Mclaren seems slow this winter testing

jgredline · Post 26 Jan 2006, 20:03

In Recent years Mclaren have shown thepace even in winter testing. This year and in particular the V8 seems well off the pace. From the get go the other teams were quickly on pace compared to Mclaren. As for thier V10 being slow as well, Those are most likley games to play with peoples heads or they are testing some new things. What ever the case, it does not look good.

hypermecanix · Post 26 Jan 2006, 20:44

Already 3 mercedes engines blown up this week

manchild · Post 26 Jan 2006, 20:52

I read somewhere that they had problems with oil pressure. Anyway, to frequent blows = not many testing km.

jgredline · Post 26 Jan 2006, 22:34

Already 3 mercedes engines blown up this week

Three engines have blown up????

hypermecanix · Post 26 Jan 2006, 22:42

One around 90km and the others at 400km...
I've read that there may be a bad part (the piston if i remember well), allowing only 19000rpm, and often breaking.
This may explain the poor performances right now, because the rest of the car looks awesome.

emburmak · Post 26 Jan 2006, 23:05

I for am worried. I have always enjoyed watching Mclaren but this season is shaping up to be a rehash of the 2004 season methinks. A pity!

bernard · Post 26 Jan 2006, 23:19

I actually read a rumour somewhere that they have been feverishly redesigning the enigne for some time now and will have the better engine ready soon. Their current engine is for example behind Honda in in RPM, horsepower and reliability. Or so it was said.

Guest · Post 26 Jan 2006, 23:23

Hello to all,
I think it is too early to say something at the moment. The car was revealed this week, and my feeling is that they are trying to get familiar with the MP4-21 and put as many km as possible.
As for the problems they had, I read that they were related with the oil pressure, and not with engine failures.

Guest · Post 26 Jan 2006, 23:54

Big mistake from Alonso to go to Mclaren, they will pay him, but the results will go u in smokes.

Guest · Post 27 Jan 2006, 00:31

the mp4-21 hasnt blown a single engine so far, they changed one because it did the two weekend race simulation, and the first failure was due to hyraulics pressure

Sawtooth-spike · Post 27 Jan 2006, 00:43

guy why are you writing off The mclaren After 1 week of testing? its Winter test, loads of teams dont push there cars in the winter, most of them are running on inter tires. Pre season is like a game of poker, nobody want to show there hand yet.

They have 2 of the best driver and the likely hood is that the new car will be quick. As for alonso making a mistake in moving, how can he lose? More money and being part of a team with a BIG title sponsor (next year) who more of less have produced Top car for the last 20 years (with some Bad patch). They will win races, they can win races, and they are a company that is here to Race not just to try and sell a few more cars.

DaveKillens · Post 27 Jan 2006, 03:04

I agree with Sawtooth Spike, no one is really showing their full potential. Right now, one series of tests examines just specific components. It won't be for a little while before we see cars with all the go-fast parts attached.
Then and only then can valid comparisons be made betwen different cars.
There is the very real possibility that some team will show up for the first race with totally unknown and radical parts.
And as far as anyone breaking parts....don't get excited, this is part of testing..... this is when parts get stressed up to and beyond their breaking point. Remember, in racing a 100% reliable car isn't fast enough to win races. Everyone, including the previous Ferrari dominance balanced performance versus reliability.

RH1300S · Post 27 Jan 2006, 11:46

I'm sure it was Ron Dennis who said he has no interest in winning the winter world championship

Testing obviously has the potential to tell you very little. Teams have been known to run laps with different sectors being fast and others not so, they then piece together the good bits without fully revealing their hand.

I read that McLaren were so close to the limit last year that several times in races the pit wall were really expecting the cars not to manage to get to the end. I presume they don't just mean engines, but other systems on the car too.

As for Alonso, it seems like a great career move - who's to say how long Renault will be in F1 and you can never write Mclaren off, even in a bad year they are better than most.

monkeyboy1976 · Post 27 Jan 2006, 11:52

I agree that Alonso did the right thing in leaving Renault. They will not be around for much longer.
I just hope that McLaren's chassis design does not drop off over the next few years after their top aero guys leaving.

User · Post 27 Jan 2006, 13:18

Renault has blown 2 engines too, but between 700 and 1000 km