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

The first refers to the fact that the number four in McLaren – Chief Operating Officer Simon Roberts – is leaving the team he has been with for 15 years. One presumes that Roberts has another job to go to, but it is still a fairly major change at McLaren, where he has long been one of the pillars of the team. A pretty heavy-hitter in the car industry in his youth, working as head of divisions at Rover and at BMW after the British firm was taken over by the Germans, Roberts has been at McLaren ever since, apart from a stint at Force India when the team was a major McLaren customer and Simon was seconded to Silverstone to make sure things ran smoothly. Also leaving Woking is Dave Probyn, a management consultant who has a background in quality control, but who has been with the team for two years, using the title “Operations Director”. His background was at Toyota, where he spent 10 years before working for five years with Mercedes in various F1 roles.

https://www.motorspo...saward/id/00498

Other changes at Woking.

https://www.youtube....h?v=mgLmwyPD6TU

In the case you haven't seen that vid.

The sound of this car ,love it!    

Good luck to them. 

Edited by ExEd, 05 May 2019 - 16:56.

'Exciting new additions' added to Brand Centre. According to the team. 

'Exciting new additions' added to Brand Centre. According to the team. 

New Sponsors?

New Sponsors?

Might be new hospitality areas - featuring Coca Cola or Huski or Estrella Galicia or a gaming/McLaren Shadow thing?

Nice general article on Carlos:

https://www.formula1...Pa9xK18xBI.html

looks like a few new bits on the car in that press release

Re: Arrow; it’s not just racing, it’s group-wide partnership.

Edited by Owen, 09 May 2019 - 07:55.

Andreas Seidl Q&A

https://www.mclaren....-andreas-seidl/

I think I'm placing an unreasonable amount of faith in Andreas. I have been excited about him since the rumours began (and we weren't even sure that it would be McLaren he'd come to).

 

Is Lyft a new sponsor this weekend too?

Can't remember a car with so many sponsors on in the last 20 years

Edited by ar1, 09 May 2019 - 16:25.

Mclaren the team with the maximum sponsor additions in the last 18 months. With the addition of Key, Seidl and ever improving Road car business things look good.

I thought that, about 12 months or so ago, people were reading the Last Rites for Mclaren. 

I want Williams to improve as well. We've lost too many historical names 

It's cool to see that the team seems to be regaining the ability to attract sponsors. 

You have to give credit where it's due, and I think Zak has done a fantastic job in that front.

The next logical step is for the team to regain its technical strength (show that it can build a competitive chassis) and then go on the hunt for an exclusive engine manufacturer deal. 

Is Lyft a new sponsor this weekend too?

I want Williams to improve as well. We've lost too many historical names 

You can't replace old names with new old names. I like that Mac are back, and back in 1968 orange "papaya" colour. All things are pointing to a big step up the grid this year. 

autosport really hates McLaren:

Norris on softs has unsurprisingly gone fastest on a 1m20.985, beating Gasly's time on the hards.

from the live feed.

It's cool to see that the team seems to be regaining the ability to attract sponsors. 

 

You have to give credit where it's due, and I think Zak has done a fantastic job in that front.

 

The next logical step is for the team to regain its technical strength (show that it can build a competitive chassis) and then go on the hunt for an exclusive engine manufacturer deal. 

Bayerische Motoren Werke   

'Exciting new additions' added to Brand Centre. According to the team.

https://twitter.com/...619423186165762

Check Lando's reply

https://twitter.com/...619423186165762

 

Check Lando's reply

Kinda nice to see the team mate having off track jokes. 

Hi - I'm just visiting from the Renault thread. I was just wondering if you had a spare strategist we could borrow? Our is broken.

Good luck 

Hi - I'm just visiting from the Renault thread. I was just wondering if you had a spare strategist we could borrow? Our is broken.

lol - You could try Ferrari?

At 1:12 what they are putting on Carlos, some new kind of suspension?

https://www.formula1...takes_here.html

Q: What are McLaren hoping for? What are the expectations:

Lando: We're hoping for a 1-2

Similar interview with Carlos:

https://www.formula1...difference.html

Edited by CPR, 22 May 2019 - 19:41.

The cars now have an impressive amount of sponsors on them at last. BAT sponsorship now moved to the sidepods with Vype brand for Monaco, lets hope it stays in this location as the bare sidepods really annoyed me. I believe this is the first commercial deal to occupy the sidepods since 2014

Edited by Mc_Silver, 23 May 2019 - 20:23.

McLaren has 43 partnerships listed on their website now.

Quantity is not particularly relevant. They may (and truth be told probably are) not worth very much.

The accounts for 2018 have now been published and are terrible (as expected).

Income fell from £197m in 2017 to £124m in 2018. This is £8m less than Williams earned last year.

Costs increased, presumably as a result of having to pay for the Renault engine, so the loss before tax increased from £16m in 2017 to £102m in 2018. The loss was partially reduced by the £10m profit made selling off some of the teams collection of historic racing cars.

Headcount was virtually unchanged at 714 compared to 706 in 2017. However, salary costs ballooned by nearly 20% from £51m to £60m (potentially the team having to pay at least part of Alonso's salary instead of Honda).

Despite the poor performance one Director was paid £3.7m (£0.6m in 2017).

The team now owes other companies in McLaren £141m.

