sums of money. The answer is to require engines to have to be based on (to what extent would have to be defined) an engine available in a road car available for under £100k (or something). The best way they could control costs (which is the real problem) is to attack costs from the other end. Make it financially ruinous to spend a £Billion on an engine because it would have to be available to buy for a smallish amount.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff