2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Big Tea]

Yes it speaks the volumes of cash The Torpedo brings and the market value in Russia for Red Bull.

Not saying Waffle is faster than The Torpedo but it's a no brainer.

Anyway... Dire race for McLaren today. So much for that lower drag setup.

How the hell can McLaren ever compete with the Mercedes and Ferrari B teams? Force India, Haas and Sauber are very strong. Renault will get stronger.
If Mercedes and Ferrari continue to have this much power in F1 (along with the weakness of Liberty), I don't see McLaren ever being winners again in he next 15-20 years. Hopefully Liberty get their finger out before then.

I grit my teeth when I hear Mclaren mentioned in the same sentence as 'B team'. Be it as themselves or indicating who they are fighting.

It's true though. I don't need to explain why they have that label, but the label is valid. If you think it's exaggerated then just look at Red Bull's "sister" team in their words, who are obviously close to Red Bull but aren't as good as the teams closely related to Mercedes and Ferrari.

I am not disputing it, just not what we (I?) expect of Mclaren. I have slagged them as much as anyone, I do face facts. Todays Mclaren is not the Mclaren of old. Lets hope next year....

[Jackles-UK]

its a total fail, never thought it wold be worst than with honda.... its just unbelivable

Honda:
2015 (MP4-30) - 27 constructors points (9th).
2016 (MP4-31) - 76 constructors points (6th).
2017 (MCL32) - 30 constructors points (9th)

Renault:
2018 (MCL33) - 58 constructors points (6th) with five races (almost 25% of the season) remaining of the season.

I’m not saying that this year has been great by any stretch of the imagination but to say that this years car has been worse than the Honda iterations is just not true.

Switching engine partners at such a late stage was always going to lead to integration issues so if McLaren can hold 6th in the constructors behind the three works teams, Red Bull and Haas (AKA Ferrari Lite) I personally think that would qualify as an average season. Certainly I didn’t expect much more of them myself before the season started.

[munudeges]

McLaren (and Williams for that matter) will not be around in Formula 1 for much longer like this. You look at what Force India have done with their resources and you look at what Red Bull are doing with a Renault engine and McLaren are a long, long, long, long way behind. It's a huge difference in performance.

James Key's eventual job might just prove too much.

[diffuser]

Only because Haas failed to capitalize on their performance early in the season. Also thanks to the Force India boys taking each other out.

Vandoorne never had a fair shot against Alonso. Alonso wouldn't allow it. I remember weekends Stoffel would be doing much better than Alonso on Fp1 and Fp2 only for FP3 and quali look the exact opposite in performance, as if the cars had been swapped.

It's natural for McLaren to put more effort for performance in the proven champion's car who can actually score points but it would be nice to see Stoffel match his fellow countrymen Thierry Boutsen's podiums and wins.

Right, McLaren are letting him go cause Alonso wouldn't allow him to drive. You don't think McLaren would know that was happening and evaluate him accordingly? Why would McLaren be loyal to Alonso this year?

Secretly he is the reincarnation of Senna and Mclaren really don't want a good driver.

[RonDennis]

Only five races to go, thank god.

[ispano6]

Only because Haas failed to capitalize on their performance early in the season. Also thanks to the Force India boys taking each other out.

Vandoorne never had a fair shot against Alonso. Alonso wouldn't allow it. I remember weekends Stoffel would be doing much better than Alonso on Fp1 and Fp2 only for FP3 and quali look the exact opposite in performance, as if the cars had been swapped.

It's natural for McLaren to put more effort for performance in the proven champion's car who can actually score points but it would be nice to see Stoffel match his fellow countrymen Thierry Boutsen's podiums and wins.

Right, McLaren are letting him go cause Alonso wouldn't allow him to drive. You don't think McLaren would know that was happening and evaluate him accordingly? Why would McLaren be loyal to Alonso this year?

Secretly he is the reincarnation of Senna and Mclaren really don't want a good driver.

Some drivers in the past have benefitted from a year or some time away. Perhaps like Kvyat the raw speed is there but there could be a mental aspect to overcome. Perhaps he doesn't have the confidence in the car like Alonso does, or perhaps the two cars aren't equal due to different crews working on each car.

Many drivers on the grid including Verstappen hold Vandoorne in high regard so maybe what he really needs is a team change.

[Mansell89]

Does anyone know if McLaren have heavily weighted resources onto the 2019 car now?

I really, really hope so.

PS- who will head up the designing now that Goss et al have departed?

[charliesmithhd]

Does anyone know if McLaren have heavily weighted resources onto the 2019 car now?

I really, really hope so.

PS- who will head up the designing now that Goss et al have departed?

Didn’t they start focusing most of their efforts on the 2019 car in Germany?

[marvin78]

In 3rd and 4th place with the much better cars in front of them? Would be good for McLaren.

[M840TR]

Full focus is on 2019 for quite some time now. There's a good chance they might jump some of teams that are embroiled in a development war for WCC positions like Renault and Haas. Then there's the stability factor with the power unit which is a huge plus but it's offset by lack of management stability. We'll see how it pans out next year.

[Jolle]

Full focus is on 2019 for quite some time now. There's a good chance they might jump some of teams that are embroiled in a development war for WCC positions like Renault and Haas. Then there's the stability factor with the power unit which is a huge plus but it's offset by lack of management stability. We'll see how it pans out next year.

Don't get your hopes up. That they aren't developing the '18 car suggests that they are going for another new concept for '19 pushing the relative development back two years compared to their competitors (from the baseline '17 design). Time limiting rules just won't allow you to develop a whole new car each year and with McLaren doing just that almost every year, they get behind further and further.

[Big Tea]

The jokers in the pack are the 'made as Honda' STR cars next year. Even had they finished more races and had 2 good drivers this year Mclaren would struggle to match them. Williams also may be revived.
Points will be harder to bag next year.

[mclaren111]

Does anyone know if McLaren have heavily weighted resources onto the 2019 car now?

I really, really hope so.

PS- who will head up the designing now that Goss et al have departed?

Peter Prod is head of Aero & Par Fry re-joined as Engineering Director a couple of weeks ago.

James Key (STR) has been appointed as Technical Director and will join the team as soon as his old contract allows....

[M840TR]

Full focus is on 2019 for quite some time now. There's a good chance they might jump some of teams that are embroiled in a development war for WCC positions like Renault and Haas. Then there's the stability factor with the power unit which is a huge plus but it's offset by lack of management stability. We'll see how it pans out next year.

Don't get your hopes up. That they aren't developing the '18 car suggests that they are going for another new concept for '19 pushing the relative development back two years compared to their competitors (from the baseline '17 design). Time limiting rules just won't allow you to develop a whole new car each year and with McLaren doing just that almost every year, they get behind further and further.

Everyone is going for a new concept. Aero wise anyway given the regulation change. As for chassis, it's probably a result of lessons learnt this year.

[RonDennis]

The jokers in the pack are the 'made as Honda' STR cars next year. Even had they finished more races and had 2 good drivers this year Mclaren would struggle to match them. Williams also may be revived.
Points will be harder to bag next year.

And McLaren also may be revived. Everything is possible next year.