What was the matter with Norris mid-race? He was so slow it almost had to be a tactical decision by McLaren? Didn't get what was going on there.

At some point McLaren told Norris "You can drive normally now", wonder what that meant.

Fantastic haul of points for Sainz, he drove a great race and used the opportunity well.

What was the matter with Norris mid-race? He was so slow it almost had to be a tactical decision by McLaren? Didn't get what was going on there.

 

At some point McLaren told Norris "You can drive normally now", wonder what that meant.

 

Fantastic haul of points for Sainz, he drove a great race and used the opportunity well.

They were using him to create a gap for Sainz to fall into when he pits.

Sainz is showing his class. Nice to see!

It's a shame we didn't get to see Sainz's pass on Kvyat on turn 3 round the outside, it should be one of the top moves of the year. We also missed the one Norris did in Bahrain. What's the matter with the broadcasts lately? It's not like we have lots of action in these last races but we're surely missing a lot of the best.

I think both Sainz and Norris have been proving that they're not the most mediocre pairing McLaren's had for a long time as some were saying at the start of the season. The car is not as bad as last year's, but also the midfield is very tight and it could've been so easy for the drivers to mess it up. Pit stops also are among the best on the grid so it's definitely a proper team effort. I'm happy for them.

Edited by GunnarN7, 26 May 2019 - 17:05.

I think both Sainz and Norris have been proving that they're not the most mediocre pairing McLaren's had for a long time as some were saying at the start of the season. The car is not as bad as last year's, but also the midfield is very tight and it could've been so easy for the drivers to mess it up. Pit stops also are among the best on the grid so it's definitely a proper team effort. I'm happy for them.

Okay but to be fair, when your previous drivers at McLaren were basically all world champions at one point, isn't it a little understandable?  "Mediocre" would be the wrong word. Just "less accomplished".

Okay but to be fair, when your previous drivers at McLaren were basically all world champions at one point, isn't it a little understandable?  "Mediocre" would be the wrong word. Just "less accomplished".

It is understandable, but that's the thing: mediocre is the wrong word and that's exactly the one it was used or meant. Sainz still has a lot to prove (this was his 5th Q3 in Monaco, it's not like he hasn't done any of this before), but some people refused to give him a chance to begin with. I think it's because he lacks the charm other drivers have, but also because of the cliched "you're as good as your last race". His 2018 season was a big meh and he was also dumped by Red Bull, so of course he was going to be mediocre. 

It's a shame we didn't get to see Sainz's pass on Kvyat on turn 3 round the outside, it should be one of the top moves of the year. We also missed the one Norris did in Bahrain. What's the matter with the broadcasts lately? It's not like we have lots of action in these last races but we're surely missing a lot of the best.

 

I think both Sainz and Norris have been proving that they're not the most mediocre pairing McLaren's had for a long time as some were saying at the start of the season. The car is not as bad as last year's, but also the midfield is very tight and it could've been so easy for the drivers to mess it up. Pit stops also are among the best on the grid so it's definitely a proper team effort. I'm happy for them.

is this the move you're referring to?

https://www.formula1...lVYXOAVIzQ.html

They were using him to create a gap for Sainz to fall into when he pits.

Yeah, seems like it.

Norris has been too nice and self critical. He shouldn't be letting himself be used like that anymore this season. It will hurt him in the long run. He's young but he's got to stand up for himself.

The cars now have an impressive amount of sponsors on them at last. BAT sponsorship now moved to the sidepods with Vype brand for Monaco, lets hope it stays in this location as the bare sidepods really annoyed me. I believe this is the first commercial deal to occupy the sidepods since 2014
 

Yeah, seems like it.
 
Norris has been too nice and self critical. He shouldn't be letting himself be used like that anymore this season. It will hurt him in the long run. He's young but he's got to stand up for himself.

Yeah, seems like it.

 

Norris has been too nice and self critical. He shouldn't be letting himself be used like that anymore this season. It will hurt him in the long run. He's young but he's got to stand up for himself.

If him and Carlos deliver 4th in WCC with a strong finish to the season Lando may find himself stepping aside for Fernando! That would be a tough call if he produces some great drives....

I think a strong development driver would be what's needed to close the gap in front and an F1 rookie is probably not that but Carlos looks pretty stout at delivering week in week out, that was a helluva race at Monaco, got the maximum + out of a car which wasn't suited to the place.

Norris has been too nice and self critical. He shouldn't be letting himself be used like that anymore this season. It will hurt him in the long run. He's young but he's got to stand up for himself.

 

I tend to disagree. Now the Team is not in the position to let the drivers "stand up for themselves". It's not the proper ambition for the McLaren driver to beat teammate for, say, fifth or sixth place. So taking into account our current situation the drivers should work together because now they don't have anything to fight against each other for. And I'm delighted to see that both Carlos and Lando seem to understand that.

If him and Carlos deliver 4th in WCC with a strong finish to the season Lando may find himself stepping aside for Fernando! That would be a tough call if he produces some great drives....

 

I think a strong development driver would be what's needed to close the gap in front and an F1 rookie is probably not that but Carlos looks pretty stout at delivering week in week out, that was a helluva race at Monaco, got the maximum + out of a car which wasn't suited to the place.

But why will Alonso come back to drive a car that is only 4th in WCC. What benefit will it be to him? He is after wins/wdc not just finishing up high in the order