When it was announced that McLaren and Honda would be joining forces again this year, there was widespread optimism that the good times were about to return to Woking.
During pre-season, McLaren was making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The car looked slow and unreliable, and to add insult to injury, Fernando Alonso was ruled out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a high-speed crash at Barcelona.
In hindsight, this may have been a blessing in disguise for Alonso as the Australian Grand Prix turned out to be a disaster for the team. Forced to detune their Honda power units to improve reliability, both McLarens qualified on the back row of the grid, their worst qualifying performance for thirty years.
The race was not much better. Dane Kevin Magnussen, standing in for the unfit Alonso, was forced to retire his car on the parade lap and Jenson Button finished the race two laps down in last position.
After the huge disappointment of Australia, the championship moved on to Malaysia for round two, and the McLaren team were buoyed by the return of Fernando Alonso.
Despite Alonso’s return, it became evident that the team’s poor performance in Australia was not a one-off. In qualifying, the team were only ahead of the Manor cars and both drivers retired during the race.
There were still no points to show for their efforts after the Chinese and Bahrain Grand Prix, and the reliability issues were still present with Button failing to make the start in the latter race.
By the time of the Spanish Grand Prix in May, there were some small signs of progress for McLaren, at least in qualifying, as the team were able to get both cars into Q2 for the first time. It was a familiar story in the race, however, as Alonso retired early on and Button finished 16th, one lap down.
Despite their worst ever start to a season, the team were optimistic of an improved showing in Monaco, where Honda’s power deficit would have less of an impact on overall pace.
This proved to be the case, and McLaren were able to get both cars into Q2 for the second race running. On Sunday, Button was able to score the team’s first points of the season with an eighth-place finish, which moved the team off the bottom of the constructor’s championship.
At the next race in Canada, McLaren’s reliability problems resurfaced. Button failed to set a time in qualifying, and to make things worse, received a drive-through penalty for exceeding the allowed allocation of two of his power unit components.
After an improved showing in Monaco, Canada’s long straights proved a very different challenge for McLaren, and the team ended the weekend with no points and yet another double DNF.
For the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren introduced an aero upgrade, but this failed to mask the fact that McLaren’s Honda power unit was significantly underpowered compared to their rivals.
After qualifying in 14th and 17th place, there was more bad news to come in the form of grid penalties for both Button and Alonso, a result of once again having to change part of their power units due to mechanical issues.
The weekend went from bad-to-worse for McLaren, as Alonso was taken out on the first lap after a coming together with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Button retired from the race just seven laps later.
The weekend was described as a “new low” for McLaren, and Alonso’s frustration was starting to show as he failed to finish for the fourth consecutive race.
With the half-way point in the season approaching, McLaren were keen to put in a good performance in front of their home crowd at Silverstone, but their prospects looked bleak after qualifying down in 17th and 18th place.
Sunday’s race was bitter-sweet for McLaren, as a first lap collision between the two drivers ended Button’s race in front of his home crowd. Alonso was fortunate to be able to continue, and after an incident strewn race in mixed conditions he was able to bring his car home in tenth place for his first point of the season.
With just the Hungarian Grand Prix left before the mid-season break, McLaren was looking for back-to-back points finishes for the first time this season. Their task was made all the harder when both drivers suffered mechanical issues in qualifying, and the team lined up in 15th and 16th place.
Fortunately for McLaren, the race was incident packed with multiple incidents and a safety car period bunching up the field. This helped the team score their first double points finish of the season with Button ninth and Alonso able to fend off Grosjean in the closing stages to take fifth.
On the evidence of the first ten races, there is clearly a lot of work to do before McLaren can think about challenging at the front, and with arguably the strongest driver line-up on the grid, it’s a shame to see the likes of Button and Alonso scrapping for the minor points. With power tracks Spa and Monza coming up, McLaren will be on the back front once again and it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the team will reach the podium this season.
Fernando Alonso – 11 points / 15th in the Drivers’ Championship
Alonso showed his quality with a strong drive in Hungary to finish fifth, but there are signs that Alonso is growing frustrated with the team’s lack of progress. The next few races will be damage limitation and Alonso’s patience will be tested.
Jenson Button – 6 points / 17th in the Drivers’ Championship
A seasoned campaigner, Button has been in a similar situation with Honda before, back in 2007-08. Button is driving well, but it’s difficult to compare his performance to that of his teammate, given the team’s current lack of competitiveness.
