McLaren having an off year?

[pinniped]

I know its too early to tell, but doesn't it seem that McLaren is having some problems during the offseason? The MP4-19 is almost never fast, not even compared to the Saubers and Jordans etc...They say they are planning a mid season spec car, and I bet the reason for that is their lack of pace with the new one. I also have read Kimi isn't happy with the team's ability to set up the new car...doesn't look good for them at least at the beginning of the year....

[ferrarigod]

Schuey has said he doesn't think McLaren will be a threat, and that that is sad. I mean they only had a year and 2 different cars to work with, and now they want a new 100% change mid-season. :shakehead With their resources and all they should be miles ahead this year with a whole year testing the MP4-18D and 19. Highly disappointing. I see Williams in Ralf as more of a threat, then Kimi, but not Renault yet, new engine design, with new rules might be a tragedy.

McLaren is either sadbagging or in the doldrums, as for Renault, they might have a few races b/c of the Michelins, but I can't see them in the long haul with that engine, this season is 18 races afterall, we shall see in the end who got it right.

Here comes Schuey's 7th :thumbup:

-Patrick :D

[Insomniac]

Ferrari's cars are usually better, but as long as they continue to run those Bridgestones, others have a chance IMO. McLaren had a great year last year, even without rolling out their new car. If they continue in that direction, I don't see why they'll have an off year. I guess we'll see soon enough.

[Railbird]

Considering McLaren's test results have been horrid lately and looking back at last year's failed design one has to wonder if Jauncho's decision to bolt Williams is wise.

[eiregosod]

what baffles me is that Mclaren pieced together a reasonable championship winning car in 2003, sure they lacked the outright pace altogether. One would think that this years car , which would have been last year's car (in many ways) is not upto speed. My guess is that they lost valuable experience in racing their best car last year .

I hope they can sort out their troubles, I would really like to see a five-some fighting for race wins!

[Ankf00]

the ironic bit is w/o kimi's engine fart at nurburgring, kimi's the 2003 champ, and no one's talking about how mclaren's about to blow it again.

[eiregosod]

the ironic bit is w/o kimi's engine fart at nurburgring, kimi's the 2003 champ, and no one's talking about how mclaren's about to blow it again.

Also if Jordan didn't successfully appeal their Brazil race result.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Good bet Juan has a #10 painted on his challenger next year. BAR and Renault are bringin' it this year.

:redparty: :o

[Brickman]

Testing is one thing, racing another.

Should be a good battle for #2. ;)

[Joe in LA]

Considering McLaren's test results have been horrid lately and looking back at last year's failed design one has to wonder if Jauncho's decision to bolt Williams is wise.

I can't think of any driver who improved his career by leaving Williams voluntarily. Rosberg to McLaren-nope; Piquet to Lotus-nope; Mansell to Ferrari-nope, Villeneuve to BAR-nope.

[Dirty Sanchez]

From out of the frying pan and into the fire. All the things he doesn't like at Williams will likely be worse at McLaren, imo.

Gotta love Patrick Head, btw. :thumbup:

------------------------------------------------------------
Head: French GP Row Triggered Montoya Move
Thursday February 12th, 2004
By Alan Baldwin

Juan Pablo Montoya decided to quit Williams after an extraordinary row with the team at last year's French Grand Prix, technical director Patrick Head said on Thursday.

Revealing the full extent of the bust-up, Head told reporters at the Williams factory how the Colombian, who joins rivals McLaren at the end of the season, lost his cool in the Magny-Cours race on July 6.

He said Montoya launched a tirade of abuse at team members over the car radio for 10 minutes before sulking and then slowing down. He was then reprimanded at a meeting on the following Wednesday.

"I think Juan was not impressed at having his knuckles rapped and I know the decision to sign with McLaren was taken within a few days of that," added Head.

The row was triggered by a pitstop when Montoya, chasing teammate Ralf Schumacher, thought the German had been given preferential treatment.

"Juan incorrectly thought that we had notified Ralf of his actions and called Ralf in one lap early. So he was pretty strong on the radio abusing the team verbally for the next 10 minutes," he said.

"And then I think he went into a bit of a sulk and backed off and cruised to the end of the race and maybe finished 15 or 20 seconds behind Ralf. In fact as it happened in that last bit of the race, Ralf made a bit of an error and slipped wide. Had Juan been on his tail he probably could have taken advantage of it."

Ralf, Ferrari World Champion Michael's younger brother, won the race from pole position in a Williams one-two for his second successive victory.

"Verbally abusing the team continuously on the radio we didn't think was appropriate when the guys had worked their nuts off on the car and done some fantastic pitstops," said Head.

