2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[munudeges]

John Barnard has also expressed similar sentiments. This is not just a TD job, he's got to rip out and change the culture that has built up there over decades. He's also got to stop the rest of the company thinking they can interfere and impose their working methods on the team.

Think your mixing up his job with Browns. Pretty sure that when he walks in and they handed him the "Keys" people will fall in line. It is a bunch of Engineers after all.

Nope. That is a Technical Director's job, something McLaren has not had for a long time. Brown is in no position to know what's needed and what isn't. Key will tell him and it's up to Brown to deal with the politics.

[WaikeCU]

Magnussen and Vandoorne didn't work out, now they hope for the third time being luckier. If the car is a pig, Norris will be out the door within 2 years. Hopefully, for his sake, it proves to be more competitive than this year's car.

He will have the advantage of not being against Alonso, so will not look bad for a couple of 10ths.
I share your feeling though

Magnussen and Perez were paired with Button though.

And Stoffel is paired with Alonso...

Yet Magnussen and Perez have been driving F1 ever since being dropped by Mclaren and haven't disappointed viewers.

[taperoo2k]

He will have the advantage of not being against Alonso, so will not look bad for a couple of 10ths.
I share your feeling though

Magnussen and Perez were paired with Button though.

And Stoffel is paired with Alonso...

Yet Magnussen and Perez have been driving F1 ever since being dropped by Mclaren and haven't disappointed viewers.

Magnussen and Perez were lucky in that they got another chance in F1. Given the way the grid is shaping up, Stoffel may not even get a second chance in F1.

Might be too early to bring Lando in, but I guess if they want to keep him then they've got little choice. Hopefully McLaren will produce something half decent next season. But I'm not getting my hopes up, the rebuild process will be a long one.

[f1universe]

In my opinion Stoffel has shown nothing to deserve a place in F1. Yes I'm aware his teammate is Alonso and the car is crap, but the great drivers always show a spark of light no matter what are the circumstances.

[Jolle]

I also hope this choice of drivers comes from thought and with a long term plan, not a no-choice situation... first time in decades that McLaren had no world champion/race winner/podium scoring driver.

[Fulcrum]

He will have the advantage of not being against Alonso, so will not look bad for a couple of 10ths.
I share your feeling though

Magnussen and Perez were paired with Button though.

And Stoffel is paired with Alonso...

Yet Magnussen and Perez have been driving F1 ever since being dropped by Mclaren and haven't disappointed viewers.

Perez had a career before getting the McLaren seat, and monetary backing to help him get another.

Magnussen spent a year out of the sport completely following his debut season, and can consider himself extremely lucky to have found a seat thereafter.

[RonDennis]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody knows. Vandoorne hasn't impressed me in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso. Norris won the British F4, Renault NEC 2.0, F3 Euro and Toyota NZ Series on his first attempt. Russell also did GP3 and 2 seasons in F3 Euro. Norris is simply a great, great talent. It seems that everything McLaren and Zak Brown are currently doing is wrong and stupid, a bit cheap to be honest.

“About my team-mates, maybe it’s not a surprise [to me], but for the people that don’t know Lando, it will be a surprise for them,” said the Spaniard. “The things he did were very impressive. The teamwork, the preparation, the focus.

“At night if you look, when we switched to wet tyres for one stint, we were fifth, one minute behind the leader. Then we switched to slick tyres again in damp conditions – all this with Lando driving – and we were 27 seconds behind the leaders.

“So even in wet conditions, his first time in a prototype, first time in Daytona, first time with Continental tyres, he recovered 33 seconds in 20 laps or something like that.

“He is 18 years old, so that is quite impressive…”

[taperoo2k]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody know's. Vandoorne hasn't impress in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso.

He looks like he has all the skills and talent to do very well in F1. Even if McLaren produce another dud next year (I'm hoping they'll produce something decent at least), I'd expect to see Norris putting in some good performances. As for Vandorne ? You either grab the chances you get in F1 or you risk being yet another also ran in F1. He's never looked like he's been anywhere near Alonso in terms of dragging performance out of the car (that's about the only way you can show your ability/talent in a bad car). Feedback about the cars limitations might also be an issue i.e. Norris might have noticed things Vandorne hasn't. Though I guess the overriding factor will have been the fact that Norris might have decided to go elsewhere had McLaren not given him a race seat. Red Bull were certainly sniffing around.

[Big Tea]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody know's. Vandoorne hasn't impress in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso.

He looks like he has all the skills and talent to do very well in F1. Even if McLaren produce another dud next year (I'm hoping they'll produce something decent at least), I'd expect to see Norris putting in some good performances. As for Vandorne ? You either grab the chances you get in F1 or you risk being yet another also ran in F1. He's never looked like he's been anywhere near Alonso in terms of dragging performance out of the car (that's about the only way you can show your ability/talent in a bad car). Feedback about the cars limitations might also be an issue i.e. Norris might have noticed things Vandorne hasn't. Though I guess the overriding factor will have been the fact that Norris might have decided to go elsewhere had McLaren not given him a race seat. Red Bull were certainly sniffing around.

When he is a test driver there are probably different guidelines to the race driver. They would not want him to damage the car Alonso was going to use for Prac 2, so his showings will probably not be up there with the 'main' drivers.
Mclaren no doubt know this and take it into account. Getting the best out of a car on the road though is a different thing to making it look good in the sim, we will see.

[mwillems]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody knows. Vandoorne hasn't impressed me in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso. Norris won the British F4, Renault NEC 2.0, F3 Euro and Toyota NZ Series on his first attempt. Russell also did GP3 and 2 seasons in F3 Euro. Norris is simply a great, great talent. It seems that everything McLaren and Zak Brown are currently doing is wrong and stupid, a bit cheap to be honest.

