2017 Mclaren F1 Team - Honda

[KingHamilton01]

I hope it is not a massive let down and turn's out to be A special watch to celebrate the partnership....? excited to see the car and livery though.

[diffuser]

Well. I am engineer myself so i will talk from my point of view. In general engineer does not need manager to do his task. Especially when its related to fulfilling his part in working mechanism which McLaren was before Boulier or at least became after his arrival. Engineer even does not need him to be motivated! Engineer is being motivated by success and progress. Motivation is something what is maybe required for writer or singer or whatewer least of all its engineer. Biggest task what manager needs to do is coordination work between different engineers (because they do not know each others "fields".) This is the hardest part because Manager needs to know all of "fields" not in a depth but still. Manager needs to know what exactly You can ask from each engineer.

In general what has been seen on a web: http://en.f1i.com/magazine/39861-tells- ... llier.html
that is what Boulier is actually doing, but his quotes on different sources and also results show that he lacks "last mile" - i mean he is always behind even if he is smart enough to handle all that engineering stuff he lacks that last bit and attention to detail (or feeling) which is needed to win. (For example Williams pitstops is clear example of attention to detail. They have made modifications to car to be faster on pitstops.)
He is "ok" but not "it"!

... But his remarks... still i wouldn't like him to stay as a team leader even if he is being silent from now on... because as i said of his lack of right focus.
I believe McLaren will not win championships with him as a head. Thats why i pray.

Not sure how we here can tell he lacks focus or how well of a job he is doing. I think those things are hard to do when you work directly with someone and we base our opinions on 2nd hand information (at best).

With regards to the pitstop stuff, not sure that would have been something I would have spent resources on last year. They were too far back to have pitstops make a difference. plus with the chassis changing so much this year alot of those tools might have had to have been redesigned.

When you look at the the time EB has been with McLaren they've all been been what I like to call "dead end" years.
1st year - Dead end reason "last year of Merc PU"
2nd year - Dead end reason "1st year of Honda PU"
3ird year - Dead end reason "last year of Chassis Rules"

That being said, they need to be in the top 3 this year or nipping at their heels(time measured in .10s of a second off the pace off the front runners).

[godlameroso]

I say the Livery stays mostly the same (i have zero problems with the 2016 Livery, so that wouldn't be a negative for me) but secretly hope for som Papaya Orange Action.

Maybe it'll be like the 2016 livery except there's a bit of orange tint in the black depending on how the light hits it?

Like that orange flow vis they were using but a kind of hidden color in the black/peuter/grey.

[Manoah2u]

Mclaren's livery won't change untill a sponsor deal is signed. it's that simple. It's Brown's nr1 priority at this moment. If he manages to do so before the season starts, we'll get a different livery. if not, we'll surely have the black-and-red untill a deal has been done.

They'll need something big though. I wouldn't be able to think of anything at this time, but then again, if it was that simple......

[GoranF1]

Mclaren's livery won't change untill a sponsor deal is signed. it's that simple. It's Brown's nr1 priority at this moment. If he manages to do so before the season starts, we'll get a different livery. if not, we'll surely have the black-and-red untill a deal has been done.

They'll need something big though. I wouldn't be able to think of anything at this time, but then again, if it was that simple......

I agree...most likely a revised or redesigned 2016 livery that looks a bit better.

[godlameroso]

Maybe something like this but with McLaren orange instead of gold.

Mark my words, sooner or later someone will use a chameleon paint job. The flake will be little vortex generators

[diffuser]

Maybe it will be Brown in keeping with the CEO.

[Webber2011]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/or ... d1e276.jpg

Maybe something like this but with McLaren orange instead of gold.

Looks great, but I'm not sure they've done enough work on that front wing ?

[godlameroso]

Hahaha!

[Manoah2u]

i did actually like that chrome livery they had before. would be curious how it would look in a complete chrome, but then again, i'd prefer seeing Merc with that.

i really enjoyed the castrol green-red livery fantasy photoshop that came across a while ago, that looked great and actually refreshing. Also would have enjoyed seeing
a Gulf livery in F1 for a change.



Then again, the classic orange livery is really cool too, but it's probably difficult to translate it on correct TV colors, and it is probably
a sponsor nightmare.

monster energy would be interesting though.

mclaren's already black, so all they need is some greens.
i think if they can snatch that one from Mercedes, and turn it into their title sponsor ala RedBull,
and do some good PR, it would help them a lot.

Ken Block promos' in a F1 car?
Monster Energy special edition cans. more exposure. Alonso and VanDoorne promotors.



the more i look and think about it, the cooler it gets.




i think it would also fit perfectly with Honda.

