Formula 1 - 2017

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Franz Tost says Toro Rosso 'quick', but reliability still a concern

Toro Rosso Team Principal Franz Tost believes the squad has a “fast” package for the 2017 Formula 1 season, but is wary over the lack of reliability shown during pre-season testing.

Carlos Sainz Jr.’s quickest lap time left him seventh on the combined timesheets for the second four-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Daniil Kvyat further back, in 14th, having recorded his best time on a harder set of tyres.

However, Toro Rosso finished the entire pre-season period having completed more laps than only McLaren, amid technical issues, the bulk of which struck the STR12 during the first week.

“After completing the two pre-season tests in Barcelona I can affirm that the STR12 is a fast and competitive car,” said Tost.

“One weak point is the reliability, as we’ve had too many issues over these two weeks.

“On the positive side, I can say that this situation has improved compared to the first test, but there has still been a few problems that have taken track time away.

“The good news is that we know what the issues are – nothing major – so I’m confident we can solve them all before getting to Australia thanks to all the valuable data we’ve collected.”

Tost is sure that Toro Rosso has the pace to be embroiled in the thick of the midfield action when the new season begins in Australia next weekend.

“Regarding our drivers, I have to say that both Carlos and Daniil have done a fantastic job every time they’ve jumped in the car and provided very useful feedback,” he commented.

“Our engineers will now analyse all the data gathered to optimise the set-up for Melbourne.

“I’m really looking forward to the season ahead, I think we’re going to have a very interesting fight with the midfield teams.”

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Max Verstappen's walk to see the fans

Max went for an impromptu visit to the grandstands during the Barcelona test to meet the fans at Turn 10. Check out the reaction!

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Inside Daniel Ricciardo's driver room

Daniel Ricciardo gives you a guided tour of his driver room at F1 Testing in Barcelona

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Massa wanted guarantees before confirming Williams return

Felipe Massa asked for guarantees that Williams was going in the right direction and that his input would be valued before committing to returning to F1 with the Grove team this season.

Massa was contacted by the deputy team principal Claire Williams following Nico Rosberg's retirement announcement, after it became clear that Mercedes had targeted Valtteri Bottas.

Massa then travelled to the UK to discuss what went wrong for the team the year before.

"She called me straight away, so we spoke," said Massa, "And then I took the plane to England to sit with her and just discuss so many things around that, so many things around the team, so many things that I believe [were] some ideas for the team that didn't work last year.

"So anyway, we had a very long conversation. And then it took a little bit of time to be 100 percent clear. It was not just due to myself, but also because of so many things around – with Mercedes, with Valtteri, with me. Anyway, it took a little bit of time."

Massa says that in the end he was convinced returning was the right choice to make: "I just followed my heart, and really followed all the messages I got from the fans, from my family.

"I didn't really see any message saying 'don't do it'. I just followed my heart, that's what I love to do. I was for sure not ready to carry on in Formula 1 just to be part of the grid.

"I think if I work somewhere, I need to work in a place where I feel important, that I can be important, and maybe I can be competitive.

"I took this decision to carry on because I found the possibility to stay in a professional direction."

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Wet standing starts approval includes new terms agreed by F1 teams

Last week the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved Formula 1's plan to hold standing starts for races held in poor conditions, including details only recently agreed by teams.

The aim of the rule change is to retain the excitement of a race start even if the cars need to initially set off behind the safety car.

While the rule is written to also cover reasons other than rain (such as oil on track), assuming that poor weather is the reason, the cars will set off behind the safety car, with the full wet-weather Pirelli tyre compulsory for all drivers.

The laps behind the safety car will effectively be additional formation laps, however only the first tour after the cars leave the grid will not be taken from the original race length.

Drivers starting the race from the pits will be allowed to join the rear of the field behind the safety car to get a feel for the conditions, however they will be forced back to the pitlane when it is time for the safety car to come in and allow the race start procedure to take place.

Drivers cannot follow the safety car into the pits and switch to intermediates or slicks for the start proper, or they will face a subsequent 10 second stop-go penalty. And any driver that pits during the safety car phase before the start will be forced to take the race start from the pit lane.

