Mclaren Honda 2015

[michaelclarke]

So I'm gonna speculate.... turned the PU up for the quali runs and its developed an oil leak....?

If honda makes that engine finish the first race it is going to be a miracle. Based on the rumours that the honda engine is on par with the mercs doesnt really help if the reliability is like this. Its gonna be depressing start of the season for macca fans. Even fighting for points is impossible the way it looks now

I think best case scenario for us McLaren fans at the moment is to see them show well in qualifying and to see them run around in podium contention places at the early part of the race and then to wonder which lap the car will break down on.

That's the very, very best scenario I can see....

What are you guys talking about? Red bull was in almost exactly the same position last year and they *almost* got a podium in Melbourne.

I think this is way too premature, they'll be fine.

[CjC]

Somebody posted this in the testing thread on this forum:

McLaren press conference :
Boullier: "Reliability is still a worry. It'll take a few races. We may start being competitive once we get to Europe"
Arai confirmed they will test the durability of the engine tomorrow and Boullier said they're not sure they'll be able to make a race sim.

The team aren't expecting to see the finish line!!

It's shocking

[Vasconia]

Somebody posted this in the testing thread on this forum:

McLaren press conference :
Boullier: "Reliability is still a worry. It'll take a few races. We may start being competitive once we get to Europe"
Arai confirmed they will test the durability of the engine tomorrow and Boullier said they're not sure they'll be able to make a race sim.

The team aren't expecting to see the finish line!!

It's shocking

Shocking but not surprising, it would be a miracle if they can finnish in Melbourne, even if they finnish in the lowest positions of the race. In Australia the only goal should be to complete all the possible kilometers.

[taperoo2k]

I'm not that surprised that McLaren Honda are struggling to get the power unit working properly and that it may take a few races to get things working correctly. 2015 might be a year of pain but may well pay off in 2016 to 2017.

As for Melbourne ? The more mileage they can get out of both cars in the race the more data they can collect which will help them solve their issues, though I doubt they'll finish the race. I'm not expecting much from McLaren Honda until the later half of the season. The thing I'm looking for is how they compare to the Mercs in terms of outright pace. If they've got the speed then it's just a matter of getting the reliability sorted and going from there.

I really don't think the lack of running over the winter tests has been an elaborate sandbagging exercise to try and gain as many development tokens as possible as some seem to think.

[Jonnycraig]

As has been the case for the past few days, not sure if Alonso discussion is allowed, but El Mundo have a story on him today:

Alonso wants the truth from Mclaren says El Mundo

Without remembering any part of accident, Alonso and entourage are convinced that something happened with the car and they want assurances that he wont take more risks than those inherent to his profession. Alonso, like other drivers, confirms that the wind was an issue but if it was a factor it could not be the only factor. His experience at the track and his slow speed - it was a warm up lap - make the wind theory very thin.

From the hospital have been calls to Mclaren to send the footage from circuit cameras, even for medical reasons, but they have only received photos. Mclaren(Dennis in press conference) says that the footage is of low quality and don't show anything relevant, but sources at the circuit guarantee to this newspaper that a strange car trajectory can be seen in the footage.

This evidence will be studied by the FIA.

http://www.elmundo.es/deportes/2015/02/ ... b4573.html

[CjC]

Some may call it a slow speed crash bit I don't think 134mph is slow...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31661625

[lebesset]

having been in spain with the high winds and watched the video clip showing the winds at the track at the time of the crash my guess is that alonso just got caught out and doesn't want to admit it ; other reports say that he has no memory of the event
will be interesting to hear what the FiA investigation shows !

[Jonnycraig]

Some may call it a slow speed crash bit I don't think 134mph is slow...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31661625

That story however says that Alonso was attempting to take the corner quicker than his previous lap, where El Mundo (from Alonso himself) claim he had just come out of the pits.

The whole incident seems shrouded in mystery when it really needn't be.