“About my team-mates, maybe it’s not a surprise [to me], but for the people that don’t know Lando, it will be a surprise for them,” said the Spaniard. “The things he did were very impressive. The teamwork, the preparation, the focus.

“At night if you look, when we switched to wet tyres for one stint, we were fifth, one minute behind the leader. Then we switched to slick tyres again in damp conditions – all this with Lando driving – and we were 27 seconds behind the leaders.

“So even in wet conditions, his first time in a prototype, first time in Daytona, first time with Continental tyres, he recovered 33 seconds in 20 laps or something like that.

“He is 18 years old, so that is quite impressive…”

I said much the same a while back. He was the racing driver equivalent of Cream coloured Wallpaper. Inoffensive, but dull and adds little. If he had of stamped his feet more, he might have gone a bit further.

Happy for Norris to come in, but I think it might be too soon. That said, Verstappen didn't do a great deal before entering formula 1, and he's not doing too bad.

[mwillems]

Was there any explanation as to why stoff did nothing in the race

Yes, Stoff.

Ouch!!

Harsh but true I feel. I always argued he should be given a chance. Now he has had it. I definitely think he had the talent to progress, but I suspect he was too nice to really own his space in an F1 team.

There are not many drivers who have done well in F1 whilst being a team player.

[Big Tea]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody knows. Vandoorne hasn't impressed me in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso. Norris won the British F4, Renault NEC 2.0, F3 Euro and Toyota NZ Series on his first attempt. Russell also did GP3 and 2 seasons in F3 Euro. Norris is simply a great, great talent. It seems that everything McLaren and Zak Brown are currently doing is wrong and stupid, a bit cheap to be honest.

“About my team-mates, maybe it’s not a surprise [to me], but for the people that don’t know Lando, it will be a surprise for them,” said the Spaniard. “The things he did were very impressive. The teamwork, the preparation, the focus.

“At night if you look, when we switched to wet tyres for one stint, we were fifth, one minute behind the leader. Then we switched to slick tyres again in damp conditions – all this with Lando driving – and we were 27 seconds behind the leaders.

“So even in wet conditions, his first time in a prototype, first time in Daytona, first time with Continental tyres, he recovered 33 seconds in 20 laps or something like that.

“He is 18 years old, so that is quite impressive…”

I said much the same a while back. He was the racing driver equivalent of Cream coloured Wallpaper. Inoffensive, but dull and adds little. If he had of stamped his feet more, he might have gone a bit further.

Happy for Norris to come in, but I think it might be too soon. That said, Verstappen didn't do a great deal before entering formula 1, and he's not doing too bad.

Had Verstappen joined another team, I think we may well have had a different outcome there too.
He was lucky to be accepted by Red Bull as he fits the profile of their customers.
I don't think he would have had such a good time at Mclaren, especially with Alonso as number 1

[mwillems]

I always love it how people say that Vandoorne is better than Norris. McLaren has more data than anyone in here, if he wasn't quick enough they wouldn't have put him in the car. It's the same for the 2019 chassis, everyone is saying it will be terrible, but it might turn out pretty good, nobody knows. Vandoorne hasn't impressed me in a single race, he looks boring, talks boring and drives boring. He's just too nice for F1 in my opinion, especially against Alonso. Norris won the British F4, Renault NEC 2.0, F3 Euro and Toyota NZ Series on his first attempt. Russell also did GP3 and 2 seasons in F3 Euro. Norris is simply a great, great talent. It seems that everything McLaren and Zak Brown are currently doing is wrong and stupid, a bit cheap to be honest.

I said much the same a while back. He was the racing driver equivalent of Cream coloured Wallpaper. Inoffensive, but dull and adds little. If he had of stamped his feet more, he might have gone a bit further.

Happy for Norris to come in, but I think it might be too soon. That said, Verstappen didn't do a great deal before entering formula 1, and he's not doing too bad.

Had Verstappen joined another team, I think we may well have had a different outcome there too.
He was lucky to be accepted by Red Bull as he fits the profile of their customers.
I don't think he would have had such a good time at Mclaren, especially with Alonso as number 1

Probably not.

But on the Norris and Vandoorne comparisons.... Vandoorne was 22 in his first GP2 season where he finished second. Norris is 18. Russell is currently 20. So Norris has actually achieved more than both at 18. I bought the hype and thought he'd be This year's Leclerc. But he is still doing an immense job and is an amazing prospect.

[diffuser]

John Barnard has also expressed similar sentiments. This is not just a TD job, he's got to rip out and change the culture that has built up there over decades. He's also got to stop the rest of the company thinking they can interfere and impose their working methods on the team.

Think your mixing up his job with Browns. Pretty sure that when he walks in and they handed him the "Keys" people will fall in line. It is a bunch of Engineers after all.

Nope. That is a Technical Director's job, something McLaren has not had for a long time. Brown is in no position to know what's needed and what isn't. Key will tell him and it's up to Brown to deal with the politics.

I understand what you're saying but Goss and Morris are gone. You only have PP left from the old guard.

[diffuser]

Magnussen and Vandoorne didn't work out, now they hope for the third time being luckier. If the car is a pig, Norris will be out the door within 2 years. Hopefully, for his sake, it proves to be more competitive than this year's car.

He's not getting the ax cause the car is slow ...he's getting the ax cause he is slow. I'd like to see Norris in there full time this year. We know Stoffel will not score much between now and the end of the year.