Of note, drivers starting from the pits are not obliged to take part in the formation laps behind the safety car. While carrying extra fuel could be considered an advantage as it will reduce the need for fuel-saving once the race begins, the teams agreed that the weight penalty for carrying the extra fuel would be greater.

While overtaking is prohibited behind the safety car as normal, the rules state if someone is delayed getting away, "drivers may only overtake to re-establish the original starting order or the order the cars at the pit exit were in when the formation lap was started." Any driver unable to take up his position before the safety car pulls in will be forced to start from the pits.

If conditions do not improve during the laps behind the safety car, the race director can bring the field back into the pits to wait for an improvement in the weather.

This will not count as a race suspension, as the race will not have officially started - but if this does happen, there will not be a second attempt at lining the cars up on the grid for a standing start.

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Haas F1 team eyes Bahrain GP for test of new brakes

Haas is now hoping that it can test new Formula 1 brakes from Carbone Industrie at the Bahrain Grand Prix, as it continues to work on its longstanding problems.

The American-based team has cited a lack of consistency with its current brakes from Brembo as something that needs addressing, with Romain Grosjean unhappy about the situation.

But switching suppliers is not so straightforward this year because the wider discs require a bigger design overhaul, which is why Haas is working with Brembo at the moment to find a solution.

Grosjean said after testing: "I can't live with the weight of brake issues.

"It clearly is something key for me and I struggle a lot because of that.

"Now, we'll try to work at best with people at Brembo to find solutions."

The team says it is hoping that a Carbone Industrie test will take place early in the season - potentially at the third race.

Team principal Gunther Steiner said: "Maybe we will do it in Bahrain."

Steiner is adamant, however, that the brake problems are not enough to worry the team early on, especially with new recruit Kevin Magnussen not complaining at all.

"We have got things in the pipeline but they just take a little bit of time," Steiner said.

"For the short term we have got a solution which is maybe not ideal but is at least safe.

"Then, when we get on with the programme after the first races, hopefully then we will have the final solution."

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10 minutes ago, skalls said:

I'm hoping that the pre-season form from McLaren is an aberration but I fear this is 2015 for them all over again.  Hard to bet against the big 3 for Australia.  gonna be a long 2 weeks.

That in itself is a sad revelation as McLaren "Was" one of the big 3 and I'd love to see them back in form.

[skalls]

1 minute ago, MIKA27 said:

That in itself is a sad revelation as McLaren "Was" one of the big 3 and I'd love to see them back in form.

I can't say they've been my favorite team, but Alonso and Jenson were a good duo and I always liked seeing those two race.  They shouldn't be at the back of the back but given how they looked I'm not sure they can beat Sauber (or manor if they still had the financing).

[MIKA27]

7 minutes ago, skalls said:

I can't say they've been my favorite team, but Alonso and Jenson were a good duo and I always liked seeing those two race.  They shouldn't be at the back of the back but given how they looked I'm not sure they can beat Sauber (or manor if they still had the financing).

Well I love referring back to the days even earlier where I followed Mika Häkkinen and DC, great team back then, great drivers and great racing.

[Baldy]

McLaren should change their name to McDonald's racing.  Setup up a drive-thru booth at the start/finish line and ask the other teams if they want a coffee for the next lap. The racing team can still be working on repairing the car in the pit lane.

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13 hours ago, Baldy said:

McLaren should change their name to McDonald's racing.  Setup up a drive-thru booth at the start/finish line and ask the other teams if they want a coffee for the next lap. The racing team can still be working on repairing the car in the pit lane.

Funny you mention McDonalds, it won't be far in the future where such companies will sponsor teams. Similarly to the next article, although NOT a fast food chain, some sponsors expect one to change colour schemes etc.

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FORCE INDIA CHANGES TO PINK LIVERY

Press Release: Force India’s VJM10 will race in pink, magenta and silver to mark the beginning of a long-term relationship with the Austrian-headquartered water brand.

