McLaren "Years Away" From Title Challenge

[Damage Inc]

F1 needs to let the lower teams have "concessions" like in MotoGP, more engine swaps, more testing, more development allowed. Then once podiums and even wins are achieved the concessions are removed.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

Maybe they should focus on the new supercar WEC regulations and try to win Le Mans instead. On the other hand people forget how few points Ferrari got in 1980 after winning the title the year before, that McLaren has went to similar things when Senna moved to Williams...

 

[NDG]

Aren't they changing the rules already in two years? No not the rule book. I mean the cars, the winglets, brake cooling, rim diameter etc. They should have an easier job by then when every car spec on grid looks almost identical.

Anyways, how sad that news sounds for Lando Norris? Not surprising how Fernando wants the triple crown now openly, when he used to downplay the idea just a year ago.

 

[Turk]

Ok Mercedes and RedBull have their HQ in UK but.. what happened?

Britain isn't the powerhouse it used to be but at the same time cars could be made in a shed back then, it's almost funny watching the behind the scenes at a 1960s formula 1 race, a half ways decent modern garage looks like a space ship in comparison. Once modern computer technology got involved car construction got elevated out of the hands of the average engineer.

 

[kondor999]

There will be another re-arranging of the Order with the new regs. McLaren could very well end up being at the top again. I've been watching F1 since the early 80's, and today's "unbeatable" team can become an inveterate Loser within just a couple of seasons.

Just ask McLaren in 1994 or Williams in 1999 what it feels like. Even the "unbeatable" Mercedes of today is the grandchild of perennial backmarkers Tyrrell/BAR/Honda F1. And, of course, Tyrrell itself was once a powerhouse multi-championship-winning team.

Everything changes. In F1, dynasties fall and others rise to take their place. It keeps it all interesting.

Bottom Line: Don't count McLaren out just yet. You might've said the same thing about Brawn GP in 2009!

 

[Tberg]

I'm wondering when Christian von Koenigsegg is going to build a proper turbo engine for one of the F1 teams, that I want to see!

 

[Nevini]

Should never have got rid of RON, city wa---rs that take over.

 

[Chris]

All this stuff about Honda being the reason for their mediocrity has turned out to be a load of rubbish. Sure the power deficit didn't help, but it's been abundantly clear this season that McLaren just aren't a very good Formula 1 team anymore. Simple as that.

It's frustrating because I really like them as a team, but they're easily least efficient on the grid in terms of dollars spent versus performance on track. Like they are just utter trash atm.

 

[Terry Rock]

I'm wondering when Christian von Koenigsegg is going to build a proper turbo engine for one of the F1 teams, that I want to see!

I'd like to see them do something completely different in the ICE department....something new.
This may not be a bad idea.
He certainly is up to the challenge and has the expertise.

 

[Dirk Steffen]

It's over for McLaren F1, they should focus on something else.

Imagine what all that F1 budget money, talent and facilities could do to a serious WEC GTE Pro effort.
McLaren roadcars also have as a base already an immense advantage to develop from unlike BMW or Bentley who essentially have to turn their road cars inside out to make them competitive.

I would love to see McLaren ditching their F1 effort at this low point and pull another McLaren F1 out of their hat.
They have the competence, they have the highly developed and focussed road cars to start from and they surely have a budget that can cover all this at ease.

Perhaps waiting for that new LMP1 regulation taking form is another thing to think about.

McLaren always had a strong GT racing effort - I’d love to see them embrace GT racing with turnkey customer GT3 cars, a genuine works effort in the GTE class and perhaps if all goes well an effort in a future “hypercar” LMP1 class.

 

[Andrew Harper]

I think one common factor between the two (although not the only reason of course) is they both lost Adrian Newey at the height of their success.

Williams never really recovered when he went to McLaren (although the BMW years were good I will admit) and McLaren were the same when he left for Red Bull.

They both had this issue of a very slow decline that they couldn't recover from.

The other issue they both had on their sides was the tyre war. McLaren were previously dominant when Bridgestone got their sums right and the same for Williams when Michelin made the perfect tyre for the race weekend.

It will be interesting to see if Liberty go down the spec parts route more, I have no issues with it frankly. If it makes the racing better and allows more teams to join I'm all for it.

I would much rather see 26 vaguely similar cars rather than 16 or 18 very different ones.