McLaren in 2019: Sainz and Norris, sponsors, management, rumour and scuttlebutt from the MTC

McLaren, Huski Chocolate extend partnership to Indy 500 https://www.mclaren....ip-to-Indy-500/

Edited by AustinF1, 03 April 2019 - 17:18.

Good to see new sponsors wanting to be more engaged with the brand.

Also I'm fairly sure that with the F1 team finally "on the up" Zak will know focus more on the IndyCar team too. I think a full season entry for next season is likely.

McLaren, Huski Chocolate extend partnership to Indy 500 https://www.mclaren....ip-to-Indy-500/

Things are lining up with Key and Seidl coming onboard. They should be able to settle in nicely, as there are no apparent fires to put out with the car looking decent so far.

The Indy Car venture looks pretty promising as well, assuming they can finance it with sponsorship money. Having the tech resources of the F1 group in the background must be a great asset that no other team in the IRL could have. Can't hurt their chances of be coming competitive sooner than later. From a sponsorship point of view I would think that many of McLaren's sponsors might see the IRL market fitting very nicely along side their F1 investment.

I wonder how sponsors of other teams in F1 might view this...

McLaren, Huski Chocolate extend partnership to Indy 500 https://www.mclaren....ip-to-Indy-500/

Is Huski sold in the US, or is Indy that popular outside the US?

Is Huski sold in the US, or is Indy that popular outside the US?

If it is, I have no idea where. I'd never heard of it until I saw it on the 34. So then, the sponsorship works, I guess. Maybe they're gonna enter this market?

Is Huski sold in the US, or is Indy that popular outside the US?

"The US is currently Huski Chocolate's biggest market"

from the PR

Great idea that McLaren grows into the big American Market. 

See what happens in five years time.

"The US is currently Huski Chocolate's biggest market"

from the PR

Norris did a great job in Bahrain but I suspect he's still slightly behind Sainz, who desperately needs a bit of luck because misfortune has masked a pretty impressive start to his McLaren career from what I've seen. 

Norris did a great job in Bahrain but I suspect he's still slightly behind Sainz, who desperately needs a bit of luck because misfortune has masked a pretty impressive start to his McLaren career from what I've seen. 

Well yes, after all he's only just begun his F1 career in earnest as distinct from being a test driver.

Norris was very impressive.  So why is it that when he speaks it sounds like English is his second language? What is his accent?

English? You ain't heard nuthin' yet.

Is Huski sold in the US, or is Indy that popular outside the US?

If it is, I have no idea where. I'd never heard of it until I saw it on the 34. So then, the sponsorship works, I guess. Maybe they're gonna enter this market?

Don't know about the US, but Huski is about as common round these parts (UK) as the infamous Rich Energy drink.

I blame Verstappen for collision. From his onboard it looked like Sainz got fully ahead under braking yet Max let pedal go and barged into side of McLaren. What a moron.

English? You ain't heard nuthin' yet.

Lando's accent is generic slightly posh english as far as I can see.

Please enjoy this bird, either a huge fan of today's McLaren team or else sponsorship deals have moved to wildlife.

Lando's accent is generic slightly posh english as far as I can see.

I thought the other weekend that his accent was rather odd tbh. 

As long as he keeps driving like he has been though, he could adopt a thick Jamaican accent and who would care. 

On this weeks Inside Line on Sky,there's an interview with him aged 13-14, his accent there is very different to what it is now. He seems to change his accent dependent on where he is in the world, rather like Mark Webber did on occasion.

A lot of people do that without realising it, and it doesn't necessarily take that long. My other half says she finds it funny when we visit my parents and my accent changes completely.

The blu on the IndyCar seems to be a bit lighter compared to the blu on the F1 car.

Full reveal on Monday by the way.

Hopefully this May will go a bit better than 2017. Back then Mecca got 2 cars in Q3 and 1 in fast 9, but then 3 DNF on race day.

The blu on the IndyCar seems to be a bit lighter compared to the blu on the F1 car.
 

It does look a lighter shade of blue. More better to differentiate from Scott Dixon’s car which has a similar orange/blue combo. Can’t wait to see the full livery. Hopefully there will be something to see from the test on April 9th.

A question - are we using this thread to discuss the Indy500 adventure as well?

Got 3 of these in Austin for my 500 trip with my boys...

ETA: To answer your question, we do have this thread ... 

McLaren return to Indy 500 in 2019 with Alonso https://forums.autos...l=+alonso +indy

Edited by AustinF1, 05 April 2019 - 14:24.

Hopefully this May will go a bit better than 2017. Back then Mecca got 2 cars in Q3 and 1 in fast 9, but then 3 DNF on race day.

Yeah, podium in Monaco and win for Nando would do just fine. 

So, can we talk about Macca's Indy 500 car here? I'd like to know how the Chevy engine is looking this year, and what the overall feeling is going into the 500. Is there a separate thread yet or is it OK to talk here?

Don’t see any problem with having a separate thread for McLaren’s Indycar efforts.

I posted the link above for the McLaren Indy 500 return thread. Is that not the place for it? 

McLaren return to Indy 500 in 2019 with Alonso https://forums.autos...l=+alonso +indy

I blame Verstappen for collision. From his onboard it looked like Sainz got fully ahead under braking yet Max let pedal go and barged into side of McLaren. What a moron.

Do you have a link to the video?

I posted the link above for the McLaren Indy 500 return thread. Is that not the place for it?

McLaren return to Indy 500 in 2019 with Alonso https://forums.autos...l=+alonso +indy

Do you have a link to the video?