The new colours will make their debut at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The partnership represents BWT’s first involvement in Formula One as the brand takes advantage of the sport’s global footprint to promote its unique water treatment products, such as the BWT Magnesium Mineralizer. BWT’s presence is also reinforced with the BWT pink helmets of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon to complement the unique BWT pink car.

Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director of Sahara Force India: “The arrival of BWT in Formula One is huge news and represents one of the most significant partnerships in our ten year history. It’s a sign of how far we have come as a team with our strong results and completes a solid commercial performance over the winter. For 2017 our cars will sport a vibrant new colour scheme with a smart matte finish. Changing the colour of our cars is an indication of the strength of this new partnership and a real statement of intent from BWT as they begin their relationship with the sport of Formula One.”

BWT CEO Andreas Weißenbacher, on BWT’s decision to sponsor a Formula 1 team, says: “The collaboration with Sahara Force India is an important part of our brand-globalisation strategy and will dynamically increase awareness of our brand around the world. We share with Formula 1 – the premier league of motor sport – the passion we show every day in trying to achieve the best possible standards for our elixir of life, H2O, enabling us to meet the demanding requirements for quality, health, safety and hygiene and drive the development of new technologies.”

MIKA: For the record it's NOT pink....it's Salmon

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MARCHIONNE: WE HAVE TO BE AS WE WERE WHEN SCHUMACHER WAS HERE

Ferrari chief Sergio Marchionne is being much more conservative with regards to his views ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season, nevertheless he has revealed that the team wants to return to the winning ways of the the Michael Schumacher era.

Speaking to media in Geneva, Marchionne said, “It is now nine years that we have not won the F1 title, this season will be the tenth. It will end.”

Marchionne acknowledges that big gains were made by the Reds, but he still regards Mercedes as favourites, “The new car is reliable and credible. It a huge step forward. Objectives? Winning for sure is the goal and that is absolutely clear. When it will happens I cannot say.”

“We had two objectives in Barcelona: to be reliable and to be up there in comparison to Red Bull. Right now Mercedes is still ahead. As for McLaren, I wish them a speedy recovery.”

Sebastian Vettel agrees with his boss, “Our car is certainly better than last year. But Mercedes have traditionally slowed down in tests and then fly at the races. They are still the ones to beat.”

“It’s going to be an interesting season. The cars are so much faster than last year, the drivers are having to work their asses off to earn their pay-cheque, which I think is good to see. They’re getting out of the car really sweaty,” concluded Marchionne.

[Baldy]

^^ Still a better looking colour scheme than McLaren's. 

 

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ABITEBOUL: RED BULL IN A POSITION TO FIGHT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul is confident that his company’s power unit will be a front-runner this season and predicts that Red Bull will be title contenders this year.

Speaking in the aftermath of Barcelona preseason testing, Abiteboul said of Red Bull, “Clearly they will be in a position to fight for the championship. We know that and we will be doing our utmost in order to enable them to do that. We have to start with a reliable engine for race one.”

This is a ballsy prediction by the Renault chief as their engines were hardly a model of reliability in Spain. Compared to Mercedes and Ferrari they perhaps had the pace, but certainly lacked the bullet-proof reliability of the pace setters.

Red Bull, with their TAG Heuer branded power units, Toro Rosso who have returned to the fold and Renault themselves all had problems during the course of the eight days with their respective power units.

Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost made it clear after the final test, “One weak point is the reliability, as we’ve had too many issues over these two weeks.”

Abiteboul acknowledged, “We have to focus on reliability with special attention on the ERS, which is already well underway.”

But insisted, “I think we are on target, and even maybe I think exceeding that target, subject to reliability. We came into this with a whole new engine architecture, not just in terms of ICE but also ERS.”

“That means quite a great challenge, particularly in terms of reliability, and there is no surprise. We were expecting to encounter some difficulties – we had those difficulties that materialised.”

“But the good news is that we are not doing that for nothing, meaning that the performance is there when we are try to extract the performance,” added Abiteboul.

