2016 McLaren F1 Team - Honda

[dren]

Who cares? Just wait and see if Honda brings any updates. They will likely not be in the points fight either way.

[godlameroso]

I wouldn't be so sure. Everyone thought they were going to struggle in Sochi and look what happened.

[diffuser]

Fernando Alonso: Honda engine upgrade coming for Canada
http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/formula-1/m ... 73905.html
now has this man ever lied?

This is exactly what we have discussed so far. Nothing new. Alonso says yes, the team "we dont know". 10 days lef and they still dont know....

We're going to Canada with some improvements, particularly with the engine. Let's see if we start to use some tokens and can be more competitive."

that is written ambiguously on purpose.

[Thunder]

McLaren working 50/50 on 2016 and 2017 F1 car

http://en.f1i.com/news/57653-mclaren-wo ... -cars.html

[dren]

McLaren working 50/50 on 2016 and 2017 F1 car

http://en.f1i.com/news/57653-mclaren-wo ... -cars.html

You'd have to think a percentage of that work is being dedicated to poor performance excuses; perhaps 25%?

[godlameroso]

Gotta give Honda a chance man. It took them 3 years to make an engine capable of winning the Indy 500. They can't make a relatively bad engine forever, let's see what happens in the next two weeks. They have to do something for Baku, because that 2 kilometer back straight is going to hurt McLaren a lot otherwise.

[superdowg316]

Everyone's calling this project a failure, but at this point last year they scored only 4 points compared to 24 points this year. Also, they only scored 27 points last season, so this year has already been a great success of sorts. It's only going to get better. Remember, it took McLaren Mercedes three years of working together to win and Mercedes themselves took three years to win as well.

[crazyguru94]

Consistently scoring points irrespective of the kind of track is what Mclaren wants right now. If they move ahead of Force India and Toro Rosso, i would consider it as great progress.

[Jolle]

As a long time McLaren fan (since the MP4-2 days) it's getting increasingly harder to see a positive direction in this team/car.
Haven't had a good performing chassis since 2012 (and in F1 that's a lifetime), after that they couldn't get it right again. Not with a v8 while everybody was waiting on the new formula, not with the best PU of the feelt in '14 and now they can't get the tires to work (latest excuse).
Their marketing department can't get a sponsor in, while having an iconic name as McLaren-Honda and Alonso.
Honda is going to get tired of McLarens veto's soon and then they can't play the PU card anymore.
If they continue on this path, their placing on the grid will be similar as their rivals up front from the past, Williams. A strong midfielder at most.

Time for a proper clean up and stop with this "our goal is to dominate the sport again" or "McLaren will provide the next WC".

[OneAlex]

A while back (2 years ago?) there was a story that under Martin Whitmarsh McLaren had changed their philosophy and instead of chasing the technically fastest chassis by numbers that was then difficult to set up and drive to the optimum level they were designing a car that was theoretically not as fast but was much easier to actually build and drive to a higher speed.

The story said that once Ron came back he effectively undid all the changes and took everything back to "theoretical fastest" etc. Does anyone know if that was true and if they've maintained that philosophy under Ron with the McHonda?

[Jolle]

A while back (2 years ago?) there was a story that under Martin Whitmarsh McLaren had changed their philosophy and instead of chasing the technically fastest chassis by numbers that was then difficult to set up and drive to the optimum level they were designing a car that was theoretically not as fast but was much easier to actually build and drive to a higher speed.

The story said that once Ron came back he effectively undid all the changes and took everything back to "theoretical fastest" etc. Does anyone know if that was true and if they've maintained that philosophy under Ron with the McHonda?

This sounds more of their sports car department. Anybody knows that an easy car to drive is too slow. Another theory would be "not the fastest car over one lap but over a complete race" a bit like the turbo days where especially the BMW were King on one lap because of their massive turbo's and one lap engines. Another explanation would be that Buttor prefers a bit of an easier car to go fast then Hamilton who can drive around or with a nervous car better.

I really can't believe that the McLaren team ever would think "yes, let's make the car a easy but a bit slower".

[diffuser]

The arrival of chief engineer Peter Prodromou from Red Bull last year has served as a force for change on this front, and his views on taking a new approach have been embraced by McLaren.

The priority is no longer pursuing theoretical peak downforce figures - it is about achieving maximum useable downforce.

In simple terms, being able to use 100 per cent of 700kg of downforce is better than only being able to use 80 per cent of 750kg.

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said after the unveiling of the new McLaren MP4-30 that chasing peak figures that cannot be replicated on track is now a thing of the past.

"This concept of driver friendly, it is maybe new - and part of this new philosophy," explained the Frenchman.

"We are trying to make sure we can give our drivers the ability to exploit the car to the limits, which means getting this performance package.

"If you have a performing car and a driver cannot drive it, then it is obviously a waste.

"We want to make sure our drivers can drive the car to the limit, which means we will exploit to the limit. And this is where the new philosophy is turning to."

[chenpei24730]

The arrival of chief engineer Peter Prodromou from Red Bull last year has served as a force for change on this front, and his views on taking a new approach have been embraced by McLaren.

The priority is no longer pursuing theoretical peak downforce figures - it is about achieving maximum useable downforce.

In simple terms, being able to use 100 per cent of 700kg of downforce is better than only being able to use 80 per cent of 750kg.

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said after the unveiling of the new McLaren MP4-30 that chasing peak figures that cannot be replicated on track is now a thing of the past.

"This concept of driver friendly, it is maybe new - and part of this new philosophy," explained the Frenchman.

"We are trying to make sure we can give our drivers the ability to exploit the car to the limits, which means getting this performance package.

"If you have a performing car and a driver cannot drive it, then it is obviously a waste.

"We want to make sure our drivers can drive the car to the limit, which means we will exploit to the limit. And this is where the new philosophy is turning to."

I think it was influenced by Button? I believe if LH is still in McLaren, they won't sacrifice peak performance for "drivability".

[Jolle]

The arrival of chief engineer Peter Prodromou from Red Bull last year has served as a force for change on this front, and his views on taking a new approach have been embraced by McLaren.

The priority is no longer pursuing theoretical peak downforce figures - it is about achieving maximum useable downforce.

In simple terms, being able to use 100 per cent of 700kg of downforce is better than only being able to use 80 per cent of 750kg.

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said after the unveiling of the new McLaren MP4-30 that chasing peak figures that cannot be replicated on track is now a thing of the past.

"This concept of driver friendly, it is maybe new - and part of this new philosophy," explained the Frenchman.

"We are trying to make sure we can give our drivers the ability to exploit the car to the limits, which means getting this performance package.

"If you have a performing car and a driver cannot drive it, then it is obviously a waste.

"We want to make sure our drivers can drive the car to the limit, which means we will exploit to the limit. And this is where the new philosophy is turning to."

This translates to: "we couldn't get the numbers we needed"

[Gaz.]

Everyone's calling this project a failure, but at this point last year they scored only 4 points compared to 24 points this year. Also, they only scored 27 points last season, so this year has already been a great success of sorts. It's only going to get better. Remember, it took McLaren Mercedes three years of working together to win and Mercedes themselves took three years to win as well.

Yet Mclaren are well behind their own predicted performance curve. In June 2015 they were targeting regular Q3s & top 6 finishes for the later part of that season. Alonso signed to the team with the expectation to win a championship, it was the entire point leaving Ferrari as he had already finished runner up three times.