2017 Mclaren F1 Team - Honda

[Soichiro]

P7 & P8 on the first practise in Hungary, lest stay that way till Qually!

Yeah. This is 4th fastest position. very good to see stoffel also find right path. İf he keeps going this way he could be good in 2018.
I hope both can save this in qual but if they can't I believe they both can finish in points when we look cars performance.

Stoffel did well considering the time (+0.018 to Alonso):

1 Ricciardo 1m18.486s
2 Raikkonen +0.234s
3 Hamilton +0.372s
4 Verstappen +0.676s
5 Bottas +0.762s
6 Vettel +1.077s
7 Alonso +1.501s
8 Vandoorne +1.519s
9 Hulkenberg +1.664s
10 Palmer +1.975s

[Sayeman]

Ben anderson from trackside - "The McLaren-Honda gear changes sound noticeably smoother now than early in the season, so it seems there's been some serious progress there."

[godlameroso]

We'll just have to wait and see what becomes of the Honda PU, I still see them making a nice step forward before the end of the year. It sucks that they can't get their act together yesterday, but that's how these things are some times.

What happened yesterday ??

It's an expression, I want this done yesterday, as in it's taking a long time.

[TAG]

Now that the Sauber deal is officially cancelled, what does that mean to McLaren? Because the way I see it, they are stuck with Honda...

I think this is a two fold question, because it involves both the PU deal and the driver deal. here are the facts as I see them:

-Honda wants/ed Alonso
-Alonso only wants a team that can facilitate him a championship, the PU in the back is irrelevant
-McLaren want to get out from the midfield and the only way to do that is with a healthy Honda
...since no other engine vendor has/would agree to power them they're stuck with Honda

We can draw conclusions for there. This is where I am.

-For Alonso, the choices are stay where he is or move to Renault. We can be pretty sure that Mercedes and Ferrari will not have him. (for different reasons)

-For McLaren, they're stuck with Honda until 2021 they made their bed. Perhaps the silver lining is going their own PU route for 2021.

-For Honda, they clean up their mess until they can win races, then decide to stay or go in 2021 or leave before that with this being labeled as one of the biggest failures in the history of motorsports (Toyota would be very happy about that)

not sure what else to add.

[Phil]

I don't know... if I was McLaren, I'd be quite cautious about losing Honda. They're investing too much into McLaren, even as a result of them not performing and therefore losing sponsorships, Honda is effectively balancing that out.

If Honda is pushed out of F1 because they can't get a performing engine and their sole partner is humiliating them race after race (though it has gotten better) and McLaren can't get an engine by Mercedes and Ferrari.... would a Renault engine be better if it meant losing all that money from Honda?

[Redragon]

Ben anderson from trackside - "The McLaren-Honda gear changes sound noticeably smoother now than early in the season, so it seems there's been some serious progress there."

Probably he knows the real value in HP of that improve. Sarcasm obviously!

[godlameroso]

Speaking of, the McLaren's long run pace is disappointing. Alonso was doing 1:24's where the Ferrari could do high 21's

Alonso heavy fuel run:
22 1:23.689
23 1:23.739
24 1:24.097
25 1:24.647
26 1:24.012
27 1:24.151
28 1:24.214

Ocon heavy fuel run:
25 1:23.522
26 1:23.927
27 1:23.910
28 1:24.017
29 1:23.959
30 1:24.091
31 1:24.020
32 1:25.099
At least the pace is comparable to FI, but far beneath Ferrari

Vettel heavy fuel run:
19 1:22.101
20 1:22.082
21 1:23.787
22 1:21.979
23 1:22.009
24 1:22.588
25 1:22.304
26 1:22.454

[diffuser]

They were testing parts or atleast Alonso was.

[proteus]

I don't know... if I was McLaren, I'd be quite cautious about losing Honda. They're investing too much into McLaren, even as a result of them not performing and therefore losing sponsorships, Honda is effectively balancing that out.

If Honda is pushed out of F1 because they can't get a performing engine and their sole partner is humiliating them race after race (though it has gotten better) and McLaren can't get an engine by Mercedes and Ferrari.... would a Renault engine be better if it meant losing all that money from Honda?

What can u expect. In maiden season the team was dead last - dont count the Manor because they were only for statistics in that season, in 2016 glimpses of progress were seen (but Haas was a rookie team, Renault was deemed to be uncompetitive), and here we are - a brand new season, a brand new engine and a brand new last spot in the standings.

[Stormy]

Honda said that they are going to continue developing this concept they currently have. Previously they abandoned the concept and started from scratch. Now, they say that they got a good basis to develop. So let's see, i think it's their last chance. If they are not solid midfield next year, they are probably going to pull out. However, from 2021, new engine regulations, more simpler, cheaper and easier to develop i guess. So, another good chance for them to save some face.

[makecry]

Honda said that they are going to continue developing this concept they currently have. Previously they abandoned the concept and started from scratch. Now, they say that they got a good basis to develop. So let's see, i think it's their last chance. If they are not solid midfield next year, they are probably going to pull out. However, from 2021, new engine regulations, more simpler, cheaper and easier to develop i guess. So, another good chance for them to save some face.

The current proposed regulation for 2021 will still have a lot of ideas carried over, mainly the ICE.

[GoranF1]

Speaking of, the McLaren's long run pace is disappointing. Alonso was doing 1:24's where the Ferrari could do high 21's

Alonso heavy fuel run:
22 1:23.689
23 1:23.739
24 1:24.097
25 1:24.647
26 1:24.012
27 1:24.151
28 1:24.214

Ocon heavy fuel run:
25 1:23.522
26 1:23.927
27 1:23.910
28 1:24.017
29 1:23.959
30 1:24.091
31 1:24.020
32 1:25.099
At least the pace is comparable to FI, but far beneath Ferrari

Vettel heavy fuel run:
19 1:22.101
20 1:22.082
21 1:23.787
22 1:21.979
23 1:22.009
24 1:22.588
25 1:22.304
26 1:22.454

Yes but for some reason in the last few races Mclaren race pace was better than it looked in FP.

[godlameroso]

Then that's very good as the FI's will be McLaren's biggest competition this weekend.

[GoranF1]

Then that's very good as the FI's will be McLaren's biggest competition this weekend.

Problem is TR, Renault, FI and Williams will have more power in Q.

[Stormy]

Then that's very good as the FI's will be McLaren's biggest competition this weekend.

Problem is TR, Renault, FI and Williams will have more power in Q.

Yeah but Hungary is an aero dependent track and not PU. A set-up similar to Monaco. So they got a chance considering they brought some aero upgrades as well. It's pretty possible to finish 7-8 here.