Biggest joke in racing

[NAZCA C2]

Mclaren are definately the biggest joke in the racing world this year. At their home race they manage to blow both of their cars engines in front of all their fans. I know every team has good and bad years but this is beyond bad. Even 2 years ago Mclaren was having a bad year and DC was at least able to win at Monaco. There is no excuse for being as terrible as Mclaren is this year. They are one of the top $$$ spending teams and all they can buy is engines that blow up every practice, qualifying, and race session and a chassis that sucks. Teams expect their drivers to get the maximum from the car but the suits don't do the same in return. If you have a driver like Kimi you have to give him a good car to compete with. Mclaren will be back strong and in winning form hopefully sooner rather than later.

[cp01ae]

Ah Mercedes McLaren, that really was a sad race for them today. Kudos to Kimi for putting that thing so far up the grid in qualifying. But he was 2 seconds slower per lap then Sato, Barrichello et al before he blew the lump. The word on the street is that McLaren are going to be testing the new car this week, hopefully Ilmor (Mercedes contractor that bulids their race engines)will ba able to build an engine that can last a race and provide decent power. (it's still not gonna be near the Ferrari or Honda engines) Anyways, I'm not a fan of McLaren, so I don't mind if my team keeps winning. I kinda like seeing Honda on top too.

[Homem de Gelo]

It's not McLaren, it's Mercedes. Kimi lap in qualifying showed how the car is fast. His terrible race pace and yet another engine failure demonstrated how the engine is weak and fragile.

[cp01ae]

You can't say it's just Mercedes, they wouldn't be designing a new car mid-season if the chassis was competetive. He could have had a lucky lap, or he might have been really light on fuel, probably because they wanted Kimi and David to be on different strategies in order to maximize the potential that one would work out.

[Homem de Gelo]

One of the reasons ther're designing a new car is because their Mercedes engine vibrates too much and upsets the chassis, and also because it's simply too big to properly work in the MP4-19. They already raced with a revised undertray that gave the car a better balance this weekend, now they just need an engine that can produce decent power for an entire race, and not a lap only.

At least from what I've read and seen, I beleive the engine is the core of the problems. And, while the engine doesn't work properly, only a perfect chassis would help them become regular podium contenders.

[cp01ae]

That's what i've heard too, but some sources also report that the balance isn't very good on the car, and that could be due to suspension, weight distribution, aerodynamics or any combination of those factors and probaby anything else that could affect it.

[Matra et Alpine]

The only saving grace for McLaren was the Honda letting go was more spectacular


For the morbidly curious, attached is a photo taken at the Autosport Show of the M-B Ilmor engine. Without holes in it

[fpv_gtho]

Those engines really do blow alot of smoke when they let go though. I guess thats the high amount of revs theyre capable of that does that.

[RedWingsFanG]

Even as a Ferrari Fan it's sad to see the McLaren go down so often. There were so many good battles during the years with Ron Dennis and his team - not only with Hakkinen and Coulthard but as well in the past, just remember Prost in his Ferrari and Senna in the McLaren, when he "crashed" Prost out to clich the title in 1990.
Kimi is a good driver, and he deserves something better - for sure. I still ask myself what exactly they tested all the time. They had their car ready for action very early, and during the tests, I can't remember them having so much trouble.
At the moment they are slow (even though there are some signs of an up trend) and not reliable at all. I have read that they test the MP4-19B version this week in Silverstone and hope to improve with the "new" car. But what about the reliability then
As a Ferrari Fan I still remember the "sad" years without any title and the mid-90s, in which Ferrari wasn't competitive at all. Just remember 1996, when Ferrari had Schumacher, Todt, Barnard etc. Their cars broke down almost every race. They didn't panic at all, instead they came back even stronger. I am sure that McLaren can do it as well.
If that's good for Ferrari, that's another question

BTW, I saw Ralf Schumacher in the TV, and he said in an interview that BMW-Williams will easily win some races this year At the moment they are behind BAR and Renault...Don't know how they want to improve so much, and Ralf always has a big mouth - just remember what he said at the beginning of the year, about him and the title.

[cp01ae]

Yeah, it doesn't much matter what Ralf says anymore since he won't be there next year. But he sure loves to talk alot, he should take a lesson from his brother and keep quiet unless they are on top.

[RedWingsFanG]

Yeah, it doesn't much matter what Ralf says anymore since he won't be there next year. But he sure loves to talk alot, he should take a lesson from his brother and keep quiet unless they are on top.

Exactly what I think,too!

[bk4uyeah]

They need to bounce back or they'll be in trouble

[Coventrysucks]

Home GP? As far as I am aware, there is no GP in Woking.

Anyway...

Barring engine failures both Mclarens looked like finishing well inside the top ten - Kimi was not blisteringly fast, but was fast enough to keep everyone else behind him, even if he was holding them up a bit.

Their pace was fast all week, Kimi qualified fourth, almost third - that is hardly slow.

The Chassis revisions will no doubt improve the handling of the car, and the aero package - but what desperately needs to be replaced is the engine.

[Cotterik]

Yea i agree, terrible luck for Kimi, he looked so let down when his engine failed. Grabbing his head in dispear. I realy feel for that guy.
Here's my view on the mclarens:
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...2857#post72857

[Homem de Gelo]

Home GP? As far as I am aware, there is no GP in Woking.

The race was in Germany (Mercedes) and there's also a race in England (Mclaren).


Well, at least McLaren isn't the only team who's been consistently disapointing. Williams also has a dog in their hands and both of their drivers have commited mistakes in nearly all races. It seems as if the car simply didn't evolve at all after Sepang while the drivers keep messing with their own luck.

There are only 31 points between Mclaren and Williams. If the MP4-19B proves to be a sensible evolution while Williams continues to walk backwards, we might be talking about how the 'Walrus' became a complete failure while and why the Williams pair was simply no good for the team in November.

With things the way they are, I still beleive McLaren can fight back and finish at least in 4th in the WCC. Of course I'd rather have them in 1st, but that's impossible.