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A senior representative of the McLaren-Mercedes team has admitted that the new MP4-21 racer is not ready to dominate Grand Prix in 2006.
Even with the newly revised V8 engine now up and running, Mercedes' competitor director Norbert Haug said progress at the silver team is currently lagging.
"We are not where we wanted to be in mid February," the German told Auto Motor Und Sport. "At the moment, we are perhaps where we should have been in the middle of December."
The new Mercedes V8, reportedly correcting problems with the inlet system and the pistons, has moved the MP4-21 closer to the leading pace.
But analysts still estimate that, if the Bahrain opener was held today, McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya would finish behind the two Renaults, the two Ferraris and the Hondas.
Haug maintained a similar theme in the Motorsport Aktuell magazine "Some teams are ahead of us. Certainly, we would not mind if we could add another month to our preparation time. But we are doing everything possible in order to be competitive for the first race in Bahrain. We have not had a dream start. We are behind where we want to be."
Not good for McLaren, two months behind in their development schedule.
And piston problems? hmm, I wonder what that problem really is.
They must have suffered some from terrible designs to see their program slip so far behind schedule. The process from fault identification to redesign to installation is very quick in the world of F1, sometimes it can be done within a week. So I must assume that McLaren have suffered a lot of equipment failures that have forced redesign, and more than once.
I agree, which prompts me to reitterate that maybe there is a fundamental flaw in their design philosophy relative to the other teams. I know of no other engine builder in recent times who have had quite so many problems as Mercedes have in such a short apace of time
Silence is golden when you don't know a good answer.
I agree with both of you guys.
I think the piston excuse is just that. The problems are most likley related to the block itself as any Good piston company can make pistons in 24hours or less.
How are they going to cope with a 3 race engine rule when their engines blow after 20 laps The sooner Ron buys back Merc 40% share in Mclaren the better imo
dc the engines have to last 3 races.. or is it still 2 races?
Simon: Nils? You can close in now. Nils?
John McClane: [on the guard's phone] Attention! Attention! Nils is dead! I repeat, Nils is dead, ----head. So's his pal, and those four guys from the East German All-Stars, your boys at the bank? They're gonna be a little late.
Simon: [on the phone] John... in the back of the truck you're driving, there's $13 billon dollars worth in gold bullion. I wonder would a deal be out of the question?
John McClane: [on the phone] Yeah, I got a deal for you. Come out from that rock you're hiding under, and I'll drive this truck up your ass.
Norbert Haug: “Will we have it 100% solved before Bahrain – who knows?”
My god Norbert. If you, the top Mercedes motorsport boss, don't know if it will be rectified, and you OPENLY admit that, how long do you to expect to keep your job!
As had happened yesterday with Kimi Raikkonen, the McLaren MP4-21 managed to show speed but not reliability - this time it was Juan Pablo Montoya who got close to the Renaults, splitting Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella and trailing the Finn by just 0.039, then expired on the track after 50 laps.
wowf1 wrote:Norbert Haug: “Will we have it 100% solved before Bahrain – who knows?”
My god Norbert. If you, the top Mercedes motorsport boss, don't know if it will be rectified, and you OPENLY admit that, how long do you to expect to keep your job!
Yes, this is very strange. When a team like Honda has a problem (i.e. Sato) they do everything they can to pretend everything is OK. I can't believe that Norbert is openly defiant about problem solving. Who knows? What kind of statement is that? Show some confidence man. There is no wonder why the engines fail, just look at their leader. Wow. Macca need a new engine something desperate.
When a manufacturer is having problems, there are two strategies they can employ in dealing with the press. You can deny everything, say all is OK, and blame the transmission for every problem. Or you can realize the public aren't that dumb, know somethng is wrong, and tell what is closer to the truth. Mercedes know they have problems, and they know the public are aware of problems. So instead of insulting everyone's inteligence, Haug has decided to be more open than Honda, and retain some credibility.
i realize he was quoted out of context, but that statement sounds bad, and puts a bad impression in the efforts to correct the problem. regardless of what he says, it's still a pitiful position for the team. if you were the chassis designer, would you not be disappointed? after all, the efforts are not being matched.
and haug could also say, "i am confident we will have these problems resolved, after all Cosworth have good reliability with far less resources, so this is not a problem that can't be solved'
The sooner Ron buys back Merc 40% share in Mclaren the better imo 