[lebesset]

no running so far on day 4 .....i was a bit shocked that they put KM in the car yesterday, surely they should have tried to get button with more miles first in car there were problems on day 4 , which seems to be the case

[Manoah2u]

no running so far on day 4 .....i was a bit shocked that they put KM in the car yesterday, surely they should have tried to get button with more miles first in car there were problems on day 4 , which seems to be the case

not neccesarily. Kevin probably has run a zillion miles in the simulator and is given the task to correlate testing/simulation data with real life data. Therefore, i think Kevin's feedback is of great importance. I really do believe Kevin has the kind of testing skills and feedback 'quality' like for example De La Rosa had. De La Rosa never was a 'great' F1 driver [in no way was he bad though], but he excelled and was outstanding in testing and simulation. I get the same impression and vibe with Magnussen. I know he himself would want more than that, but as a racing driver, Kevin reminds me more of Paul Di Resta. Not bad, but....just not anything more than that, either.

So in the end - i think Kevin running those 101 laps yesterday is the best choice they could make.

I am really a Button supporter and a good fan of the bloke, i really genuinly like him as a F1 driver and person, but i can not but agree with the general concensus that JB is not that good of a 'development' driver. As a racing driver though, JB is absolutely great - even though he's quite sensitive to his car's set-up.

[the EDGE]

no running so far on day 4 .....i was a bit shocked that they put KM in the car yesterday, surely they should have tried to get button with more miles first in car there were problems on day 4 , which seems to be the case

not neccesarily. Kevin probably has run a zillion miles in the simulator and is given the task to correlate testing/simulation data with real life data. Therefore, i think Kevin's feedback is of great importance. I really do believe Kevin has the kind of testing skills and feedback 'quality' like for example De La Rosa had. De La Rosa never was a 'great' F1 driver [in no way was he bad though], but he excelled and was outstanding in testing and simulation. I get the same impression and vibe with Magnussen. I know he himself would want more than that, but as a racing driver, Kevin reminds me more of Paul Di Resta. Not bad, but....just not anything more than that, either.

So in the end - i think Kevin running those 101 laps yesterday is the best choice they could make.

I am really a Button supporter and a good fan of the bloke, i really genuinly like him as a F1 driver and person, but i can not but agree with the general concensus that JB is not that good of a 'development' driver. As a racing driver though, JB is absolutely great - even though he's quite sensitive to his car's set-up.

Kevin run 39 laps yesterday, JB did 101 the day before, but I do agree with what your saying. Kevin's a good driver but seemed to lack the attacking instinct required

[Manoah2u]

no running so far on day 4 .....i was a bit shocked that they put KM in the car yesterday, surely they should have tried to get button with more miles first in car there were problems on day 4 , which seems to be the case

not neccesarily. Kevin probably has run a zillion miles in the simulator and is given the task to correlate testing/simulation data with real life data. Therefore, i think Kevin's feedback is of great importance. I really do believe Kevin has the kind of testing skills and feedback 'quality' like for example De La Rosa had. De La Rosa never was a 'great' F1 driver [in no way was he bad though], but he excelled and was outstanding in testing and simulation. I get the same impression and vibe with Magnussen. I know he himself would want more than that, but as a racing driver, Kevin reminds me more of Paul Di Resta. Not bad, but....just not anything more than that, either.

So in the end - i think Kevin running those 101 laps yesterday is the best choice they could make.

I am really a Button supporter and a good fan of the bloke, i really genuinly like him as a F1 driver and person, but i can not but agree with the general concensus that JB is not that good of a 'development' driver. As a racing driver though, JB is absolutely great - even though he's quite sensitive to his car's set-up.

Kevin run 39 laps yesterday, JB did 101 the day before, but I do agree with what your saying. Kevin's a good driver but seemed to lack the attacking instinct required

my bad, you're right bout the running. I think checo was a good example of the difference between race esteem. Checo has that attack instinct, albeit a bit 'rough' around the edges, whereas Kevin seems to totally lack the attack instinct but be a very smooth and calculated driver - but missing that final ingredient to excell to race. I believe he would excell as a testing driver though. I could see him become as wanted as a testing driver just as much as De La Rosa was. But, i'm expecting him to turn to WEC or another racing series perhaps even Le Mans where he'd probably do better compared to F1.

[mclaren111]

No wonder we did not make it out of garage - they are working on wrong track info:

The whole team is determined and focuse ... permalink

[mikeerfol]

I guess you're talking about this
https://twitter.com/HondaRacingF1/statu ... 2664492032

[mclaren111]

Yes