APRIL 3, 2018 McLaren promises juniors F1 debut McLaren is tangling a tantalising carrot in front of its junior drivers in 2018. According to Dutchman Nick de Vries, McLaren executive Zak Brown has promised that if he or Lando Norris wins the Formula 2 title this year, the prize will be an F1 seat. "If I become the Formula 2 champion in 2018, then I will get a seat in formula one. It's spelled out in my contract in black and white and that's what Zak told me," de Vries told the Dutch publication Hp De Tijd. He added: "The same conditions apply to Norris. Lando has some advantage, as his father has a good relationship with Zak and he pays for his career, but if I meet expectations in 2018, then I will be in formula one next season. "Everything is in my hands," de Vries added.
Huge pressure on De Vries this year. He's with the team who took the last two F2/GP2 champions to the title and he's got Norris, who's scaled the junior ladder much more quickly than him, breathing down his neck.
WHY? TONS of drivers drove in multiple series - happens all the time, not a big deal. Some of the best drivers ever did both F1 and F2, some did or do F1 and WDC, it should not be an issue. After all, don't we come on here and beat on drivers today because 'they don't race multiple series like the guys did back in the old days'?
Part of the young driver program but was always a stand out with them, so he had the McLaren backing for a long time. Ferrari's young driver program is similar, no? Massa was a Ferrari young driver not even having a role within Ferrari to start. I feel it's a good place if you can be a part of a team/manufacturer at that stage, impatient maybe but you'd be in a good place for opportunities.
Very solid 5th for Alonso in the opening race and both McLarens in the points. Toro Rosso nowhere on pace and already replacing the engine in Gasly's car and both drivers having a new MGU-H and turbo put in before Bahrain. Was SUCH a great decision to move to Renault.
Time is running out for Team McLaren. Boullier and Zak Brown better get their resumes' ready http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/43685480 McLaren's emergency meeting McLaren racing director Eric Boullier missed the team's post-qualifying news conference because he was in what was described as an "emergency meeting" with the team's engineers, picking over why the cars were so slow. Embarrassingly, McLaren were behind both Toro Rosso cars - which are using the Honda engine McLaren ditched last year claiming their car was among the best but being held back by the engine. A decision that cost the team a net $100m when Honda's financial assistance is taken into account. McLaren's bosses have some serious questions to answer, which Fernando Alonso - who only made it out of the first qualifying session because of another driver's mistake - was left to fend off in Boullier's absence. He said all the right things, that upgrades were coming that would fix all the issues, and that it was up to the team to do the required job. But make no mistake, pressure is mounting quickly at McLaren. Owners the Bahraini royal family are asking tough questions and if things do not improve quickly, heads could roll. All the bosses are in the firing line - including executive director Zak Brown, who has brought in minimal new sponsorship, and chief operating officer Jonathan Neale. But Boullier is the most vulnerable, as the man who set up McLaren's current technical structure.
I've said it for the last three years. I REALLY do not understand why this Boullier guy is still with this team. He was, and will be never, in control. From the very first year he's not taking any responsibility. The only thing he did well was getting away with that for so long. I reckon the main reason for that is that all issues around the position of Ron Dennis was taking away the attention to the really poor performance of Boullier. Sack the guy asap and start again. Patty Lowe might be interested...
APRIL 9, 2018 Brown denies McLaren juniors promised F1 debut APRIL 9, 2018 A McLaren junior driver has backtracked after saying Zak Brown has promised him he will move into F1 next year if he wins the Formula 2 title. Nyck de Vries had told a Dutch publication that the promise is "spelled out in black and white" in his contract, "and that's what Zak told me". "The same conditions apply to Norris," Dutchman de Vries added. But McLaren executive Brown denies it. "That is not an accurate reflection of the conversation," he said in Bahrain. "But Nyck's a very good driver and McLaren will always look to put the two best drivers that it can in the car. "No one has any promises from McLaren verbally or contractually as to who is going to be in our car in 2019," Brown insisted. And suddenly, 23-year-old de Vries is not willing to talk about the topic at all. "Unfortunately I can't," he said in Bahrain. "You shouldn't ask anything else about it because I cannot answer."
After McLaren drives their own value down to about a quid and two pence, maybe Bernie will buy it. lol
Axing Honda was McLaren mistake says Marko APRIL 12, 2018 Dr Helmut Marko says McLaren's 2018 car is obviously "not great". The British team went into Bahrain targeting the top three teams, but was ultimately outpaced even by the newly Honda-powered Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso. "Mr Alonso wanted to attack Red Bull but he was behind the Toro Rosso," Marko is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. "The McLaren cannot be that great and it was not just the Honda engine that made them slow -- they are still last on the straight with the Renault," he added. So Marko, whose Red Bull outfit is considering switching from Renault to Honda for 2019, joins those who think McLaren made a strategic error late last year. "They not only lost an engine that is getting better and better, they also gave up a lot of money," he said. Given that they share a Renault engine, the rivalry between McLaren and Red Bull this year is obvious. McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne told France's Auto Hebdo: "No matter what engine you have in the car, you're always under pressure in formula one. "We have clearly identified Red Bull as a reference point so it makes sense to be compared with them. "But we are only at the beginning of the season, so we have to wait a bit for the arrival of new parts to see exactly where we are in the hierarchy," the Belgian added.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-set-bar-too-low-with-2018-car-boullier-1026189/ "We just need to make the car faster around the corners and in a straight line."