McLaren International...

[JeremySmith]

What is REALLY going on at McLaren? It is hard for me to believe that a team who own the best chassis designer on the planet are having such a poor season thus far...What do you put this down too?

[Porsche_1]

Often in sport, even when you have the best team members, the team can still suffer a slump. You often see it with soccer teams, and so on. I think that in McLaren’s case the team has gone stale, and there needs to be a change in some of the key positions to shake them up a little. This may allow them to look at issues from a different perspective. Motivation is a difficult thing to maintain if you are doing the same thing with the same people, no matter how much cash you are on, new challenges and all that………….

I also think that the fiasco they have been suffering with their designer has also had an effect.

[JeremySmith]

Well said Porsche_1 Very good points you make sir .. It must be hard to stay motivated year after year when one knows that other teams are doing everything possible to get ahead of you..Tough game Formula1..

[Airhead]

It is interesting to read the report in F1 News that Haug has said of McLaren that six things needed further development.

The engine, the chasis, the tyres, the team, the drivers and the organisation.

DC has countered with sarcastic comments on the lack of power from Mercedes.

This does not look good for results when effort is directed at proportioning blame rather than solving the problem(s).

[enemy-ace]

The chassis isn't one of Newey's best, but i have little doubt that that will change. I think the main problem is the power of the Mercedes engine. After the FIA outlawed the use of Berrilium (that doesn't look like it's spelled right, but it's a light weight metal) for this year the Mercedes engine isn't as super light as it was last year and it hasn't come up with the power to compensate for the extra weight. Every team suffers a slump, look at Ferrari, they slumped for twenty years.

[Gt_R]

Horsepower and chassis is the issue...weight isnt...Its merely this year's BMW is so powerful it makes the others look like a cart horse. Mclaren as a package is the same weight as the Williams at 600kg ...but the problem in the straight line is the horsepower, while it is hard to make the Mclaren work in the twisty parts, esp with understeer...

By the way, F1 racing pointed out that BMW is at least 15bhp clear of the others...which means that even if they use the same engine at the end of the year with no bhp developement, it would still be the most powerful engine at the end of the year.

[enemy-ace]

Originally posted by Gt_R
Horsepower and chassis is the issue...weight isnt...Its merely this year's BMW is so powerful it makes the others look like a cart horse. Mclaren as a package is the same weight as the Williams at

True. But weight distribution is also part of chassis development, so if the engine is carrying more weight than previous years then that compromises the car as a whole, as you can not ballast the car in more effective areas.

[bghaw]

Let's face it, as much as i am a McLaren fan, the team jsut doesn't seem to embody the same passion, desire, and level of intensity as Ferrari or BMW has shown. It seems as though the woking team expect to win based on their personel and their budget. But when they fail to meet expectations, they b1tch and moan and blame the politics and whatnot rather than kicking themselves in the arse and improving. I don't doubt their love for the sport, i just agree with PORSCHE in that they are not motivated enough this season.

AMOFFAT: you're right, internal bickering doesn't help the cause either. Ron blames Newey, and DC blames the Dennis -"that's no excuse." Haug criticizes the entire team. The season doesn't look good for Mclaren. But of all the problems that they are encountering this year, i see the engine as their primary achilles heels. The cars seem very underpowered and as Hakkinen said during the Montreal race, the Saubers and Jordans were very quick out of the corners, which only suggests that the Merc engines aren't up to par.

Let's just hope for a better season next year.

GO HAKKINEN!!! GO DC!!!! GO JPM!!! GO RALF!!!

DOWN WITH TGF!!!!

[JeremySmith]

You just don't expect a team like McLaren to get rattled that easily..IMO it is somewhat easy to look at last season when the car was so strong and feel McLaren have it all together and can do no wrong in terms of engineering..The face of Norbert Haug in Germany says it all..I think Mika is still the driver he always was ..The car is not up to par unfortunately..Maybe the Newey situation took more of a toll than Ron Dennis is prepared to admit?? I would love to see Ferrari,McLaren and Williams realy duke it out..That would make for some very exciting racing.

[KC]

The sam e thing went on at Williams after Newey had been there for a few years.

Also, do not discount the engineering prowess of Ferrari as well. Their cars rarely fail and it is almost always fast. That type of pressure is hard to hold out against forever.

[JeremySmith]

Very true KC..Do you remember the time Ferrari could not even finish a race? Not that long ago

[Wrex]

What goes up, must come down. It's that simple.

No team in history has stayed at the top for any extended length of time. I'm sure there is a history buff out their that can tell us the team that stayed in the top two the longest.

It could be lack of motivation, out of the fresh ideas that got them to the top, losing personell or not employing new people with fresh ideas. It is intereesting to note that they've had the same driver menu longer than anyone.

They have to do a bit of a "Frank" know. Accept they are on the way down. Make a 3-5 year plan to get back to the top. Change some of the design staff, have a serious look at Michelins and get at least one new (young) driver.

They will go down further, but make no mistake, Ferrari, Williams & McLaren are the 3 teams that will always be at the top, or re-establishing themselves to get back. And they will.