Image courtesy of McLaren-Honda
Incase many of you are not aware of this, I am a big McLaren fan and just before the start of the new season that takes place in Melbourne this weekend, I would like to share my views on the ‘new era’ that McLaren are embarking on with Honda starting this season and how I feel 2015 may bring both parties over the course of the year ahead.
As we all know, 2015 sees the first year of the McLaren and Honda partnership back together again after both parties ended their first stint as partners in the 1990’s after achieving great success with drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost (just to name two) and winning world championships and races along the way.
Fast forward a few years later; McLaren and Honda are back in partnership once again with the same ambitions and goals as before; which is to win races and world championships again with each other. And that is all well and good and there’s nothing I wouldn’t like more than to see my team back winning at the front where they belong.
And as much as I would love McLaren and Honda to be winning as soon as they possibly can, I feel it will take a considerable amount of hard work to get there and there’s no question that both parties have the knowledge, expertise and personnel to achieve this goal but it will not be straight away sadly.
With many pundits and fans currently suggesting still that McLaren and Honda need to start winning and fighting for titles straight away, I argue that will not be the case until the 2016 season at least. You may be sitting there thinking ‘Oh Sarah has no faith in her team and their abilities and she’s losing patience with them.’ I understand why you might think that but that is not the case.
I love McLaren more than I ever have, I believe 100% in the team and what they can achieve and nothing would give me greater joy than to see my team fighting at the front of the grid as soon as they can. But my opinion is just realistic; McLaren and Honda are not in the position to be fighting straight away for wins and titles and they need to create a solid foundation and re-establish their working relationship with each other once again before this can take place.
It is clear for all to see that 2015 will be a foundation and learning year for McLaren and Honda. As we know, they haven’t had the best pre-season testing period with McLaren and Honda experiencing problems with the car and the power unit left, right and centre but that is to be expected. Let us not forget that Honda is a year behind their rivals with regards to their engine and its development and it will take them some time to catch the gap while also learning how their power unit performs on the track.
But with many fans arguing that Honda should have used McLaren’s expertise and knowledge from building hybrid engines for their P1 car; you can understand why many feel frustrated with both parties. But you must remember that Honda have built everything themselves for the MP4-30 this season and Honda have stated that they have done this to ‘show what can be done as a technical exercise.’
I can see why Honda have done this and undergone this route with their systems and power unit, but they should have used McLaren’s expertise too in my opinion and could have gained more knowledge that could help them in their first year back in partnership with each other. But they will learn from this as will McLaren and this will only help them move forward together in unison as time goes on.
With regards to the driver line up this season at McLaren-Honda, I understand why McLaren decided to sign Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button this season with Kevin Magnussen as Test Driver. But I do not agree with it still and it is more to do with Alonso rejoining the team that he left under extreme circumstances in 2007.
Let me explain further. I have nothing against Alonso as a driver and there is no question that when Alonso is on form; he is one of the fastest drivers around. But it is personality and attitude that I have big problems with. To me, Alonso has what I term a ‘Napoleon Complex’ and this stems from in my view, his manager Flavio Briatore who has the same attitude.
Both Briatore and Alonso think the same; it is all about them and what they want and what they need. And you can understand that; given how Formula One operates and works. But in a sport where team-work and communication is key; I still feel that Alonso is not about the team, he is about himself and we have seen examples of how Alonso behaves when things do not go his way.
And for me, that is worrying as a McLaren fan as Alonso needs to understand that this is a long and hard challenge ahead for himself, the team and Honda, that things will not go according to plan and he may have to take humble pie until the situation improves for the better. And let us not forget 2007; where Alonso found himself being beaten by Lewis Hamilton and couldn’t accept this fact alongside his comments about the ‘Spy-Gate’ situation where I feel Alonso sold McLaren ‘down the river’ so to speak.
You may be sitting where you are wondering why I’ve brought this up. The reason why I have is that many McLaren fans like myself may have forgiven Alonso for the way he behaved back then; but we will never forget. And I seriously hope that Alonso has learnt his lesson and can show us all that he has matured as a driver and can be a team player for as long as he is with McLaren-Honda.
With Button remaining with the team this season, this was welcomed hugely by the fans when it was announced. It would have been stupid in my opinion for McLaren to get rid of Button and not use the connections, experience and knowledge he has with Honda, from his career so far and also with McLaren as well. Button has had a tough few seasons with McLaren; but he is a world champion and when everything comes together for him; Button can still deliver just as good as anyone else and deserves some success in his career as a reward for all his hard work.
Even though I am happy that Magnussen has been retained by the team in a test driver role, I still feel that Magnussen deserved another chance to show what he can do on the track. In his first season in the sport, Magnussen did make some mistakes as you would expect from a rookie but he did manage to consistently bring the car home and pick up some points for the team along the way. To me, this shows that Magnussen has the talent to succeed in the sport and also has potential as a driver to improve too.
Magnussen last season did not do anything wrong; he simply did the best that he could do with the equipment that he was given. He did deserve to be in a race seat this season in my eyes and it is a shame that he missed out, but you can understand why, given the fact that McLaren had already signed Alonso.
But for me, all Magnussen can do this season and also while taking the place of Alonso this weekend at the Australian GP as a result of Alonso not racing due to medical advice after his accident in pre-season testing in Barcelona is to show what he can do on the track and remind everyone of why McLaren signed him in the first place last season.
But overall, what will 2015 bring for McLaren-Honda? I believe that 2015 will be a foundation year for both parties who need to re-establish their working partnership, understand just what each of them bring to the party and build a solid foundation for them to develop and improve upon as the season goes on.
With Button and Alonso driving for them this year, they have two experienced, talented and very capable drivers that can deliver on the track if they can get everything right while also providing them with much needed technical feedback that will help them shape and improve the MP4-30 over the course of the season ahead. I expect both drivers to push each other on the track and I truly hope that we see a fair, consistent and competitive battle between them (even if I want Button to outperform Alonso more!).
It is to be expected that McLaren-Honda will encounter some teething problems along the way and they have to go through it in order to understand just where their problems lie and also to find a viable solution (s) in order to stop these problems occurring that will allow them to move forward performance wise with the car and also on the track too.
For me, it is not going to be easy for McLaren-Honda or their fans watching the team going through problems with the car and the power unit; but they have to go through it in order to understand and learn from the mistakes in order to get to a more competitive and consistent level of performance that is needed to win races and championships at the end of the day.
And for me, I don’t that is possible for the team this season and I believe that McLaren and Honda need to get experience, knowledge and mileage under their belt this season that will help them move forward from 2016 onwards to get back to winning ways again. I think all McLaren and Honda can hope for this season is a season where they develop and improve as time goes on, learn from the problems that crop up along the way and get themselves into a better position going into the 2016 season.
But it is clear that a new era is happening at McLaren and there’s no question that McLaren and Honda will succeed in the near future and they have everything at their disposal to do so; all it will take is a little bit more time and patience to get there, but they will get there sooner rather than later.
And as a McLaren fan, as much as it pains me, that is all we can do; just be patient with the team that we love as does reap rewards in the end; just ask the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team.
