McLaren MCL32 Speculation Thread

[graham.reeds]

As pointed out in the Honda PU thread, just because the decal is on the car doesn't mean the product is in the car.

Though the Johnnie Walker maybe in the drivers.

[WaikeCU]

[f1316]

no news yet on this subject

Wow. Given the performance difference we're told (by the fuel companies) that fuels are making in this era, you'd think they'd need to get this done ASAP.

Unless they'll actually just continue using Mobil for now (and Red Bull will actually continue using Total) which would make more sense for consistency; but surely contracts won't allow for this?

Weird one to change (mainly on Red Bull side) if you ask me.

As pointed out in the Honda PU thread, just because the decal is on the car doesn't mean the product is in the car.

Right, but let's say McLaren win a race with Castrol plastered all over the car/caps etc. but in reality there's exonmobil fuel in the car; is that an arrangement the actual supplier of fuels will be happy with?

I guess it's similar to TAG branding of Renault engine - the difference being that everyone knows it's a Renault 'under the hood'.

[Thunder]

Petrobras doesn't seem to care if Williams is using Petronas Products. Guess it relies on the Contract that has been signed.

[restless]

Right, but let's say McLaren win a race with Castrol plastered all over the car/caps etc. but in reality there's exonmobil fuel in the car; is that an arrangement the actual supplier of fuels will be happy with?

I guess it's similar to TAG branding of Renault engine - the difference being that everyone knows it's a Renault 'under the hood'.

Why not?
A win is a win... people around the world will see whats written on the car... who will run around explaining that in reality the fuel was from other company?
Surely such details will be written in the contract.

[Vasconia]

Well, Alonso is bored about the actual F1 cars. He said many times he will continue after 2017 only if new cars are exciting again. Maybe he expected a better 2017 F1 car

Its too early for him to make a serious judgement. Several times has been mentioned that the drivers know how good a car is when they drive it by the first time, not earlier.

[Farfar]

Well, Alonso is bored about the actual F1 cars. He said many times he will continue after 2017 only if new cars are exciting again. Maybe he expected a better 2017 F1 car

Its too early for him to make a serious judgement. Several times has been mentioned that the drivers know how good a car is when they drive it by the first time, not earlier.

Yes. You are absolutely right. But we´re talking about first reaction after the first simulator try. I don´t think he made a serious judgement. And Alonso has tried a lot of new cars in the simulator, so maybe he can see something that we don´t.

[diffuser]

The closer you follow F1, the more often you see that some statements are just BS. Drivers and manager types when talking specifically about technical aspects of the car have to say something without saying much. Then we the fans, we love the sport and want to be apart of it, take this very vague information and we pick it apart as if it was a crime scene and we're searching for the killer. I think that statement from Alonso on the cars being boring was right up there with major BS. People that are bore don't scream out "Yeeha!" after they've passed someone. Just like that statement from Rai a couple years ago about retiring when his contract was up. They're asked to speculate on stuff 2 years in the future when they have no clue what they're gonna do at that point and time. So they just say stuff that isn't based on anything. Just that it has a builtin exit hatch.

[Andres125sx]

To me it was a fair statement not the usual BS they say to the media. Keep in mind he´s been competing in past 15 seasons of F1, and there´s a limit for everything. After driving all type of engines, V10, V8, V6t, and different aero rules, including the fastest F1 cars to date, now cruising to take care of the tires and lift and coast to save fuel must be....

Add to that a car far from competitive, and any driver in his position with that career and trophy room would consider retiring if the scenario does not change drastically

[Farfar]

To me it was a fair statement not the usual BS they say to the media. Keep in mind he´s been competing in past 15 seasons of F1, and there´s a limit for everything. After driving all type of engines, V10, V8, V6t, and different aero rules, including the fastest F1 cars to date, now cruising to take care of the tires and lift and coast to save fuel must be....

Add to that a car far from competitive, and any driver in his position with that career and trophy room would consider retiring if the scenario does not change drastically

+1

[Scuderia1967]

Petrobras doesn't seem to care if Williams is using Petronas Products. Guess it relies on the Contract that has been signed.

True, although you should use the past tense as Petrobras won't sponsor Williams in 2017. Anyway, there's really no comparison: the Mercedes engine was built with Petronas products in mind, so it makes sense for the costumer teams to use their products too, even if they have commercial ties with other companies (I'm thinking about Force India and Quaker State, too). Honda has no other clients besides McLaren, so it makes no sense for them to keep using Mobil when the brand is going to Red Bull, who has a DIFFERENT engine...