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HAAS BRAKES WORRY GROSJEAN BUT NOT MAGNUSSEN

Haas team are in something of a quandry with regards to ‘brake problems’ which afflicted the team last year and appear to be back to niggle them ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 season, but their drivers have different views regarding the problem

Romain Grosjean, who admitted last year that he lost confidence in the car due to the brake issues, said after Barcelona testing, “I can’t live with the weight of brake issues. It clearly is something key for me and I struggle a lot because of that. Now, we’ll try to work at best with people at Brembo to find solutions.”

Meanwhile, team chief Gunther Steiner said of a possible Carbone Industrie brake test in the near future, “Maybe we will do it in Bahrain.”

But Steiner has also revealed that the team’s new driver Kevin Magnussen is not perturbed by the brakes and had no complaints about them throughout the testing in Barcelona.

Steiner added, “We have got things in the pipeline but they just take a little bit of time. For the short term we have got a solution which is maybe not ideal but is at least safe.

“Then, when we get on with the programme after the first races, hopefully then we will have the final solution,” concluded the Haas F1 team principal.

MIKA: I guess maybe Romains concerns/issues with brakes come down to his driving style? He is French after all, probably better suited in a Citroen 2CV 

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LAUDA: I DON’T THINK ROSBERG WILL COME BACK

Mercedes F1 chairman Niki Lauda was the biggest critic of Nico Rosberg, when the newly crowned World Champion quit the sport five days after clinching his first title, and although he claims he is over the shock it appears the decision still niggles the Formula 1 legend.

Ironically Lauda also walked away from the sport suddenly, when he decided to quit during free practice for the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix – with three races still to run in the championship that year.

Hence Lauda’s criticism of Rosberg seemed rather harsh at the time, the Austrian explained, “In my defense, I must say that in my time at least one driver was killed every year, so we had a very different approach to the sport.”

“In my day, it was really something special to become F1 World Champion. We always wanted to defend our title. We would never just quit.”

Lauda claims his wrath was directed at Rosberg’s lack of consideration for the team that made the title possible for him, “We have 1200 employees. We gave him the opportunity to become world champion in a fantastic car and then he tells us he wants to retire.”

“From the driver’s point of view I understand what he did, but from the point of view of responsibility, it was a big surprise to me,” he added.

Rosberg made a brief visit to testing in Barcelona last month, which Lauda admitted, “I was surprised, to be honest. If I wanted to stop, I would stay away for a while to enjoy my child and my wife properly.”

Asked if he felt Rosberg would make a comeback, Lauda was adamant, “No. I don’t think he’ll come back. I think he’s comfortable now at home.”

In January the Mercedes team chief declared, “We had to come to terms with it and we did. We are now looking to the future and do not mourn Rosberg at all.”

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F1’s engine conundrum

In F1’s new world of Liberty everything it seems is up for grabs. Even things you might not have expected in the first instance. The sport has radical new chassis regulations for this year but the new order it seems are already looking beyond them. And similar applies to the engines, even though theoretically they are set in stone until 2020. The debate over whither, and more to the point whether, the current hybrid power units has started early.

Often it is of the loud variety too, in more ways than one. Many are lobbying for the return of screeching normally-aspirated V8s, perhaps even to what we had before those with the V10s or V12s.

It’s understandable too. As was argued in strong terms by Jonathan Noble recently, many in and around the sport have struggled to love the hybrids since their introduction in 2014. “Since the hybrids appeared,” said Noble, “barely a race has gone past without some form of criticism about what they have done to F1 – be it the lack of noise, crazy grid penalties, the inability of drivers to push hard in races because of fuel management, or the fact that Mercedes has maintained such a power advantage for three years now.”

And even I as an enthusiast for the hybrid formula recognise the grave errors in the detail at least. These include excessive complexity and as a result cost (a consequence apparently of letting engineers go hog wild drafting the regulations), and development restriction that cut in too early and too severely, with the negative impact on ‘the show’ that Noble described.