You could argue that, but it does appear that Sainz takes the corner first and as such Max should read his line and adjust for it, whereas it seems he just attempts to sling it up the inside and hope Sainz magically gets out the way...

https://youtu.be/18OE3O_t7mM

Personally I think Sainz should have just allowed more room.

https://youtu.be/18OE3O_t7mM

Personally I think Sainz should have just allowed more room.

Thanks for the link! I dunno, man. Looking at that video, which I don't think they ever showed during the reason for some reason btw, it looks to me as if Carlos was fully past Max. That makes Max the overtaker once they approach the next corner. He came from wayyyyyy back, and he didn't get it done cleanly, puncturing Carlos's tire in the process.

I'm not sure it would have mattered how much room Sainz left.

During the race I thought it was just a racing incident & that maybe Carlos should have left a bit more room, but after seeing this video, it's completely on Max imho. Like you say, I'm not sure it would have helped if Carlos had left more room. Max used him as a brake for the turn, and ruined his race.

Edited by AustinF1, 05 April 2019 - 19:11.

You could argue that, but it does appear that Sainz takes the corner first and as such Max should read his line and adjust for it, whereas it seems he just attempts to sling it up the inside and hope Sainz magically gets out the way...

Yep. This here...

https://youtu.be/18OE3O_t7mM

Personally I think Sainz should have just allowed more room.

Agreed. Another half-metre and Verstappen would not have had an excuse, but with the heavy kerb on his right and the fact that he was already under maximum braking, he didn't have quite enough room to avoid contact - racing incident.

Yep. This here...

Edited by jensfan09, 07 April 2019 - 20:50.

Any bets that Lando will tonk Sainz come end  of the season?

Any bets that Lando will tonk Sainz come end  of the season?

We'll have to wait for a race where they both finish without any issues!

Any bets that Lando will tonk Sainz come end  of the season?

I'd be surprised if he did, but certainly not an impossible task.

Agreed. Another half-metre and Verstappen would not have had an excuse, but with the heavy kerb on his right and the fact that he was already under maximum braking, he didn't have quite enough room to avoid contact - racing incident.

Max was purposefully late on the brakes to put himself back into contention for the corner - and as others have stated, went into the corner fast expecting the McLaren to magically jump out of the way.  With the line he took, even if Sainz had left more room, the two would still have collided as Max wasn't ever going to be able to make that turn cleanly.  We unfortunately see far too many of these sorts of accidents from Verstappen, he really doesn't seem to be learning - however, if he gets away with them - why should he?

On this weeks Inside Line on Sky,there's an interview with him aged 13-14, his accent there is very different to what it is now. He seems to change his accent dependent on where he is in the world, rather like Mark Webber did on occasion.

Maybe it changed as he went to a "posh" school for his final years  

It was another 'Verstappen karting special' where he judged it to perfection. The idea is to aim with your front tyre to hit his front tyre. This always works in a kart because a kart is not that fragile. There's plenty of footage on youtube where Max does this to his opponent in a gokart. Also his overtake on Ocon in Abu Dhabi last year was similar. Verstappen was just lucky that he didn't get any damage and Sainz did.

But it was also extremely stupid from Sainz. He knows who he's dealing with and if there's any track where overtaking is just too easy and you don't have to risk anything, it's Bahrain. I think he probably feels pressured by Norris already and was so anxious to get past. We saw Sainz against Verstappen, Kvyat and Hulkenberg, so it's pretty clear that he is nothing special for f1 standards, but Norris might be. I really liked Norris' approach of not risking it at the start and just making sure to get to the finish. A very mature approach and the only way to ensure that you actually get that racing experience in.

I am really conflicted about assigning blame. When looking at the video, it seems as if Sainz is past and it was Verstappen who ran into him.

But Sainz would have known that the Red Bull is probably better under braking and that Verstappen would most likely come back at him.

So did he give enough room or did he try to squeeze Verstappen out of a counter? Verstappen did get on the curb so he was trying to avoid Sainz and he was still in control of the car (no locked brakes etc.)

We all want to see racing and cars coming back after being overtaken by taking a different line through the next corner is just the thing we want to see.

So I am inclined to go with racing incident.

Sainz wasn't clear in his line. He closed the door a bit too late and slow, taking a weird line in the corner.

It didn't work this time for him, but maybe next time (who knows ?) Max will be more cautious because of it.

Sainz wasn't clear in his line. He closed the door a bit too late and slow, taking a weird line in the corner.

 

It didn't work this time for him, but maybe next time (who knows ?) Max will be more cautious because of it.

Thats my hope. It was a sign from Sainz that he won't move over for Max...

I wonder if Sainz felt he needs to get his elbows out as he's kinda become the forgotten one of the new gen. Max, Leclerc, even Norris are all the big things and there's Sainz, tootling along. Wonder if he felt that to put the move on Max and make a statement was important.

Maybe, but I don't think he was forgotten. I personally, don't think Max is the next 'best' thing. He's talented, but people were talking him up to be the next Hamilton i.e. record breaker. He'll win 2, maybe 3 titles and thats it I think. I also suspect he'll move from RBR in the not too distant future... but as for Sainz. I put him on the same level as Max, I actually rate him quite highly but also fear he may become the next Hulk...

Really pleased with the way Lando has settled in to the team... it seems like he has a lot more experience than just 2 races (and testing). I expect at some point the inexperience will pop out, but so far so good.

with Sainz I would like to see him have a solid race, he was unlucky in Aus, and the Max thing i'm not sure about whilst clearly Max caused collision, it might have been wiser to have waited for a better chance. I think Sainz will prove to be a solid lead driver however... he was never that far behind Max in the TR days

 

But it was also extremely stupid from Sainz. He knows who he's dealing with 

Nope, every single driver needs to adopt a policy of ALWAYS making Max hit them if he wants to. He can not be allowed to get free passes because 'well everyone knows he is a nutter'.