2016 McLaren F1 Team - Honda

[DiogoBrand]

Yeah because not being a factory team was bad for Red Bull 4 years in a row.

The importance of engine-chassis integration has grown exponencially with the new power units. Today's situation has nothing to do with the frozen V8 era. Just look at McLaren in 2014, even though they had the best power unit, AFAIK they didn't use Petronas fuel and oil, and also I think Mercedes kept strict control over their PU's because McLaren's deal with Honda was already sealed, and the results speak for themselves.

[j.yank]

But it just can not compete with a RedBull or a Torro at the moment.

Not really - you can make here comparison with the Torro drivers who went to mediums at the same time like Button did, and you will see that Button has outperformed them (except the time when he was behind Nasr):

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... ainz%20Jr.

I think that the temperature of the track and weight of the cars made SS very slow for some reason for McLaren only. The team made wrong call with the strategies of both drivers.

[Alonsofor2017]

The Chassis is more the problem at the moment.If Honda gave them 30 more hp for the next race,they couldn't use it because their chassis already is eating tires like crazy.When was the last time you seen Jenson drift at almost every corner? And being that loose just eats your tires!

I believe that the handling problem is at least partly due to the drivability and mapping of the p u, this is characteristic of Honda engines like in Motogp

[McG]

Exponencially is completely wrong and contradictory to your statement. If you are going by the V8 era stability example then as the years go on we will see "privateer" teams on par with factory teams.

2 years of the new PU isn't a good example because we seen Williams beat Ferrari in the first year. You are judging this year on the 1st race of the 3rd year and claiming an exponential value on a change in 1 year where Ferrari overtook Williams in the standings and because McLaren built another dog... yes McLaren do that sometimes even with the best of engines.

Lets wait and see how things pan out over the years. Fully backed with a manufacturer has been amd will be a force to be reckoned with again.

[quote="DiogoBrand"][quote="McG"]Yeah because not being a factory team was bad for Red Bull 4 years in a row.[/quote]

The importance of engine-chassis integration has grown exponencially with the new power units. Today's situation has nothing to do with the frozen V8 era. Just look at McLaren in 2014, even though they had the best power unit, AFAIK they didn't use Petronas fuel and oil, and also I think Mercedes kept strict control over their PU's because McLaren's deal with Honda was already sealed, and the results speak for themselves.[/quote]

[DiogoBrand]

Exponencially is completely wrong and contradictory to your statement. If you are going by the V8 era stability example then as the years go on we will see "privateer" teams on par with factory teams.

2 years of the new PU isn't a good example because we seen Williams beat Ferrari in the first year. You are judging this year on the 1st race of the 3rd year and claiming an exponential value on a change in 1 year where Ferrari overtook Williams in the standings and because McLaren built another dog... yes McLaren do that sometimes even with the best of engines.

Lets wait and see how things pan out over the years. Fully backed with a manufacturer has been amd will be a force to be reckoned with again.

I can't see anything you said proving me wrong. I'm not saying that the factory teams are gonna be the 4 best teams on the grid. It is possible for Williams, with a better engine, to beat Ferrari with a lesser engine. It is possible for Red Bull, being a customer team, to beat Renault as a works team, I didn't say anything that contradicts that.
What I am saying, is that while on the V8 era Mercedes, Ferrari, and so on wouldn't get such an advantage from making their own engines, for the turbo era that changes completely.
You will never see Haas, Sauber or Toro Rosso beating Ferrari. Nor Williams, FI or Manor Beating Mercedes, and the only reason Red Bull is in front of Renault is because Renault's car is basically last year's Lotus and RB are monsters in making cars. McLaren's car may not be very good even being a factory team, but I'm certain the situation would be even worse if they didn't have a close link with Honda.

Basically, in the v8 era it pretty much made no difference being a customer or works team, but for the turbo era there's a clear advantage in being a factory team. I don't think there's any argument against that.

[Vasconia]

The crash ended well thank God,Jenson was for me disappointingly slow not only in race but troughtout weekend.
Besides the crash did Alonso said anything about his car pace before the incident?

He was happy with the pace and he thought he would have ended on the points.

[Vasconia]

The top speed doesn't look that bad...Hopefully more updates are in the pipeline from Honda.

http://www.fia.com/file/39509/download?token=BrXBgnsb

I think it was a bad that but some data make me feel more optimistic. Bahrein will show us a more accurate image of the current situation.

[fellowhoodlums]

I think the team are pretty much around where we thought. Fighting for points.

Alonso in good position before crash, Jenson with tyre choice problems meaning his result not reflective.

Official McLaren report on race talked about expecting to be fighting for points and Jenson tweets that there is "definitely some speed in the 31".

[Thunder]

The best News of the Weekend is the Fact that Alonso walked away uninjured from that horrible Crash. =D>

The Result didn't show it but i also think McLaren is pretty much where i suspected them to be. The Fighting for the Midfield is on. Bring some good Upgrades to the PU and Car (new FW rumoured for Bahrain inc.) and this could be a fun Season. Onwards and Upwards. But i'll wait until after Barcelona to judge if i am optimistic for this Season or not.

[henry]

But it just can not compete with a RedBull or a Torro at the moment.

Not really - you can make here comparison with the Torro drivers who went to mediums at the same time like Button did, and you will see that Button has outperformed them (except the time when he was behind Nasr):

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... ainz%20Jr.

I think that the temperature of the track and weight of the cars made SS very slow for some reason for McLaren only. The team made wrong call with the strategies of both drivers.

It is misleading to use the Torro Rossos as a yardstick. They were held up behind Hulkenburg. Look at Verstappen's laps and you see that when he was in free air after his spin he was a lot quicker. 4 seconds in 2 laps.

[GoranF1]

Positive first race,esspecialy pleased whit Honda performance.
Simmilar level to 2015 Ferrari spec in TR.
Mclaren will have updated aero package in Bahrain.
Car's balance is not perfect,compromized front DF due to lack of rear DF in combo whit not yet optimized suspension setting coused very bad tyre deg.
Expecting huge steps from Honda in future,esspecially after mid-season upgrade.
Good times ahead

[Postmoe]

The car looks like a solid midfield contender, however there is the fact that they only have two cars vs all the other manufacturers. This creates a negative bias every time there is a DNF or a bad strategy call.

Button lost a couple of positions at the start and recovered them in less than a lap. Alonso gained positions on traction alone. I don't see where the drama is, this is a major improvement from last's season finale, not even bothering to talk about 2015 initial stages.

The gains are over two seconds in a year without the 2016 final spec. No matter how bad they were, this is huge.

[Vasconia]

It is misleading to use the Torro Rossos as a yardstick. They were held up behind Hulkenburg. Look at Verstappen's laps and you see that when he was in free air after his spin he was a lot quicker. 4 seconds in 2 laps.

100% agree, TR is perhaps the third best car right now. But McLaren is a midfield team right now and taking account the traditional in-season improvement they will fight against them in a few races.

[Juzh]

Well, TR had nothing on RB on the same tires after the restart, so I'd reserve judgement on them being the 3d best at the moment, Jury is still out on that one.

[Andres125sx]

What's the next step in terms of PU for McLaren once they accept that this Honda partnership is not working?

Probably waiting until the PU can show all it can do instead of bashing it after first race of an almost new PU