Worse however the hybrid formula, designed to attract manufacturers, isn’t fulfilling its raison d’etre. Yes the three suppliers that were there anyway have hung around, and have since been joined by another. Yet it seems meagre and no other supplier is on the horizon from what we can tell. And we can surmise why. The cost and low likelihood of competitiveness as a newcomer (as ably demonstrated by Honda) are barriers. But neither are the main one. That gets even closer to what the hybrid formula was supposed to achieve. The precise reason it was predicted to attract car manufacturers is that it was thought they wanted to develop ‘green’ hybrid technology for their vehicles that end up in the showroom. And there’s reason to think that one now has moved on.

As Dieter Rencken observed when visiting last year’s Geneva International Motor Show, while F1 references were thin on the ground any number of manufacturers were at pains to flaunt their connection with the new-ish all-electric motorsport category, Formula E.

They’re voting with their feet too. “In 2016/7, the number of manufacturers represented on FE grids (Renault, DS, Audi, VW, NEXTEV, Mahindra, Jaguar, with Nissan possibly joining off the back of alliance partner Renault) could outnumber automotive brands currently in F1 by eight to five, if, that is, one views McLaren-Honda as two entities,” noted Rencken.

And while there is by no means unanimity on where the automotive technology of choice will go (another problem for F1 trying to follow it – and heck even driverless cars are mooted) the consensus now is that it is looking beyond the hybrid to go full electric. And the resultant conundrum brings us to the core of what F1 wants to be – does the technology not matter much so long as the racing is good? Or should F1, to coin the old phrase, also in some part be about ‘improving the breed’?

Right now the solution for plenty is glaring – F1 should give in on trying to please road car manufacturers, as with what has been described that is now a blind alley. Instead it should seek to please itself.

“It’s pretty obvious F1 can’t be following the automotive industry down that route,” said Mark Hughes last year. “Driverless race cars with hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric motors? And who’s going to come and watch them? Why?

“The road car industry’s technology direction is soon about to snap itself away from anything that F1 – and indeed motor racing in general – can follow in any meaningful way.”

We can add too that even if F1 did want to go down the all-electric route it’ll find that FE already has planted its flag firmly in it.

The case can be made that despite everything the current F1 hybrid is much greener than the lauded electric vehicles. Certainly the green-ness of electric cars depends a lot on the source of that electricity, and many countries remain highly dependent on coal and oil fired power stations (for example at least two-thirds of the US’s electricity comes from them). Yet one wonders how likely F1 is to win that argument, especially after all its agonising about the hybrid units.

“F1’s future probably needs to be loud, lairy and normally-aspirated,” Hughes continued. “Sure, stick some energy recovery on from the brakes to the battery, try to keep those torque levels up. But if it’s no longer able to contribute, then let it be happy that it played its part contributing towards the common good and is now free to be itself once more.”

Peter Windsor has argued further that F1 should do something akin to GP2 (or now F2) and have a single spec engine supplied perhaps by Ferrari. “My view is that any old engine will do so long as the racing’s good – within reason of course, we don’t want GP2 to be lapping within a second of Formula One obviously,” he said late in 2015.

“If GP2 was Formula One…let’s say they were all running Ferrari engines instead of the engine they have, and all the teams were different colours, and we had all the stars in there, would the fans be that turned off by it all if the racing was unbelievably close?

“There’s still a big difference between DAMS and Trident [in GP2], the character of those teams is completely different.”

It would have much going for it. Many of the sport’s cost problems would be relieved, the sport wouldn’t be held to ransom by engine suppliers as it threatened to be 12 months ago, and we’d benefit presumably from a more competitive field that would be in sharp contrast to the recent Merc dominance. It might even be akin to the 1970s when loosely speaking everyone other that the Ferraris had a Cosworth DFV – a competitive engine that they could purchase cheaply. And that era now is viewed as a high point of F1 racing.

But the same 1970s contain a warning. Read contemporary accounts from the end of that decade and you’ll find widespread complaint about F1 cars that are slow in straight line, uninteresting as they all make the same noise, and a sport that had become stale. I don’t recall widespread love for the V8s at the end of their time either. At the very least, as with most F1 ‘solutions’ we should not assume it’ll be a panacea.

