2019 Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[godlameroso]

Sainz has been doing ok, he's had bad luck, his clash with Verstappen could have been avoided, but hindsight is 20/20. He has pace and can bring the car home if the stars align.

[Jackles-UK]

Sainz has been doing ok, he's had bad luck, his clash with Verstappen could have been avoided, but hindsight is 20/20. He has pace and can bring the car home if the stars align.

I agree. Melbourne he had an engine fire, Bahrain there was the 50:50 clash with Verstappen when running genuinely at the pace of the Red Bull, Baku he was easily fast enough for Q3 to start ahead of Pérez but his lap was ruined by KMag bringing out the yellow flag and in Spain he managed to bring a car home in 8th that was probably only good enough for 10th-12th. The less said about China the better for the whole team!

He’s not been perfect but to say that Carlos (or Lando for that matter) has been a major detracting factor is a bit unfair.

[diffuser]

https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff
Fantastic story. Incredible comedy of errors but I like Zak's attitude

I am speachless.... This is how Ferrari was run trough the eighties not the mighty McLaren with eye for detail. You could laugh about it, but this is pathetic. McLaren is no more. amateurs.

Pretty sure that has nothing to do with McLaren. It just the paint. The rest is just a funded project.

[mwillems]

Not saying either has been a .major detracting factor.

I'm just saying that neither is a top drawer driver. Sainz has been ok. But all teams above us have one or more exceptional drivers and at this point we have none.

It's easy to improve the car and keep looking at the car for more speed, but we need a consistent amount of high level performances from one of our guys.

For me our drivers are on a par, with Lando ahead on points and 3-2 up against Sainz in Qualifying.

Sainz had bad luck.in Australia and Kvyat was unfortunate, but Sainz has not been a revelation and personally I'm expecting more from him and want him to go up a level. Norris is a great Rookie, but not Hamilton Standards and Sainz should be pushing on this year.

[geogate]

Pretty sure that has nothing to do with McLaren. It just the paint. The rest is just a funded project.

It was mostly a funded project - somewhat more under their own control than the Andretti deal though. In that respect, it was down to Zak. Lets hope he lives and learns

[Ground Effect]

Not saying either has been a .major detracting factor.

I'm just saying that neither is a top drawer driver. Sainz has been ok. But all teams above us have one or more exceptional drivers and at this point we have none.

It's easy to improve the car and keep looking at the car for more speed, but we need a consistent amount of high level performances from one of our guys.

For me our drivers are on a par, with Lando ahead on points and 3-2 up against Sainz in Qualifying.

Sainz had bad luck.in Australia and Kvyat was unfortunate, but Sainz has not been a revelation and personally I'm expecting more from him and want him to go up a level. Norris is a great Rookie, but not Hamilton Standards and Sainz should be pushing on this year.

The thing is, you shouldn’t be looking at the teams above us at the moment or even comparing drivers. We’re not in the same league as the top 3, not merely because of our drivers, but because of the car. You should compare our drivers with other drivers we’re racing against. After Nico and Ricciardo, I dare say we have the next strongest in the midfield. Toro Rosso? Sainz rinsed Kvyat as team mates, while Albon, as impressive as he’s been tends to go missing in the races, hasn’t made it to Q3 yet, hasn’t even out qualified Lando yet. RP? For all Checo’s abilities, Stroll brings it crashing down. Haas? Their drivers can’t even stay out of each other’s way. I think the driver front is the least of our worries.

[mwillems]

Not saying either has been a .major detracting factor.

I'm just saying that neither is a top drawer driver. Sainz has been ok. But all teams above us have one or more exceptional drivers and at this point we have none.

It's easy to improve the car and keep looking at the car for more speed, but we need a consistent amount of high level performances from one of our guys.

For me our drivers are on a par, with Lando ahead on points and 3-2 up against Sainz in Qualifying.

Sainz had bad luck.in Australia and Kvyat was unfortunate, but Sainz has not been a revelation and personally I'm expecting more from him and want him to go up a level. Norris is a great Rookie, but not Hamilton Standards and Sainz should be pushing on this year.

The thing is, you shouldn’t be looking at the teams above us at the moment or even comparing drivers. We’re not in the same league as the top 3, not merely because of our drivers, but because of the car. You should compare our drivers with other drivers we’re racing against. After Nico and Ricciardo, I dare say we have the next strongest in the midfield. Toro Rosso? Sainz rinsed Kvyat as team mates, while Albon, as impressive as he’s been tends to go missing in the races, hasn’t made it to Q3 yet, hasn’t even out qualified Lando yet. RP? For all Checo’s abilities, Stroll brings it crashing down. Haas? Their drivers can’t even stay out of each other’s way. I think the driver front is the least of our worries.

I'm not saying it is the biggest worry, all I'm saying is we are targeting fighting and targeting to be the third best team, at least that is the way some of the conversation is going in here, but there is a bit of a gap in driver quality between us and those above us, it isn't just the car.

[RonDennis]

https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff
Fantastic story. Incredible comedy of errors but I like Zak's attitude

Damn...

[Thunder]

Ok feel free to make a new Post about the Indy Car shenanigans in the "other racing Series" Section of the Forum, but this Thread is about the F1 Team. Please stay on Topic.

[Ground Effect]

Not saying either has been a .major detracting factor.

I'm just saying that neither is a top drawer driver. Sainz has been ok. But all teams above us have one or more exceptional drivers and at this point we have none.

It's easy to improve the car and keep looking at the car for more speed, but we need a consistent amount of high level performances from one of our guys.

