James Key has a great track record with Toro Rosso, Force India and Sauber teams where he really led teams that built highly competitive cars. McLaren is the first place where he couldn't succeed, similar to James Allison at Ferrari.
when Brawn joined Honda he didn't bring or hire a single engineer with him ,he just use what Honda had and went on to win champ as Brawn gp in 09 so those big names make difference.yes Honda did some contribution like running 5 windtunnel and one in japan and there sisterteam super aguri invented the double diffuser ,and some big budget but no one can denier that Brawn leadership brought glory.the term was not bad the change from Geoff who manage third in constructor to some japanese guy ruined it.Emag wrote: ↑23 Mar 2023, 18:09One person perhaps isn't enough to make a big change. You need to have a good team of people. But the TD does make the big decisions and he is the one deciding the main concept direction.FittingMechanics wrote: ↑23 Mar 2023, 17:57Honestly I always think these top guys are overrated. One Newey will not make a killer car, he needs a big dedicated team for that. Obviously he may have better ideas and would be better in having an inherent feel for what works and what does not, and what the people under him should be doing.
I am not sure if Key was good in that regard or if Sanchez will be better.
I'd focus on hiring stronger middle/senior level engineers and not big name signings like Newey.
But at the end of the day, there has to be some accountability. For me, problems with brakes last year and minor fender issues this year showed the team was not led properly - these things should not happen as testing is very limited.
The people under him could be the best, but if they're following directives you can only get as far as the potential of the TD's concept gets you.
Besides, when you hire a big name, they are usually accompanied by a couple of other key people that follow them as well. It's just that only the big names make the headlines.
Aston Martin for example, did not only get Dan Fallows from RedBull. A number of other technical people followed him there too.
Well the new tunnel is being calibrated, the new simulator will be ready soon.. imo it's a good time to have a fresh slate such that you don't begin down the wrong path with the new resources
. Problems are not new, and they are deep, Key is just the tip of an iceberg. Can t see Lando longterm there, It would be a career suicide.
...McL-H wrote: ↑23 Mar 2023, 19:48I feel sorry for James Key. But in the end this sport is ruthless and when performance indicators are not met, you need to go. It’s like that within any team. But don’t be mistaken. Firing James Key and hiring Sanchez is not the solution to all our problems. Key alone is not the cause. There are many people working underneath him that are not replaced. Any lack of skill or knowledge transfers over to Sanchez.
Let’s not forget our aero package has been awful for many years now. Suffering a lot from drag. This was before Key and during Key. But Key is not our lead aerodynamicist.
...and the next one bites the dust...