I'm pretty sure Mclaren will be fine this season, sooner rather than later. The team is simply too good not to.

What I don't believe for one second though, is that their current testing pace is "planned" in any way. It's not only late before the season opener, there is also very limited track testing available when the season is underway.

I don't care what Ron says and I'm sure they will be up to pace at some point, but at the moment things do not seem to go according to plan.

I mean, come on? The plan is to look awful in testing while all the competitors are improving, ending almost every day near the bottom of the timing sheets, or at the very bottom? Also having Lewis going off the track while showing off this blistering pace?

I would call you a moron for such a facile, shallow comment, but that is probably terribly un-PC in these times, so I will go with flake.

I´m mclaren fan, a lot worried but I trust my team to death. If the season is bad, the team will need support and we give.

regards and keep the faith!!!!!

No this is:



Probably on Jean Toad's door, wherever that is now

No, I am a fan of McLaren. I will stick by the team forever, but I will start rooting for more successful teams along the way as well.

I love to root for teams/drivers that are "overachieving" with respect to the resources that they've got. Hamilton last year was overachieving quite often, considering the Ferrari was superior to the McLaren in normal/standard conditions and considering Heikki's pace.

Like I rooted for Alonso at the end of last year, while I loathed him several months before (due to the scandal). Or Kimi in 2005;

I know, yet I like Tenmantaylors better... more subtle, and gives you the chance to laugh a last time before the eternal sufferings start.

Ah a glory supporter, I bet you support Manchester United as wel ;)

I think that McLaren might be looking for another engine supplier soon.

Brawn GP is clearly considerably quicker than Macca with the same engine, and is open to 100% Merc ownership.

I personally predict Mercedes F1 based in Brackley in the not too distant future.

Jesus could you imagine that?!

http://www.mclaren.com/f1season/barcelona-mar09-11.php

was'nt you reminded a while ago that you shouldn't troll team threads

Is this honestly how you feel?

How strange, the only reason I would stop supporting my team is if they drop out of F1.

how is that trolling, hes making a perfectly legit prediction?

Do you honestly think he believes what he is saying?

Possibly. There are some pretty big wack-jobs on these forums

Some fan you are then

If you are going to support a team/driver then you should be willing to support them through the bad times as well as the good.

That would be what a loss in the era of homologated engines.

I wouldn't mind if that 40% share owned by Daimler would go down to zero. It was always a threat for me, but thanks to BGP and you, not anymore.

You don't think you should wait to see what happens when the racing starts first?

yeah, you utterly correct, it was only a while ago, they was threaten mclaren fans with the idea of Mercedes buying McLaren 100% and getting rid of the name, you quite right we should be cheering Josta

I had such heretic thoughts too

Why not? The thought had crossed my mind.

I don't think it's a sure thing but if they overachieve then it cold be an attractive option, much cheaper than buying McLaren.

It might be much cheaper to buy it, but definitely wouldn't be cheaper to keep the team going.

Daimler with McLaren and F1 makes profit right now, IMO, but who adds the more money into the budget? Who adds the more investments and the hard work into the racing team? The McLaren part, to my knowledge.

I did laugh when I read that, but I know you know better.

Well that would be the argument for being strictly a partner and supplier.. yet that hasn't been what manufacturers prefer in recent history. Toyota, Honda, BMW, Ford, Renault.. they've all taken over teams in the last decade or so. I guess the ability to control all aspects of the team outweigh the reduced liability of being just a supplier.

lol yea that quite a 'fan', bailing out bcos test times arent up to par......test times

Has anyone got intouch with the Hookers yet for Femi's whipping? He's got a day left for McLaren to "show some speed"

I was agreeing that the outlook was ok, especially with the new floor that appeared, the continued bad form and non appearance of a trick diffuser has me wavering slightly. I not bothered about the speeds really, but the supposed backend stability is worrying-some.

But I do laugh at the BrawnGP is going to be winning GP and beating McLaren, I'm off the opinion they are still doing the quick runs for sponsorship still.

Image 150 shows that same blanking plate on the rear diffuser. So it's either an integral part of the new rear end or there's something still to come. Who knows? Hamilton's losing the rear end doesn't fill me with confidence but some of the comments on here are frankly laughable.

In an earlier post, I said I believed they had only started working with their 09 setup yesterday and it seems that was the case. The problem will be if the 09 setup does not produce the expected results. They've still got five days to get this thing right - at least they seem to have decent reliability - some reward for chugging around on old tyres whilst others go for speed.

Yes, that's the manufacturers' preference, but apart from few exceptions, it's not that fruitful way for them.

Toyota? The world's largest automaker. Constant podium finishes? Wins? A champioship title? Where? Since when?

Honda, BMW?

I think Daimler is on a much clever, cheaper and more efficient way with F1. For them (the carmakers) it's about advertising anyway.

In my country, in Hungary the McLaren and Mercedes names in relation with F1 are considered almost the same, have become one, F1 fans use to call the F1 team, the McLaren car Mercedes, Merci (nickname). I think Daimler/Mercedes gets a lot for their money, people even call that British car Mercedes, and it is a Silberpfeil, a Silver Arrow, even for the Germans.

You're not likely to find me arguing that it's a sensible approach. I would much prefer to see a grid full of privateers instead of what we've got now, a grid full of teams that could leave at any moment.