Ditching the sport’s manufacturers also is not something to be done lightly, as Ross Brawn reminded us recently. “We have to respect the amount the manufacturers have invested in Formula One and the engines,” he noted. “It’s huge investment and not that sort of thing you can write off”. Though it’s been argued on the flipside that in Windsor’s scenario there’s nothing to stop manufacturers coming in as sponsors, even to badge the spec engines.

The FIA president Jean Todt however set his stall firmly against a V8 (or V10 or V12) return, stating that the old units “will not be accepted by society”. Plenty scoffed at this, asking among other things what society’s sensibilities have got to do with anything. But Todt on a certain level has a point.

We should not underestimate how vulnerable F1 would be in that situation should the gargantuan environmental lobby turn its fire onto them. F1 would be the softest of targets for Governments and any other number of influential organisations and lobbies. Joe Saward described F1 with the old engines as “a sitting duck for anyone who wants to hit us” and “the poster boy of the old era”. Pat Symonds on the eve of the F1 hybrid era concurred. “I think that it was important that we were never seen to be socially unacceptable in motorsport,” he said then, “and I think if we’d done nothing there would have been a faction that would have said ‘this is wrong, this is harming the planet’…you wouldn’t walk down King’s Road wearing a fur coat now would you?”

Certainly the sport has changed over time in this regard, as no longer can it be entirely secure within its own bubble. As a mass-consumed and intricately inter-connected event it is linked inevitably to the world beyond the circuit’s perimeter fence. This was brought home – albeit on a different subject – after Ayrton Senna’s fatal accident in early 1994. The contrast with, say, the death of Jim Clark just over a quarter century earlier, or even Gilles Villeneuve’s death just over a decade earlier, was night and day.

With Jimmy and Gilles as with many others it had been as Nigel Roebuck described “accepted as an inevitable, if regrettable, occurrence in what was a dangerous sport”.

Loosely speaking the sport continued as it was after each tragedy too. Not so with Ayrton’s death. In the weeks after Imola 1994 faced with extraordinary sustained screeching about a ‘killer sport’ F1 feared genuinely for its very survival. Little wonder Todt – who of course was involved in F1 at the time – is wary.

“Would that [going back to loud normally-aspirated engines] result in F1 being perceived as socially unacceptable?” asked Hughes, pre-empting the point. “Well, maybe it needs a certain outlaw rebellion spirit.” One might even point at the incongruous success of Clarkson, Hammond and May in that ilk. But then again even they with their success, popularity and resultant plentiful cash cow ended up being shunned by the TV mainstream.

F1 therefore needs to tread carefully. As Hughes suggested even so we could retain energy recovery; it’s worth reflecting that it is in many ways very F1 and indeed Adrian Newey came up with something like it a few years before F1 instituted it (although then Max Mosley shot it down in flames). As Symonds has pointed out too if society’s emphasis these days is on efficiency then F1, even in the V8 era, is all about efficiency, getting the most out of every drop of fuel and every milligram of weight, and this surely is highly relevant. A spec engine formula could promote that even more acutely: “We’ve always struggled to find power but we find it through efficiency,” Symonds explained of the V8s. This all could help as a defence mechanism.

But as ever the solutions aren’t quite as straightforward as they appear on initial contact. Perhaps it’s just as well we’ve got a few years to think about it.

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Red Bull 'somewhat worried' by Ferrari sandbagging during testing

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admits he is a little worried about the apparent sandbagging by rival Ferrari, after Sebastian Vettel set a quick time on the penultimate test day, whilst obviously backing off as he exited the final corner.

Vettel's 1:19.024 was more than four-tenths quicker than anything by Red Bull – albeit slower than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen managed on the final day – but the German came off the throttle as he coasted over the finish line, suggesting there's much more pace in the SF17-H.

According to Marko, that suggests Vettel as "confidence" in the pace of Ferrari's car.

