2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Jolle]

Wasn't the case in the BMW and Cosworth era though.

fuel was much more restricted then and Cosworth wasn't tuning their engine to a certain oil or fuel. With BMW they were the works team and had all acces.

So they have a lot of catching up to do. Just like Honda in 2015. Yikes.

Well, that depends on their agreement. The smart thing to do is use Castrol until Petrobas is at least equal on the Dyno. RedBull also has a different oil company then Renault and, because their relationship is breaking down, don't have the acces that they want.
It's a costly operation nevertheless, Renault has to run two programs now, again. One for Castrol and one for Petrobas. Money that isn't going to be invested efficiently.

[ispano6]

Only because Haas failed to capitalize on their performance early in the season. Also thanks to the Force India boys taking each other out.

Vandoorne never had a fair shot against Alonso. Alonso wouldn't allow it. I remember weekends Stoffel would be doing much better than Alonso on Fp1 and Fp2 only for FP3 and quali look the exact opposite in performance, as if the cars had been swapped.

It's natural for McLaren to put more effort for performance in the proven champion's car who can actually score points but it would be nice to see Stoffel match his fellow countrymen Thierry Boutsen's podiums and wins.

Right, McLaren are letting him go cause Alonso wouldn't allow him to drive. You don't think McLaren would know that was happening and evaluate him accordingly? Why would McLaren be loyal to Alonso this year?

Secretly he is the reincarnation of Senna and Mclaren really don't want a good driver.

Not sure why you're bringing up Senna... All I'm saying is Stoffel never really had a fair shot with a car that he could not get himself to tame or flourish his confidence or pace in. He seemed comfortable in the car but never on a knifes edge. Clearly there was merit in relying on the experience and wisdom of JB and Alonso who probably are less likely to be phased and can mentally overcome short comings of the package as they both outperformed Stoffel quite handily. Stoffel might come back a year later with more confidence and with a different team like many drivers before him.

[M840TR]

Norris will again run in Fp1 in Suzuka. Probably in Vandoorne's car.

[charliesmithhd]

Was bored and did this edit. Got me wondering, will the sidepod section of the mcl34 be as complicated as the sf71 h?

[GoranF1]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

[Ground Effect]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

Well, as a tribute to Fernando, maybe you should support his friend and protégé, Carlos. That's obviously whom Fernando will be supporting himself.

[604gtir]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

I started following around the same time as you, and like you a big Alonso fan. But also was a fan of Mika and Mansell.

I like Verstappen's ferocity, he's exciting to watch, just not a fan of his temper. Many people will probably jump all over me, but he's like a young Alonso to me. And i think i will be a fan of his.

Also like Leclerc b/c he's got such a good head on his shoulders. I will support him b/c deep down i want him to be faster than Vettel.

I don't know enough about Norris nor Russell, but i think this new era of drivers will be something special too.

[Big Tea]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

Can you chose who you are a fan of? I cant.
I just realise at some point that I am.

There is no compulsion to be a fan of anyone though. Just watch and wait.
If there is no one jumping out at you, leave it like that.

[Angel]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

Can you chose who you are a fan of? I cant.
I just realise at some point that I am.

There is no compulsion to be a fan of anyone though. Just watch and wait.
If there is no one jumping out at you, leave it like that.

I agree with Big Tea!!
They simply appear in your "heart"...

My F1 story:
I started to be a fan of Piquet... well... I think just because I was Portuguese (and Brazilians are like a brother people to us) and Piquet was a name that had a cool sound. I was just a kid, so, maybe these are not great reasons.
But, in fact, he was a great driver and some of the most spectacular stories and overtakes was on him... one of the most amazing overtakes was him on Senna (can't remember the race).

Growing up... Prost, Mansell and Senna none of them convinced me to change from Piquet. Then there was a time when Pedro Lamy appeared on F1, he was a Portuguese pilot, so you may imagine who I was cheering for.
He was a good pilot, but had some share of bad luck. In this bad luck was the disappearing of Ayrton Senna. They were great friends (so it's told) and Senna was trying to help on the F1 adventure.

Ayrton Senna was one of the greatest pilots (no doubt about that), and a bigger man so they say, however, I didn't like the way he drove. Amazingly one driver got a change to replace an imprisoned Bertrand Gachot and impressed everybody. Of course, I'm speaking of Michael Schumacher...
By the way... even not being a fan of Senna, and his driving, truth is no one can deny his speed and his genius on the wheel... and even today I can remember clearly the day he died.

I was practically Schumacher's fan from his F1 debut in that 7up Jordan. Schumacher despite having some very doubtful moves (from a moral point of view) on the end of some seasons... was (from my point of view) one of the most clean pilots in the track... and very fast, of course.
In 2005 and 2006 Tiago Monteiro (another Portuguese driver) appeared in F1... of course I was pushing for him, but even being a good driver (like many other's - before and after) he didn't had enough support to keep or get a seat and continue.

When Schumacher dropped F1 for the first time, I was not a great fan of Alonso, Vettel, nor Hamilton (maybe because Alonso and Vettel were Schumacher's rival and Hamilton reminded too much of Senna) and Massa was starting to shine. And I still think he could have been a star, have he not lost the title in 2008, in that last race in Brazil, and got injured by that spring on the head, in the year after.
But... I think Alonso started growing on me, when Schumacher returned with Mercedes I was cheering for him, he started bad, but in his 3rd year (last one) he had a better year than Rosberg and maybe the level Mercedes reached was the base of his work? Who knows?

When Alonso and McLaren (and Honda) got together... I was officially his fan.
So, in Alonso's case, I was not his fan from the start (and I was never a great McLaren fan also).


I'll probably also need to search for another one to cheer... but, has stated on the beginning, it will grow on me (and probably on you too).
(sorry for the long post)

[GoranF1]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

Well, as a tribute to Fernando, maybe you should support his friend and protégé, Carlos. That's obviously whom Fernando will be supporting himself.

Nah, i already discounted Sainz...not good enough.

[GoranF1]

Follow F1 since 1990. Been a fan of Senna and Alonso, no one else.
Hard decidion in front of me.
Doubting between Norris, Russel, Leclerk and Verstapen.
Opinions?

Can you chose who you are a fan of? I cant.
I just realise at some point that I am.

There is no compulsion to be a fan of anyone though. Just watch and wait.
If there is no one jumping out at you, leave it like that.

You are probably right..last time(between Senna&Alonso) i also had a looong decidion period, it looks i have similar period ahead again.

[charliesmithhd]

Mclaren 5th and 9th in speed traps.

[Raleigh]

Lando dead last in FP1, Vandoorne dead last in FP2. I'm not trying to bash McLaren's choice but the only reason Lando is going to look better next year is he will be compared to Sainz and not Alonso.

Also, the car might be faster.

[BrunoH]

its hard to watch....

[Squid]

If anyone thought McLaren's tyre choice for the Japanese GP was weird, it's because it wasn't their choice. They literally forgot to submit the request and were allocated a default set of tyres.

By this point it's not even funny anymore, it's just sad.