The pessimism in this thread is something remarkable. Why don´t just wait and see?
Why is it a drama if Mclaren-Honda struggles at the start of the season? They need to spend time learning what they have in hands, what kind of issues they have and why, how they can solve them now and forever, what other issues may come. The only can learn about those issues when they turn up. Surely they would prefer issues didn´t exist but who said everything would be perfect? There are too many new things in this team, they must put everything together. Which is the idea, being competitive or being the best ones?
I cannot understand either the pessimism in this thread or the optimism in some other threads. I would be optimism if my team were the best one and pessimistic if my team were a lost cause, everything in the middle leaves many possibilities for the future.
I think Mercedes will be the team to beat, Red Bull will be strong, Ferrari has improved, Williams will be up there, but hey, I am not a fortune teller so I just think.
Where is McLaren-Honda? Where will they be in the future? Do you really know? I don´t have a clue. It is an interesting project because for some reason McLaren-Honda people truly sound like people with great expectations, and because I don't have a clue, I like it. They may be disappointed now but were they truly expecting to be really competitive by the time the first GP arrived? Didn´t they see any problems coming?
I´ve read enough internet forums for knowing that there are always people who know that something will never happen-something will happen for sure. I prefer saying this in a pessimistic thread because I don´t want to downplay people expectations, but the same ideas would apply in an optimistic thread. Wait and see.