"Juan didn't like that very much. We did talk about it. We thought we couldn't have a situation where he pretty much accused everyone in the team from top to bottom of being incompetent twice."

Certain Incidents

Montoya admitted at the launch of the new Williams last month that he had disagreements with the team and that there had been certain incidents. The fact that he was paid less also grated, although Montoya said he had not decided to move for the money.

Head, who praised Montoya as a future champion with superlative driving skills, said the Colombian had never found it easy to finish behind his teammate.

"Finishing second behind his teammate does not make him a happy lad," he said. "Juan is a passionate character and by virtue of that he sometimes makes impulsive decisions and comes to impulsive conclusions. He's probably not perfect but I expect he will win championships in his time."

Team boss Frank Williams said he was sorry to lose the Colombian who won twice last year and challenged for the title until the penultimate round.

"He's a great talent and we're sad to see him go," he said.

[ferrarigod]

the ironic bit is w/o kimi's engine fart at nurburgring, kimi's the 2003 champ, and no one's talking about how mclaren's about to blow it again.

Thats like saying if Schuey's Potenza hadn't blown at Hockenheim nobody would be talking about someone unseating him this year :rolleyes:

McLaren wasn't a constant contender, even with the new joke of a points system they lost, can't asy much more then that.

[eiregosod]

Thats like saying if Schuey's Potenza hadn't blown at Hockenheim nobody would be talking about someone unseating him this year :rolleyes:

McLaren wasn't a constant contender, even with the new joke of a points system they lost, can't asy much more then that.

Well ferrari skipped a pit stop, in the seering heat that day; the tyre didn't hold up! bad call by schumi et al. that day :p

[Cam]

GGGGGRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

[ferrarigod]

Well ferrari skipped a pit stop, in the seering heat that day; the tyre didn't hold up! bad call by schumi et al. that day :p

Ok how about the river at brazil, had any cars not crashed there there would have been 5 more finishers and Schuey would have won :)

p.s. Hello Cam :thumbup:

[Ankf00]

Ok how about the river at brazil, had any cars not crashed there there would have been 5 more finishers and Schuey would have won :)

p.s. Hello Cam :thumbup:

like any of it matters
it's one circumstance, an event, singular, chance, bad luck, not everyone's out to slander Kaiser Schuey

[ferrarigod]

like any of it matters
it's one circumstance, an event, singular, chance, bad luck, not everyone's out to slander Kaiser Schuey

all of this was my original point, things didn't happen that way, and without the points change Kimi wouldn't even have been as close as he was driving a year old McLaren.

At any rate I think it would be Chancellor Schuey :)

[Cam]

Maybe NOT! (http://www.itv-f1.com/news/news_story/19826) :cool:

[Hard Driver]

Maybe NOT! (http://www.itv-f1.com/news/news_story/19826) :cool:

Jaguar faster than Williams! :eek:

Kimi new lap record! :eek:

Melbourne will be interesting!

[Ankf00]

Maybe NOT! (http://www.itv-f1.com/news/news_story/19826) :cool:

so much for Herr Schuey's proclamation regarding the silver arrow :rofl:

the jag bit is cool though, go jag! :D

[Chaos]

Jaguar faster than Williams! :eek:

Kimi new lap record! :eek:

Melbourne will be interesting!

you gotta love the F1 testing silly season :p

[Dirty Sanchez]

Maybe NOT! (http://www.itv-f1.com/news/news_story/19826) :cool:Maybe SO! :p

Raikkonen needs more power

McLaren's new MP4-19 racer needs more power and more reliability.

That was the distinctly downcast appraisal of runner-up champion Kimi Raikkonen on Thursday as he mused on disappointing test-results of the pre-season period.

He told Autosport: 'I guess we need more horsepower but it is not so easy to find. I'm sure we are not on the level of BMW (Williams) or some others.

'First we have to try to get [the car] to be reliable.'

RELIABILITY PROBLEMS

Analysts predict the main problems as on the new Mercedes-Benz V10 powerplant, which has been 'turned down' in a last-ditch bid to get it to last the distance.

New rules in 2004 require that just one-engine (per car) be used all weekend.

Raikkonen, 24, and team-mate veteran David Coulthard didn't impress the pace at a recent Barcelona session but Kimi reckons McLaren knows what the problem is.

'So hopefully we can improve,' he added. 'There is still work to do on the car but at least it seems to be more reliable now. Now it's just the speed.'

Poor reliability has had an adverse affect on car-development, said Kimi.

He concluded: 'They say a solution (to the engine problems) are coming. For most of the problems there are solutions - it's just that fixing it takes time.'