Jolle wrote: ↑14 Aug 2018, 21:21
ALO’s move to quit now feels to be to be a bit of a dick move. He was one of the forces in McLaren to switch to Renault (with Zak’s one core message “we have to keep Fernando happy”) and now after one season he leaves them. There are no good driver options left for McLaren on the market. All the world champions are taken, even all the race winners have good seats. Grosjean, Perez and Stroll are the only drivers left with a podium to their name. So next year it’s going to be a sponsorless car, no works status and second choice drivers. The ingredients never have been this bad, even in the Peugeot and early Mercedes days they had at least works status and a good deal with Philip Morris. I think we have to go back before Fittipaldi and Texaco...
I agree with this. I think to some extent, it also highlights the disillusion that has been going on at McLaren for some years. I feel the blame that was apportioned towards Honda and their outspoken belief of having one of the best chassis up until this season was not just a play in order to sell their worth in front of sponsors and fans. They really believed it. And on some level, they must have believed that moving to a more competitive engine and retaining Alonso (who was indeed one of the forces in the switch to Renault) would instantly put them into contention for podiums, at the very least. Reality must have hit hard when they found themselves in arguably the same spot as last year, performance wise.
IMO - it was a mistake to let Honda go. I argued at the time of the break-up that Honda was a significant partner, sponsor and investor. They had the 'works-relationship' too, but perhaps having a driver of Alonso's caliber was ultimately the death-sentence for such a partnership: Too high the pressure to supply a competitive car. With every failure and set-back, the pressure mounted and ultimately led to the belief that the chassis was good and the engine wasn't, which then led to a strained relationship. There were many at the time that argued that it's either winning or nothing. Meanwhile, they have been surpassed by Renault who has slowly, step-by-step, kept their heads low and made incremental improvements over the seasons to be where they are today.
While I wouldn't attribute all to the Alonso-effect, certainly there is a point to be made that he is perhaps one of the most influential drivers on the grid and that influence surely has had an effect. Personally, the loss of Honda, however way that was influenced by Alonso, will have long lasting consequences for McLaren as a team. Their performance has been exposed and the team has surely become a much less attractive place for many highly gifted engineers and drivers. One has to wonder if McLaren has the ability and resources to turn things around from here on out, especially now that Alonso has left the boat.
Overall though, and I hate to say it, but I think despite the performance Alonso brings to the team, I think ultimately, it will be good for McLaren that he has left. Bad in the sense that surely this will lose them some exposure, attractiveness and sponsorship in the long run, but perhaps overall less pressure.
