Alonso to Renault again?

Does a Renault fit into their slim car or do they have to change their whole car? As Renault would not be their exclusive supplier they will not built an engine specific to their demands but their own. So parts of this chassis advantage might be gone with the Honda Engine as well?

Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

 

Re: The supposed $100M so many keep going on about ... When you consider how much McLaren are losing in multiple years of points payouts and sponsorship, and possibly in money lost due to damage to the McLaren brand, losing the Honda $$ probably wouldn't = a $100M loss to the bottom line.

The difference in prize money between 4th and, say, 9th in the WCC is something like $40M, right? Someone who knows better can answer that one tho. And then there's damage to the roadcar brand. I don't know how to put a $ amount on that, but I'd bet a lot that someone at McLaren surely does.

Honda is costing McLaren sponsorship. They desperately need more sponsors, but they aren't getting them riding in WCC P9.


.

 

Good, so Williams will get two crying babies...

 

Ridiculously simplistic take. He wants to keep Alonso because Alonso is one of the few sponsor draws he has left, and a big part of what made the Indy deal a good thing for the team was that it allowed McLaren to be more attractive to sponsors by gaining massive and much-needed exposure in a huge, different market. I remember reading somewhere that Brown said the team actually made money on the 500.

 

I won't argue with you about that bit.

Zak Brown looks to me more interested in pushing McLaren as a sports car brand than just a F1 team. That's a departure from what Ron Dennis used to do.

Zak Brown promoted Alonso's venture at Indy because it brought back the McLaren name at the brickyard.

Now, with the imminent collapse of the LMP1 category in endurance (only Toyota left), Zak Brown has hinted that McLaren could participate at Le Mans in future if the rules were to be rewritten to mimic the IMSA series that allows DPI prototypes - they are cheaper than LMP1.

In an article today in Motorsport, Zak Brown said McLaren would be interested in the top WEC category. Brown claims that the present LMP1 budgets are close to F1, so no incentive for manufacturers to participate. McLaren could be interested if it can sell the cars to private teams.

McLaren thee-pronged attack (F1, Indy, Le Mans) would benefit the McLaren brand, and strengthen its image as a sports car company. That's maybe what Zak Brown has in mind, and on reflection possibly what he was recruited to do.

 

I don't understand your point here. There is nothing for McLaren to 'work out' with Honda. Honda's engine is utterly rubbish. That is Honda's problem to fix, not McLaren's. If in McLaren's honest opinion, Honda are incapable of solving the issue, then McLaren needs to get a better engine partner. It's a simple as that. Dumping Alonso won't make their car any faster. Switching engine supplier will.

 

What did it cost McLaren to have Alonso at Indy this year?

At Monaco Button had a 15 place grid penalty for an engine issue. That would have been applied to Alonso if he'd been there. No matter how good Alonso is (was?) he'd never had made the points. The Andretti car he was driving at Indy was sponsored by Chandon, NTT with Honda picking up most of the tab. His run at Indy no only garnered massive interest in the event, but for Alonso himself and McLaren as both a team and as a knock on their road cars.

I see his Indy run as a massive BOOST to the team and the driver.

What resources were squandered for this perk?

P.S. I am in no way an Alonso fan or apologist. I can admire his ability, but his whining, his politics and willingness to throw teams (McLaren 07, Ferrari 14 and Honda now) under the bus mark him way way down on my personal list.

 

+1

Honda has completely destroyed McLaren status as a top team and also ruined Alonso's career.

To be honest, I wonder why it took 3 years for the issue to come to a crunch.

It's like a bad marriage; you don't wait many years before filing for divorce.

 

I see the Indy "project" as an attempt to bring the McLaren brand back at Indy.

I expect more of the same in future years.

 

+1

There are three main aspects to a having a fast F1 car: The chassis, the power-unit, and the driver.

At McLaren right now, two of those three are delivering what is required, whilst the third isn't, and Honda are the third part failing to deliver, yet again, for the 3rd year, and not Fernando!

 

+1 I am in complete agreement with both comments.

 

What are you talking about? I said they would welcome a NEW deal. Time for your meds

 

Weird take. Would you rather they dropped him and kept Honda? So you lose the best driver and keep the worst engine? Or keep the best driver and get a better engine with a switch to Renault?

McLaren wipes their ass with the $$$$ it cost to run him in the Indy 500. Drop in the bucket. Hell at this point they are probably considering doing LeMans just to have a chance at winning something in order to boost the image of their brand again now that the stupid (and stupid expensive) hybrid LMP1 rules will likely be dropped

 

Claire Williams:
"I have been very surprised to read in the press about a possible association between Williams and Fernando Alonso; I deny this, there is nothing true in this, nothing has ever been discussed, nothing at all".

Claire Williams dément la piste Alonso - F1i.com

Rgds

 

+1.

 

Thats not what they were reporting on NBC Sports during the SPA race with Hobo, Matchett and group.

 

Who says Honda will get it right with the next formula? Who says they would be willing to pay the salary of some random driver not named Fernando Alonso? Who says Alonso wouldn't be willing to take a pay cut to get different engines? Who says Alonso has 2 good years left? He has had zero drop off in form. Who says there isn't MEGA pressure from high ups in the company or the remaining sponsors the team still has to turn this around ASAP?

You speak in absolutes but there are way too many questions about this. It's a complicated situation. I think McLaren has run out of patience and it is time to move on. This has failed. Now it is time to fix it.

 

so in F1 speak that means there have been talks

 

McLaren have already given Honda 3 years to create a competitive engine. They have failed. Monumentally. As a business man, there is no way I would give a failed supplier 3 years to sort their problems out. McLaren giving Honda 4 would be foolish and a wild punt in the dark.

Renaults engine may not be perfect but it's already miles ahead of Hondas. Why do you believe Honda will suddenly leapfrog the entire grid and build the best engine for 2018? We thought that would happen last year and the year before but it didn't.

You are perfectly entitled to hate Alonso as a driver. Many people do. But irrationally supporting Honda as a result makes no sense.

 

+1

It's their business partner that's McLaren problem, nor their employee.

Although ...

Alonso will soon be out of the picture anyway, retured somewhere hot.

 

That's why I have suggested for McLaren to quit F1 altogether if a suitable and reliable and independent engine supplier cannot be found; call it FORCE MAJEURE.

Mateschitz and Marko have hinted the same for the next formula post 2020.

Liberty and the FIA better put their heads together and draw a sensible new engine formula and also think to finance an independent engine supplier not linked to a major manufacturer.

Really, McLaren and Red Bull are in the same boat on that one, having no choice of supplier and forced to some sort of status quo for the next 3 years at least it seems.

 

Absolutely. It's the decision process at McLaren that I cannot understand.

Granted, McLaren was in turmoil for at least 2 years with a palace revolution ending with Ron Dennis' departure, so no decision could be made.

But now since there is a new management, why should they believe anything Honda tell them in terms of progress.

In any kind of business, you cannot afford to suffer a dodgy supplier for 3 years, or expect it will come good next year. That's crazy management!!!