For me our drivers are on a par, with Lando ahead on points and 3-2 up against Sainz in Qualifying.

Sainz had bad luck.in Australia and Kvyat was unfortunate, but Sainz has not been a revelation and personally I'm expecting more from him and want him to go up a level. Norris is a great Rookie, but not Hamilton Standards and Sainz should be pushing on this year.

The thing is, you shouldn’t be looking at the teams above us at the moment or even comparing drivers. We’re not in the same league as the top 3, not merely because of our drivers, but because of the car. You should compare our drivers with other drivers we’re racing against. After Nico and Ricciardo, I dare say we have the next strongest in the midfield. Toro Rosso? Sainz rinsed Kvyat as team mates, while Albon, as impressive as he’s been tends to go missing in the races, hasn’t made it to Q3 yet, hasn’t even out qualified Lando yet. RP? For all Checo’s abilities, Stroll brings it crashing down. Haas? Their drivers can’t even stay out of each other’s way. I think the driver front is the least of our worries.

I'm not saying it is the biggest worry, all I'm saying is we are targeting fighting and targeting to be the third best team, at least that is the way some of the conversation is going in here, but there is a bit of a gap in driver quality between us and those above us, it isn't just the car.

I think most people will agree 3rd is a bridge way too far, the team will know that. Carlos said as much before the season started, that where ever they start the season, the target is to be P4 by the end. Don’t underestimate the drivers, bear in mind that the midfield is so tight, they don’t have any real buffer over any team, except Williams. I believe they’re extracting close to the Max out of the cars. Carlos showed his quality after the safety car, before that, he held his nerve most of the time in a car handling badly against Ricciardo, who was in the quicker car on the day. The drivers will improve, I don’t think we should worry about them.

[mwillems]

The thing is, you shouldn’t be looking at the teams above us at the moment or even comparing drivers. We’re not in the same league as the top 3, not merely because of our drivers, but because of the car. You should compare our drivers with other drivers we’re racing against. After Nico and Ricciardo, I dare say we have the next strongest in the midfield. Toro Rosso? Sainz rinsed Kvyat as team mates, while Albon, as impressive as he’s been tends to go missing in the races, hasn’t made it to Q3 yet, hasn’t even out qualified Lando yet. RP? For all Checo’s abilities, Stroll brings it crashing down. Haas? Their drivers can’t even stay out of each other’s way. I think the driver front is the least of our worries.

I'm not saying it is the biggest worry, all I'm saying is we are targeting fighting and targeting to be the third best team, at least that is the way some of the conversation is going in here, but there is a bit of a gap in driver quality between us and those above us, it isn't just the car.

I think most people will agree 3rd is a bridge way too far, the team will know that. Carlos said as much before the season started, that where ever they start the season, the target is to be P4 by the end. Don’t underestimate the drivers, bear in mind that the midfield is so tight, they don’t have any real buffer over any team, except Williams. I believe they’re extracting close to the Max out of the cars. Carlos showed his quality after the safety car, before that, he held his nerve most of the time in a car handling badly against Ricciardo, who was in the quicker car on the day. The drivers will improve, I don’t think we should worry about them.

No I don't think we need to worry about them. But if we ever want to go for third, they are probably not the right driver line up.

As for this year, Sainz has done well in some situations and poorly in others. Against Verstappen it was an error of judgement, times when he has not quite put the lap together as well as getting beaten by his Rookie teammate on merit.

I'm not worried about him in terms of this season, but I think his season so far has been below what I expect or want from him and I hope he can push on, because if he can then yes, we actually could get very close to Red Bull.

But that's just my personal view.

[Nivedanm]

I beg to differ. Sainz has done admirably well when there was no reliability issues or when he was forced to retire. Though he is not Alonso, he is still a talented but underrated driver. He has the right platform and he is proving himself worthy imo. It is Norris who needs to improve. He either loses positions or keeps running wide in first lap most of the time; he needs to have good first laps.

I'm not saying it is the biggest worry, all I'm saying is we are targeting fighting and targeting to be the third best team, at least that is the way some of the conversation is going in here, but there is a bit of a gap in driver quality between us and those above us, it isn't just the car.

I think most people will agree 3rd is a bridge way too far, the team will know that. Carlos said as much before the season started, that where ever they start the season, the target is to be P4 by the end. Don’t underestimate the drivers, bear in mind that the midfield is so tight, they don’t have any real buffer over any team, except Williams. I believe they’re extracting close to the Max out of the cars. Carlos showed his quality after the safety car, before that, he held his nerve most of the time in a car handling badly against Ricciardo, who was in the quicker car on the day. The drivers will improve, I don’t think we should worry about them.

No I don't think we need to worry about them. But if we ever want to go for third, they are probably not the right driver line up.

As for this year, Sainz has done well in some situations and poorly in others. Against Verstappen it was an error of judgement, times when he has not quite put the lap together as well as getting beaten by his Rookie teammate on merit.

I'm not worried about him in terms of this season, but I think his season so far has been below what I expect or want from him and I hope he can push on, because if he can then yes, we actually could get very close to Red Bull.

But that's just my personal view.

[PhillipM]

Norris just needs the experience to pick where he's going at the start, that's the only place that's really hurting him at the minute but that will come with time. Sainz has been fast but unlucky tbh.

[diffuser]

Norris just needs the experience to pick where he's going at the start, that's the only place that's really hurting him at the minute but that will come with time. Sainz has been fast but unlucky tbh.

Likely but I would not say that Norris is a "sure thing" yet.

[_cerber1]