[diffuser]

To me it was a fair statement not the usual BS they say to the media. Keep in mind he´s been competing in past 15 seasons of F1, and there´s a limit for everything. After driving all type of engines, V10, V8, V6t, and different aero rules, including the fastest F1 cars to date, now cruising to take care of the tires and lift and coast to save fuel must be....

Add to that a car far from competitive, and any driver in his position with that career and trophy room would consider retiring if the scenario does not change drastically

+1

ok fair enough ...what did you get out of the question and answer?

Is there any bar that we can see that needs to be surpassed ? Like the car needs to run a 1:10 @ Spain ?

The question is too open ended and the answer has no measurable requirements. He wants the cars to be faster and harder to drive. Technically that would have happened even without the rule change.

You could actually say the McHonda was alot harder to drive than the Merc and it was alot slower. So what does that statement really mean?

in my opinion..nada.

[Roostfactor]

I am no fuel expert nor a chemist but I would imagine McHonda have a couple iterations of fuel from last season.
Is it not feasable for BP to reverse engineer the different formulations (in secrecy if needed) to see where Mobil started and which direction they were heading in formulation? This would give BP a nice baseline and ideas on how to further develop the fuel.

[Andres125sx]

To me it was a fair statement not the usual BS they say to the media. Keep in mind he´s been competing in past 15 seasons of F1, and there´s a limit for everything. After driving all type of engines, V10, V8, V6t, and different aero rules, including the fastest F1 cars to date, now cruising to take care of the tires and lift and coast to save fuel must be....

Add to that a car far from competitive, and any driver in his position with that career and trophy room would consider retiring if the scenario does not change drastically

+1

ok fair enough ...what did you get out of the question and answer?

Is there any bar that we can see that needs to be surpassed ? Like the car needs to run a 1:10 @ Spain ?

The question is too open ended and the answer has no measurable requirements. He wants the cars to be faster and harder to drive. Technically that would have happened even without the rule change.

You could actually say the McHonda was alot harder to drive than the Merc and it was alot slower. So what does that statement really mean?

in my opinion..nada.

IMHO he´s refering to something I´ve mentioned more than once, today drivers role is as irrelevant as it can be. Driving to the limit makes a difference between the greatest and the rest, while cruising to take care of the tires can be done by any top driver. Ok there will be differences between them, but then F1 is rewarding the smoother drivers over the fastest or most consistent. Same for fuel saving, today best driver for a F1 team is best manager, not fastest/more consistent driver.

He´s considered one of the best of current grid, by himself too so I´m sure this F1 era where best drivers can´t show their talent (exageratting but you get the idea) is very frustrating for him who can´t fight for victories or podiums, but neither can push like crazy. I guess he must be used to drive carefully when there´s a reward like Nico did last GPs to win the title, but driving carefully when there´s no reward is something he´s not used to and must be exasperating

Basically I think he just need some motivation no matter where does it comes, so I´d say some of these conditions should change

a) Cars must be difficult to drive to make a difference between best and the rest again
b) Cars and tires must allow to drive to the limit consistently instead of cruising to nurse the tires
c) Cars must be phisically demanding, even when I think that could be a problem for him, as fitness is very different when we´re 25 years old (when he drove phisically demanding cars) or when we´re 35 as he´ll be next season
d) McHonda must be competitive to fight at least for victories

I think condition d) if obviously the most important, but even if not achieved, if they do a big step forward and cars are fun to drive and demanding again, he´ll be happy to continue

Just my opinion obviously, but I´ve been supporting Alonso since his debut with Minardi and I think I can more or less differ between the usual BS and his real thoughts

[f1316]

Right, but let's say McLaren win a race with Castrol plastered all over the car/caps etc. but in reality there's exonmobil fuel in the car; is that an arrangement the actual supplier of fuels will be happy with?

I guess it's similar to TAG branding of Renault engine - the difference being that everyone knows it's a Renault 'under the hood'.

Why not?
A win is a win... people around the world will see whats written on the car... who will run around explaining that in reality the fuel was from other company?
Surely such details will be written in the contract.

Right, I guess, just surprised the "other company" would agree to such a situation (this being somewhat of a marketing exercise for them too).