2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Very interesting!
This is the same channel that said that Honda and AMR are very close to a deal,so they must have good sources.

Rob Marshall was the boss of the RBPT division before he announced the Mclaren technical director switch....

now you see...Rob knows more about the RBPT than he does the Mercedes and has a good relationship with the people there. This could give Mclaren a decisive advantage in developing their 2026 contender.

Christian Horner: "I think initially [we will supply] just two [teams] because, as a start-up, as a brand new engine manufacturer, I think it would be overstretching ourselves if we went beyond that," he said.

"And I think that we just want to focus on servicing the two Red Bull teams first. We've had a lot of interest from other teams – at least two teams have shown interest. But we're not ready for that yet."

However, this could change in the future, with Horner adding: "We have a capacity to take on extra teams should we want to in future years, but probably for the first couple of years, we want to focus on just the Red Bull-owned teams as we establish the business, the trackside operations, all the things of supplying and delivering engines in a competitive environment."

I previously cited that same interview, but the problem is you can never believe what anyone says in F1. After all, RB are perfectly happy with Pierre Gasly and he is still driving for Red Bull....

There can be a number of reasons for it to happen. Ford will want as many cars on the grid as possible for example.

[Ground Effect]

Rob Marshall was the boss of the RBPT division before he announced the Mclaren technical director switch....

now you see...Rob knows more about the RBPT than he does the Mercedes and has a good relationship with the people there. This could give Mclaren a decisive advantage in developing their 2026 contender.

Christian Horner: "I think initially [we will supply] just two [teams] because, as a start-up, as a brand new engine manufacturer, I think it would be overstretching ourselves if we went beyond that," he said.

"And I think that we just want to focus on servicing the two Red Bull teams first. We've had a lot of interest from other teams – at least two teams have shown interest. But we're not ready for that yet."

However, this could change in the future, with Horner adding: "We have a capacity to take on extra teams should we want to in future years, but probably for the first couple of years, we want to focus on just the Red Bull-owned teams as we establish the business, the trackside operations, all the things of supplying and delivering engines in a competitive environment."

I previously cited that same interview, but the problem is you can never believe what anyone says in F1. After all, RB are perfectly happy with Pierre Gasly and he is still driving for Red Bull....

Agreed, but just as it would work perfectly for McLaren, with Marshall coming on board, with his knowledge on the RBPT programme, that could also be a deterrent for Red Bull. Would the be comfortable supplying engines to a customer who now has a former employee with a fair bit of knowledge about their engine, layout integration etc?

[PikeStance]

That was painful...

Not wrong, Oscar was great on the softs (although a bit timid on the start that cost him places), but had nothing on the hard and medium tires. As for Lando, that was a disaster!!! I dont understand why McLaren didnt just leave him out with the missing end-fence, seems like he'd have lost a lot less time and places.

If memory serves the announcers on F1 TV stated that Lando had a piece dangling from the car. I am under the impression, this isn't allowed. I am new F1 so i could be mistaken.

My initial impression of Lando is that he seems lacking in control aggression. He seems content in settling into a spot and not pushing the limits of the car. Ironically, it was his over-aggression that knocked his promising start out of the race. Piastri is showing some promise and I would not be surprised if, by the end of next year, he is the top driver for McLaren.

[mwillems]

Very interesting!
This is the same channel that said that Honda and AMR are very close to a deal,so they must have good sources.

I hope not, I don't want an association with Red Bull, or them credited with any success we might achieve in the future.

Or Mclaren wallop them with their own engine

We can but dream! lol It just means I can't hope their engine explodes all the time, because ours probably would too.

It comes with political considerations, I'd rather be part of the Merc family than the RB family. I'd rather take a Ferrari engine than an RB engine!!

[mwillems]

I'd rather Marshall bring his knowledge of the RB success to the chassis and Aero as is, the engine isn't an issue, the rest of the car needs to improve.

[Ben1980]

RB may also be planning for tge sale of Alpha Tauri. Its been rumoured they don't really want it..

