geogate wrote: ↑06 Oct 2024, 09:01
Interesting read on peoples views.
The reality is that Mclarens performance over the decades has always had a strong correlation to the resources they had to work with at the time. There have been periods when they have "somewhat" overperformed, sometimes when they have "somewhat" underperformed, but for me they have generally been around where they should have been.
You can always look to periods where the senior management fell far short - Eric Boullier springs to mind.
But Mclaren and Ferrari both have had these cycles, and what has always brought them back to the front, eventually, has been the willingness to make radical changes - something I think we haven't seen from the likes of Williams (until now? maybe?). Ron was willing to do that, and now we have seen Zak Brown being willing to do that.
Ron had his time - it was right he went when he did, his era was over, the way he did business was consigned to history.
One thing Ron always told his staff - When you work for MClaren, it is in your DNA, and yours will become part of Mclaren ... whether you move on or not, the Mclaren DNA will always be in you.
Mclaren will always have Ron's DNA
I hadn't heard that quote of Ron before, nice.
McLaren endured an almost legendary low period of more than a decade with just the Monza 2021 win to break the drought and another 3 years before a return to competitiveness. It could be argued that the 2007 conflict with Max Mosley lay the seeds of destruction for the then great team - the 100 million fine, exclusion from the championship and subsequent loss of credibility with it's engine supplier. The fall was sudden but the reasons clear in retrospect, as they usually are, though hard to discern at the time. Hamilton suddenly defected, shocking the F1 world and was proven to be a harbinger of what was to come. Honda arrived, unprepared and in some disarray, Ron delegated his F1 leadership to a less than strong TP.
Zak grew into the top job and employed leadership principles that empowered others. This will almost always require a weeding out process, as we saw from the restructuring of early 2023. Now the pieces of the puzzle started to fit neatly together and the appointment of Sanchez proved redundant, the blueprint for the 2024 success was now laid. The McLaren DNA still survives, Zak is a McLaren man through and through. They now just have to learn how to fly again - success breeds success.