[bauc]

There are some encouraging news/statements coming from Woking UK in therms of Mclaren's expectations for the next season

Source: Autosport.com

McLaren would be disappointed if it does not finish higher than fourth in the 2017 Formula 1 constructors' championship, says chief operating officer Jonathan Neale.
The Woking-based outfit languished in ninth place in the constructors' championship in 2015 after a tough first year back working with Honda.
But improvements in reliability and performance for the Japanese manufacturer during the 2016 campaign, coupled with a chassis McLaren believed was one of the best on the grid, enabled the alliance to fight towards the front of the midfield.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button scored consistently to help the team finish sixth, 13 points clear of Toro Rosso but 62 adrift of Williams in fifth.
Neale believes McLaren is capable of improving significantly on its 2016 finishing position, given the capabilities of team and drivers Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne as well as the shake up of the technical regulations.

Life after Ron Dennis at McLaren

"You've got to aim high, but right now I would be disappointed if we were fourth," Neale told Autosport.

"That's probably the pragmatist's view, but you don't make progress as pragmatists.
"We want to win and we want to win sooner.
"We've got a race team, we've got drivers that are capable of winning, and between the chassis and engine, both ourselves and Honda need to bridge that gap in performance.
"The new aerodynamic platform and the great uncertainty over tyres throws an opportunity at us, and I'd like to think that we can capitalise on that. But it's unknown."

When asked to quantify what success would look like for McLaren in 2017, racing director Eric Boullier told Autosport: "To win."
But he conceded that it will take time for McLaren to return to the front of the field and start challenging for wins and the world championship again.

"In reality, I want to be pragmatic and not set expectations too high," he said.
"We were ninth [in 2015], sixth last year so hopefully we're in the top four next year.
"We want to win as early as possible, but I'm dealing with the reality.
"I'm very happy with the Honda approach and I'm happy with the group of engineers we have in McLaren - it's working absolutely perfectly now.
"They are working hard, but the days when you can turn up with a new aero kit on the car and gain one second are finished.
"Now it's incremental gains all the time. And it's also just time."

[dr_cooke]

There are some encouraging news/statements coming from Woking UK in therms of Mclaren's expectations for the next season

Source: Autosport.com

McLaren would be disappointed if it does not finish higher than fourth in the 2017 Formula 1 constructors' championship, says chief operating officer Jonathan Neale.
The Woking-based outfit languished in ninth place in the constructors' championship in 2015 after a tough first year back working with Honda.
But improvements in reliability and performance for the Japanese manufacturer during the 2016 campaign, coupled with a chassis McLaren believed was one of the best on the grid, enabled the alliance to fight towards the front of the midfield.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button scored consistently to help the team finish sixth, 13 points clear of Toro Rosso but 62 adrift of Williams in fifth.
Neale believes McLaren is capable of improving significantly on its 2016 finishing position, given the capabilities of team and drivers Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne as well as the shake up of the technical regulations.

Life after Ron Dennis at McLaren

"You've got to aim high, but right now I would be disappointed if we were fourth," Neale told Autosport.

"That's probably the pragmatist's view, but you don't make progress as pragmatists.
"We want to win and we want to win sooner.
"We've got a race team, we've got drivers that are capable of winning, and between the chassis and engine, both ourselves and Honda need to bridge that gap in performance.
"The new aerodynamic platform and the great uncertainty over tyres throws an opportunity at us, and I'd like to think that we can capitalise on that. But it's unknown."

When asked to quantify what success would look like for McLaren in 2017, racing director Eric Boullier told Autosport: "To win."
But he conceded that it will take time for McLaren to return to the front of the field and start challenging for wins and the world championship again.

"In reality, I want to be pragmatic and not set expectations too high," he said.
"We were ninth [in 2015], sixth last year so hopefully we're in the top four next year.
"We want to win as early as possible, but I'm dealing with the reality.
"I'm very happy with the Honda approach and I'm happy with the group of engineers we have in McLaren - it's working absolutely perfectly now.
"They are working hard, but the days when you can turn up with a new aero kit on the car and gain one second are finished.
"Now it's incremental gains all the time. And it's also just time."

Expectations should never be encouraging. Even if they are sincere...

[Peter1919]

I think 4th is a realistic target for next season. If Force India could mange 4th last season then the much greater resources of McLaren should be able to manage 4th this season even if the Honda power unit is still down on power

[Redragon]

Basically they are saying they expect to beaten by Mercedes, Ferrari and Redbull. If the Honda Power Unit does another improvement as last year and after hearing to say they have one of the best chasis on the grid (3rd) last year. I would love to hear a bit more optimistic forecast from them such as we are going to be fighting for 3rd and if the track is favorable to our specs grab a 2nd or if lucky a win. 4th to me is too conservative to me seeing what Force India did last year with 3 times less budget.

[Redragon]

Basically they are saying they expect to be beaten by Mercedes, Ferrari and Redbull. If the Honda Power Unit does another improvement as last year and after hearing to say they have one of the best chasis on the grid (3rd) last year. I would love to hear a bit more optimistic forecast from them such as we are going to be fighting for 3rd and if the track is favorable to our specs grab a 2nd or if lucky a win. 4th to me is too conservative to me seeing what Force India did last year with 3 times less budget.