[Ground Effect]

RB may also be planning for tge sale of Alpha Tauri. Its been rumoured they don't really want it..

I thought that being put to bed, not for sale?

[diffuser]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

[Jambier]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

Agreed. PU is not the problem, there is so much to do on the car for now..

[MTudor]

RB may also be planning for tge sale of Alpha Tauri. Its been rumoured they don't really want it..

That ideea was put to rest by the RedBull board who saw that AT is a profitable team plus Horner&co told the board that they need AT as a 2nd test bench.

[AR3-GP]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

It was Rob Marshall's project. He will now be Mclaren's technical director. If you believe Rob is a great signing for Mclaren, then you should think the PU will be great as well.

[mwillems]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

It was Rob Marshall's project. He will now be Mclaren's technical director. If you believe Rob is a great signing for Mclaren, then you should think the PU will be great as well.

I don't understand this statement. I don't think those two aspects relate.

Everyone is developing the V6 lump and turbo right now to be ready for 2026. Nobody really knows how each other are comparing and on top of that I expect there will be some very secret development of the electrical systems, which no one will know about. How can we compare engines and say one must be great, and how does Rob Marshall joining Mclaren demonstrate that the 2026 RB engine and electrics are good?

Maybe he is leaving because it doesn't look so good? I doubt it, he's leaving for the cash I'm sure, but we don't actually know anything...

[AR3-GP]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

It was Rob Marshall's project. He will now be Mclaren's technical director. If you believe Rob is a great signing for Mclaren, then you should think the PU will be great as well.

I don't understand this statement. I don't think those two aspects relate.

Everyone is developing the V6 lump and turbo right now to be ready for 2026. Nobody really knows how each other are comparing and on top of that I expect there will be some very secret development of the electrical systems, which no one will know about. How can we compare engines and say one must be great, and how does Rob Marshall joining Mclaren demonstrate that the 2026 RB engine and electrics are good?

Maybe he is leaving because it doesn't look so good? I doubt it, he's leaving for the cash I'm sure, but we don't actually know anything...

I doubt he's leaving because it doesn't look good. If he was in charge and it doesn't look good, that says more about him that should worry Mclaren. Anyway, Verstappen said in interview that Mclaren made him an unbelievable offer and he took it and that he also thought it understandable for him to take the offer. It's rumored that Marshall was offered 3 times his RB salary to come to Mclaren. He'd be insane not to take that offer. I'd go to Williams for that kind of offer

[mwillems]

It was Rob Marshall's project. He will now be Mclaren's technical director. If you believe Rob is a great signing for Mclaren, then you should think the PU will be great as well.

I don't understand this statement. I don't think those two aspects relate.

Everyone is developing the V6 lump and turbo right now to be ready for 2026. Nobody really knows how each other are comparing and on top of that I expect there will be some very secret development of the electrical systems, which no one will know about. How can we compare engines and say one must be great, and how does Rob Marshall joining Mclaren demonstrate that the 2026 RB engine and electrics are good?

Maybe he is leaving because it doesn't look so good? I doubt it, he's leaving for the cash I'm sure, but we don't actually know anything...

I doubt he's leaving because it doesn't look good. If he was in charge and it doesn't look good, that says more about him that should worry Mclaren. Anyway, Verstappen said in interview that Mclaren made him an unbelievable offer and he took it and that he also thought it understandable for him to take the offer. It's rumored that Marshall was offered 3 times his RB salary to come to Mclaren. He'd be insane not to take that offer. I'd go to Williams for that kind of offer

I know, I was just illustrating the point that we don't actually know

But I still don't see how Rob coming to us gives the engine a seal of approval

[diffuser]

With all the issues McLaren need to address, I'm not sure why they would add risk by taking on a rockie PU Manufacturer.

No idea if they do it or not but sounds dumb to me.

It was Rob Marshall's project. He will now be Mclaren's technical director. If you believe Rob is a great signing for Mclaren, then you should think the PU will be great as well.

I don't think it's a great signing.

I just think it's risky.