However there must be some sort of incentive to go into ownership, as it has happened time and time again.

except airwise most of the top teams have already run their gp weekend sims

the only way that mclaren will be at the top of the grid is if they get lucky and the fixes actually work because I doubt they have been sandbagging till now. they are in deep shit and all the teams will know that such is the close observation of each other.

its also why people like me have down played the ferrari quotes that the launch car was only that and the final car would look quite different. well surprise surprise any changesa re bloody subtle. ferrari has neither the resources(budegt) nor TIME to teast to be mucking around.

there are also crucial differences between 2009/2004. ferrari had limitless testing by comparison then and could have a 2 different car programme. they could also work with the tyre manufacturer on diff tyres to most teams.

neither of which holds for mclaren.

and this would be how many times now newey has shot for the stars and hit the ground.

if the mclaren really does struggle its time newey reputation was re written

You do realise that AN hasnt been with Mac for a few seasons now?

Jesus, not even the first race has been run and alreday such a statement..

Sure, you might even turn out to be right, who knows. But there is simply no basis for that kind of speculation, not yet.

I'm one of the biggest Newey detractors you'll find but even I won't try to tie him to this car.

The '09 McLaren isn't a Newey design. It's a Bernard-Nichols creation.

Of course, I maybe wrong, but if I were Merc, I would be thinking this.

A team with ross at the helm, a better car than Mac, and up for 100% ownership with minimal cost, I would be dropping the 40% asap.
Merc could sell their 40% for far more than the cost of Brawn GP, and own the entire team.

Mercedes F1 with RB winning constitutes far better PR than 40% of Mac at the back of the grid.

You underestimate the Mclaren and Mercedes partnership. It extends beyond Formula 1.

Of course it makes great sense to dump your shares in a team that has been at or near the front most seasons, and won the WDC last season, for a team that has been consistently at the back of the grid, all based on a couple of days running.

Perfect sense.

If you smoked one too much, that is ...

I am a big fan of ManU. True, but I also marginally like Real (mainly for Van Nistelrooy and Zidane).

As for F1, I told you guys I love this team, but how can I fully support it when IT has let me down. From best car to backmarker, barely faster than Toro Rosso and Force India, who operate with a quarter of the budget that McLaren operates with.

I love the team and Hamilton but since they are not going to compete for wins this year, I will also turn my attention to potential winners (I truly want Webber and Trulli to do well, same for Piquet).

It's obvious you don't really love any team, you just want to support whoever is on top at the time. Mac don't owe you anything, and havent let you down. If things go wrong the only ones they have let down is themselves, but the true fans will continue to cheer for them regardless of the disappointment.

you are not a fan sorry, only glory supporter

Who cares anyway? I told you who I support: people fighting, overachieving. Underachievers are no good to me. Inefficiency is no good. McLaren will still be the team for me but I am willing to look past my love for McLaren and support others, deserving drivers/teams.

As for Mac owing me something, you are right. However, they do owe something to their sponsors and Mercedes who are paying BIG BUCKS to have a front runner. Santander will leave after this season, Mercedes was close to terminating its F1 operations and Vodafone may or may not renegotiate its contract.

I am confident McLaren will rebound from this, but when? and will it be too late? The technical decisions they took (chubby rear, driver placed further back, high and chubby sidepods, simple/archaic diffuser, etc.) have not paid off but at least they have reliability... but who doesn't have it?

Sorry. Double post.

Of course, the natural idea would be to provide engines first, for the good of F1.

Obviously, the good of F1 means nothing to a manufacturer like Merc.

So, see how it goes and act on this.

As it happens, McMerc are shit, and Brawn is good.

So Merc have the decision to make, mclaren at 40% or brawn at 100%

After a few GP's, they will decide.

If McLaren are shit, they will be dropped.

If Brawn outperform Macca, Merc will buy Brawn and forget Macca.

I predict this to be true.

this i agree on

I'll predict your wrong, so lets wait and see.

And when mercedes takes over, the first thing they need to do is fire the two drivers right away, who wants button and barrichello anyway, then hire vettel and kubica or hamilton

Why not just hire brawn to work at McMerc?

I get what you're saying. You still want to cheer somebody on for the title fight and since Mclaren wont be there, you'll look for somebody to support. I get that. Doesn't mean you have to stop supporting Mclaren, and wouldn't *rather* see Mclaren up there, though, right?

It'd be the same for me if it was something like Toyota vs. BrawnGP for the title. I'd probably start to side with one of them(probably Glock, I like him for some reason), just cuz I find more joy in sport when you've got the ups and downs of supporting somebody, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't rather see BMW or Ferrari up there. I'd still love to see BMW and Ferrari pull in some good results when they can even if they're not challenging for wins.

So I take it back that you're not a real fan.

Sad to say this, but a lot of fans (not all) of Ferrari and McLaren are not "true" fans. You don't stop to support your team/driver even when the results are bad.

I used to be a Arrows supporter until they went under. Now I hope for McLaren to do well, but a 6th place finish with Arrows still felt miles better than a McLaren win does today - just to put thing into perspective. I still love F1 and follow it closely, but will never have that special feeling with a team again. The best F1 fans IMO is the Williams fans that are still left. They are mostly objective and not "religious" like Ferrari/Macca fans often are. That said I still hope for a good McLaren this year, but to me the most important thing is that no team dominates totally like Ferrari did for a couple of seasons when Schumacher was active. That's probably fun for the fans of that team but gives poor racing/excitement/show for F1 overall.