Mclaren-Honda MP4-30 *** 2015 Launch Thread

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Jono8 said:
This comment just about sums it up:

"The resounding thud of uninspired disappointment……yawn. What a let down. Shouldn’t be surprised though its what you’d expect from the unimaginative corporate antiseptic world of McLaren."
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Yep, what I have been saying for years. Even if they have a driver with personality they stamp it out of them and they only come alive when they leave.

You might as well dress the zombies up from the walking dead in grey and slap on a headset.
 
Jono8 said:
This comment just about sums it up:

"The resounding thud of uninspired disappointment……yawn. What a let down. Shouldn’t be surprised though its what you’d expect from the unimaginative corporate antiseptic world of McLaren."
Click to expand...

Spot on.

They have new staff, a new engine, a new driver, Ron's back in charge, they were perfectly poised to come out with an entirely new image for this new era... and they bottled it. :(
 
As I saw Ted say on Twitter earlier - there's still time to change it... wouldn't be surprised if it is, probably due to fan reaction more than anything internal.
 
I think McLaren are managing expectations.
Their interviews are making it clear that this year is a learning year and nothing more.
Honda are far behind all other engine suppliers, so this in itself, is going to create a problem.

Even if McLaren have the best aero this year, the underdeveloped engine is likely to cause problems. And this is all before we factor in that rival engine suppliers are permitted to develop in-season. [has this been resolved?]

Honda should've been brought on board last Summer and if needed, they could've ran a different engine in every race (taking a grid penalty), while working on reliability. At least this would've meant that they started this season on an (almost) even keel.

Anyway, the first test should give us an insight of where the performance lies, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
 
They still need the prize money and no sponsor is going to want their name on a car that isn't going to be successful because the team are using it as a testing period.
 
smr said:
As I saw Ted say on Twitter earlier - there's still time to change it... wouldn't be surprised if it is, probably due to fan reaction more than anything internal.
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Hopefully, after all they are paired with Honda an equal dull run of the mill marque (we own a honda). Even when Honda were in F1 last time their people in the paddock were equally as robotic. Like ants following a path and not deviating. Which is fine if it was working but it wasn't.

I still maintain Honda have paired themselves with the wrong team, they need to break away from the perception of being cars for old people. They really should have gone to Red Bull. Red Bull could have benefited from being a customer team and Honda could have benefited from being paired with a younger more fun brand.

Even I can't cheer for Alonso next year driving for such filth :D
 
sunama said:
Honda should've been brought on board last Summer and if needed, they could've ran a different engine in every race (taking a grid penalty), while working on reliability. At least this would've meant that they started this season on an (almost) even keel.
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LOLWUT.

A little contract with Mercedes may have been an issue. Also the slight matter of several million dollars in prize money being lost by not staying ahead of FI in the constructors championship.
 
I would be very surprised if Mclaren had the best aero this year, I'd say there was more chance(though very tiny chance) that the engine may have some mind blowing unmatchable feature/efficiency/power than them suddenly blowing past two teams who have brilliant aero packages. Ultimately they were miles off last year and aero is a series of changes and tests. Change the front wing, rear doesn't work as well, tune the rear, front needs changing, it's a series of steps where you hone in on something that works great.

Merc say aero/general ideas didn't change much between 2013/14, they started nailing aero in 2013 but needed to match that to suspension, understanding the tires, engines, brakes which they completed in 2014.

Mclaren will I think very much need to go through a series of improvements before they even come close to being in the same ballpark as Merc/RBR in aero terms.

But then the engine comes into it, if it overheats and they need to open it up more to improve reliability issues, they've got to start somewhat conservatively and I think significantly larger sidepods amongst other things point to that. Almost everyone at Merc will talk about how this team of people took 2-4 years to put together, was effectively in place for mid 2012, was building a car for 2013 and made a finished product in 2014. I don't think you can replace a guy midseason, bring in a new aero guy in September and have a competitive really anything by Feb/March, well feb/march 2016 is not a bad target, 2015, i'd be shocked if they did so.

As for the livery, I hope at the very least the red wing mirrors go, before testing if not the start of the season. I don't know, might look better out on track, the dark black around the rear of the car makes most of the detail barely visible, in sunlight it might have a bit more shape and feel to it. But black just seems, boring, well with very little in the way of other stripes of colour to highlight the contours in the area it's very dull.
 
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