2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[Edax]

Satan reigns in McLaren!

First time goss and now. Boullier is the next scapegoat!

This sort of head rolling would never happen in Ron's days! What sort of tyrany is this?! Firing the guys who do their job with what you give them?

Of course I have only an outside view on Boulliers performance, but I can understand the move.

Boullier has three tasks:
1) maximize the performance of the team with the package that is brought to track.
2) Feedback from trackside to the factory and help steer development.
3) communication to the outside world.

I think on the first part McLaren has dropped the ball a couple of times. 3 is admittedly not his strongest point. Although it is made harder by having a driver who doubles as press officer.

The second part is harder to judge but something is definately going wrong there.

When you have correlation issues you need to get as much feedback and guidance from the field as you can get. You need a strong person to head trackside operations as it now doubles as racing team and development/test center. More so than in teams which can rely on simulators and what not.

If you want to change that dynamic Boulliers role is one to look at.

[ALO_Power]

So McLaren finally accepted their problems and started to reshuffle their leadership in order to cure them (as everyone was screaming here for years) and now it's Alonso's decision and benefit? Riiiiight, some guys will never change.

[RonDennis]

Satan reigns in McLaren!

First time goss and now. Boullier is the next scapegoat!

This sort of head rolling would never happen in Ron's days! What sort of tyrany is this?! Firing the guys who do their job with what you give them?

Of course I have only an outside view on Boulliers performance, but I can understand the move.

Boullier has three tasks:
1) maximize the performance of the team with the package that is brought to track.
2) Feedback from trackside to the factory and help steer development.
3) communication to the outside world.

I think on the first part McLaren has dropped the ball a couple of times. 3 is admittedly not his strongest point. Although it is made harder by having a driver who doubles as press officer.

The second part is harder to judge but something is definately going wrong there.

When you have correlation issues you need to get as much feedback and guidance from the field as you can get. You need a strong person to head trackside operations as it now doubles as racing team and development/test center. More so than in teams which can rely on simulators and what not.

If you want to change that dynamic Boulliers role is one to look at.

Boullier had been responsible for setting up the technical structure, which had begun to be questioned by McLaren senior management (BBC). Brown also said other changes are upcoming, internal promotions and external signings. So it seems that Brown has decided what needs to change and he's now getting on with it.

[bill shoe]

Boullier has always been stuck with teams that were in quagmires before he started his tenure. Would be interesting to see him slot into a well-performing team that was not in an ongoing crisis. But unlikely to happen.

I suspect Boullier was not the problem at McLaren, but there's something to be said for resigning if you are not satisfied with the team performance and/or your own performance within the team.

Hate to say it, but the seeds of current difficulty were sown during the epic Ron/Max battles over Ferrari barge-boards, spy-gate, lie-gate, etc. Is Max the winner-emeritus?

[adrianjordan]

I found Zak admitting that he consulted Alonso in this very interesting as it would hint at Alonso staying on beyond this season, if not as a driver, then as part of the team in some capacity.

[Big Tea]

I found Zak admitting that he consulted Alonso in this very interesting as it would hint at Alonso staying on beyond this season, if not as a driver, then as part of the team in some capacity.

Or it hints at Zak not knowing what he wants/needs to do about things? Can you imagine any other team boss saying that about any other driver, including Schumacher?

[Zynerji]

Boullier to Haas.

[JPBD1990]

I found Zak admitting that he consulted Alonso in this very interesting as it would hint at Alonso staying on beyond this season, if not as a driver, then as part of the team in some capacity.

Or it hints at Zak not knowing what he wants/needs to do about things? Can you imagine any other team boss saying that about any other driver, including Schumacher?

I think this is absurd and should absolutely be a concern for Mclaren fans. I strongly believe this is why Alonso couldn’t win the championship with Ferrari. He thinks he knows it all, but I don’t think he does. It’s all ME ME ME with Alonso, and I don’t think he knows what’s best but always has an opinion about it.

It’s a shame because I think he is the best (or one of) but clearly something about who/how he is has lead him here and... it’s hard to say it’s a bad thing. He’s made his bed and he’s lying in it.

[skwdenyer]

Re timing:

- start of next year's car - check
- desperate need for sponsors - check
- little chance of major results this year - check
- ZB only recently promoted to overall head - check
- Whitmarsh coming out of the woodwork - check

Zak is commercial. He needs a product to sell. In the absence of a product, he needs to sell hope. Throwing EB under the bus (if it has played out like that) can be a key plank in trying to establish hope for next season. Just as throwing Honda out could have been calculated to achieve the same a year ago.

ZB doesn't seem yet to have closed any significant deals. But I'm sure he will have been able to say "I didn't realise how bad it was out there" and "you wouldn't believe how hard I've had to work just to keep the sponsors we have" and "if only you'd called me 1-2 seasons ago" etc. But that only keeps you going so far...

Indy last year sold hope. IndyCar 2019 was (to me) a hope play (but one that was stupid IMHO). Ditching IndyCar at the same time as ditching EB helps to construct a narrative of re-focussing, and of perhaps only just realising the extent of the problems having trusted those around him to make good on their rhetoric of stellar chassis capabilities, etc...

In the absence of anything else, Zak needs a star driver to sell. Alonso is the only game in town. So Alonso must be placated as far as is possible.

Zak is not just selling to potential sponsors; as EB has said, he needs to keep talent in the team, and he needs to persuade the shareholders to dig deep to keep funding yet another season of uncertainty. And no doubt Zak would like to keep his job, too...

The problem is, what next? Is there enough depth in the team to deliver a decent car? These shenanigans can only keep going for so long before the lack of delivery starts to interfere with the message of hope.

Lest it be suggested otherwise, I don't doubt that ZB is an earnest guy with a soft spot for McLaren. At the same time, salespeople have not always flourished running F1 teams.

Right now, I'm afraid that I don't fully see where the solution lies.

[GoranF1]

According to many on this thread, this Boulier axe should mean pole position in UK.

[Edax]

Boullier has always been stuck with teams that were in quagmires before he started his tenure. Would be interesting to see him slot into a well-performing team that was not in an ongoing crisis. But unlikely to happen.

I suspect Boullier was not the problem at McLaren, but there's something to be said for resigning if you are not satisfied with the team performance and/or your own performance within the team.

The question is not whether he is the problem a Mclaren. “Not causing problems” would be at the utter low end of his job description. In this kind of function you need to deliver solutions. And if you want that year end bonus you need to deliver miracles. It is a tough world .

[Jolle]

I can also very well imagine EB was finally fed up with twisting none responsible attitude of the senior management.

It’s a company run by a marketing sales person. A guy who sells exposure. And looking at a very clean McLaren, without real progress.

EB is an engineer and knows how to run a racing team, but I don’t think they gave him the proper tools.

[Big Tea]

Just read Jo Seward's take on it, and it includes ~

The resignation is entirely believable because Boullier has been frustrated for some time at not being allowed to get on and run the team as he wanted to, rather than having to answer to different directors and shareholders

Jo usually seems to know what is going on.

[Zynerji]

According to many on this thread, this Boulier axe should mean pole position in UK.

Nobody works for an arrogant boss, they only work in spite of them.

Let's see how quickly the underappreciated workers at McLaren rise now that EB's arrogance isn't stifling them.

[Jolle]

Just read Jo Seward's take on it, and it includes ~

The resignation is entirely believable because Boullier has been frustrated for some time at not being allowed to get on and run the team as he wanted to, rather than having to answer to different directors and shareholders

Jo usually seems to know what is going on.

Looking at the Driven documentry and the personalities, this would be my take as well. If so, this means they will put the way down in overdrive. Real shame