MP4-18 delay.

[billaboy]

Mclaren confirmed that their new MP4-18 car will not see a GP until mid-July at Silverstone the earliest! According to the BBC the MP4-18 has yet to complete a trouble-free race distance simulation. It has also broken down many times in testing. How did they get this car so wrong; I expect this from a team like Minardi but not Mclaren!

[DNQ]

I've given up. We'll be lucky to see it before 2098

[Smokey 6 litre]

thats at the earliest!!!
oh great, the car will be ready for the last couple of races, when the title fight is already over, theres always next year.

[Fogelhund]

I think the bigger issue is not that it has broken down, as much as the drivers have cracked it up. Surely damaging two chassis in testing to some extent has backed up the schedule some. Sad.

[Adam43]

The thing is so far we have had just testing, which is just that. It is too difficult to fully judge it.

One thing it is better is debuts when it is ready and not before.

[Bononi]

Oh yes, you mean MP4-18 the 2004 version ???

[neilap]

Exactly! I have given up on seeing that car this year. It may come out when Ferrari have secured the title. IMO there has to be a flaw with the car. They are trying to work it out and are finding that their radical design is no better than the current car.

[senna12]

Originally posted by neilap
....are finding that their radical design is no better than the current car.

Which is a bit like their good friends in Maranello have discovered with the F2003-GA.

If it comes out after the 12th race, it might as well be an '04 car.

[jonathanc]

I think they can afford to wait until 2004. F2003-GA is not much better than last years car and Mclaren have shown the tweaked version of last years car is good. KR has made a couple of mistakes that have cost him wins. If it had been the other way around whereby the car had let him down, then it would be a different matter.

[shiny side up!]

I think it IS a 2004 car that we will just happen to see at the end of 2003. I don't think there is any fundamental flaw with it, other than not passing crash-tests, but that is fairly normal for it not to pass at first... the car is better, the whole team says so, but if it won't finish then it isn't worth racing it yet...

[Testure]

There was an interview with Gary Anderson somewhere a few months ago. Might have been one of the F1 magazines... Anyway! He made an interesting point about F1 designers. Basically, he was saying that Adrian Newey needs someone like Patrick Head & vice versa. Equally Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn or Henri Durand and Gary Anderson.

Baically, mechanics and designers need each other and flounder otherwise. This was his theory for the relative lack of success of Williams and McLaren in the last few years. Not saying that this new car is doomed or anything, just that they're not getting the best out of their staff with their current arrangements.

[BootsOntheSide]

Waiting until 2004 might now make the most sense. The current car is still reliable and competitive, and under the new points system thatis better than having a car break down on its first few outings as last year's Ferrari did (annoyingly, only for Rubens). There may be more potential to develop the 2003 car, and add a lot mor to the 2004 model for once it's ready.

New specification engines which can last longer are new for 2004, so McLaren would be taking some burden off Mercedes by ensuring chassis reliability (and there'd be no excuse for car failures form a car that has been tested that extensively).

I know Wurz is responsible for one of the two testing crashes, but who crashed the other one. Kimi's the opposite of Michael now, he only ever seems to crash or spin when it matters.

[shiny side up!]

Kimi wrote off the other one...

[x_dt]

Wasn't the Williams FW15 which they used in 1993 originally supposed to be raced in late 1992?

Though if so Williams in 1992 could afford to wait as they had the dominant car. McLaren's current chassis may still be competitive but it is hardly the dominant package the FW14B was.

[Knowlesy]

MP4-17 has no more development left whilst F2003GA has plenty. The title will be between Williams and Ferrari if McLaren don't hurry up with that car!

[billaboy]

Originally posted by knowlesy
MP4-17 has no more development left whilst F2003GA has plenty. The title will be between Williams and Ferrari if McLaren don't hurry up with that car!

WOW!!!! You said it all! Although..sadly

[Knowlesy]

And so it has been confirmed. The all new McLaren MP4-18 has failed its crash test for a second time and will not be seen until Hockenheim at the very earliest.


FOR 'S SAKE!

[Glen]

This is turning into one monumental cock-up from a team that should be, on past form, just about the most organised and well funded on the grid. I don't particularly care about McLaren losing (never my fave team) but I am annoyed that my otherwise excellent 20-1 bet on Kimi for WDC is being thrown away!

[Knowlesy]

You start to worry about the drivers really. There they are, pushing the car hard in testing, and if a mechanical failure occurs at high speed they could be in big trouble.......

[Attila]

According to Autosport:

"The debut of McLaren's long-awaited MP4-18 could be put back to the Italian Grand Prix in September if a test at Barcelona in two week's time is not a success, according to this week's AUTOSPORT magazine.

The team has already decided to delay the introduction of the car until at least the British Grand Prix following a troubled test in Jerez last week. However, McLaren now faces a race against time to get the MP4-18 ready before Formula 1's summer testing ban begins.

The test ban means that if the car's reliability problems are not ironed out in a test after the French GP on July 6, the team will not theoretically be able to run the car again until after the Hungarian GP on August 24. That would mean the car might only be ready for the race at Monza on September 14 – the 13th round of the championship – at the earliest.

The team could try to get around the summer testing ban, which is only governed by a gentleman's agreement between the teams, but any such move would likely meet with stiff resistance from McLaren's rivals.

McLaren also faces a battle for the MP4-18 to pass the mandatory FIA crash tests. Sources have claimed that the car has failed its second side-impact test and will need extensive modifications before its next attempt."

Now that is a major setback for Merc I would have thought that they are more professional than this.
Cheers.

[Knowlesy]

Thanks Attila.

Thinks are looking rather bleak, shall we say.

So, the title this year is a fight between Willy and Ferry.

[ASCII Man]

Fight?
What fight?

[Knowlesy]

Originally posted by ®îjñtjûh
Fight?
What fight?

Errr, the one between Williams and BMW!

[Knowlesy]

Well, the Mclaren is expected at Hockenheim. If not it has to wait until Monza. Great.

This is a rather good comedy act don't you think?

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Attila
"The debut of McLaren's long-awaited MP4-18 could be put back to the Italian Grand Prix in September if a test at Barcelona in two week's time is not a success, according to this week's AUTOSPORT magazine.

I think Autosport are covering all bases so that they can claim "McLaren debuts MP4/18 at XXXXX race as predicted by Autosport". They have suggested most Grand Prix that are left so they will be correct once.