"Ferrari is very strong and reliable," Marko told ServusTV. "That's the difference to last year.

"What worries me somewhat is I know Vettel very well and he provocatively lifted on his fastest lap on the start and finish straight. Everybody could tell.

"And if you do something like this, then your self-confidence and knowledge about having a lot more in the car is huge."

Marko hinted that fuel loads and engine settings could be behind Ferrari's pace, with rivals keeping their cards close to their chest, but suggested the Italian team were the ones to beat at present.

"Nobody has shown their cards properly," he added. "If you're carrying 10kg more fuel, you gain about 0.35 seconds. Furthermore, engine mappings differ. This can gain you up to one second [a lap] – or it doesn't.

"A lot has been kept in the dark. But if the [first] race would have taken place with the same kind of temperatures we had then Ferrari would be in front, for sure."

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Formula 1: How big is the McLaren-Honda crisis?

While McLaren and Honda did their best to try to downplay their pre-season Formula 1 testing woes, the situation appears to have gone beyond the debate about whether it is a crisis.

Instead, it's about how big the crisis actually is.

Honda used more engines in two tests than is allowed for the whole season. It was running with less power than it had in 2016, which meant its drivers often suffered a speed deficit in excess of 20km/h on the straights.

It managed a longest stint of only 11 laps and it lost hours of track time, which limited its understanding of the chassis. Plus it was on the receiving end of some outspoken remarks from its star driver.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

There had been murmurs over the winter that Honda had perhaps not made the gains it had wanted with its all-new engine, as it abandoned the much vaunted 'size zero' concept for a Mercedes-style layout.

The first issues came to light at the McLaren filming day on the eve of the first pre-season test, with some glitches flashing up but not being acted upon until the following morning.

But within minutes of the green flag on the first morning of the test, the car was already stuck in the garage with an oil issue problem caused by a new tank design.

Worse was to come as a never-explained failure on day two prompted the need for another engine change. Things never appeared to get better from there.

Changes including a Spec 2 engine did not appear to address problems as a spate of electrical issues kept limiting running. It was suggested that the failures were being caused by excessive vibration, which was shaking connections to bits.

By the end of the second test Honda was on to engine number five; which is one more than it has to make last for the entire season for each driver.

But while some reliability problems on an engine that has delivered a big horsepower step would not be grounds for too much pessimism, even on the power front things looked depressing for the drivers.

There were suggestions that in the configuration it was running at Barcelona, the Honda was 45-50bhp down on the engine it had run in Abu Dhabi.

Neither McLaren nor Honda would confirm those numbers, but Fernando Alonso did suggest that was the case - albeit because the engine was wound down for reliability reasons.

"Right now, yeah, we may have less power than last year, but the settings we've run so far are nowhere close to what we'd run in the race for different reasons and different problems the engine has," said the Spaniard.

"So the power we will not see it until they solve many of the problems we have."

Alonso is out of contract at the end of this year, and another difficult campaign would place serious doubt over his future.

He has already said he wants to remain in F1 in 2018 whatever happens this year. Take that as a clear 'come and get me' sign for any of the big teams.

But losing Alonso is not the only danger from a dire 2017 campaign. If it turns out really bad, McLaren risks losing its best staff, the constructors' championship money will drop and no new sponsors will come knocking. The negative downward spiral could be a hard thing to turn around.

CHANGE OF CULTURE

Honda could need an internal overhaul if it is to make long-term progress, addressing its culture of being reluctant to embrace outside help, and to listen to guidance from consultants like Gilles Simon and even McLaren at times.

Perhaps only by ditching that old mentality can it have any hope of facing up to the reality of the difficult situation it has got itself in to. It needs a new approach, new lines of communications, new technology, fresh ideas and a willingness to be more open to change

But maybe Alonso was also talking of the need for McLaren to ponder whether its future is best served with Honda in the long term.

There is a long-term contract in place between McLaren and Honda, and the Japanese manufacturer's commercial input to the team means that simply ripping up its deal and walking away isn't an option right now.

But how long can McLaren give Honda before it is forced down that route?

If things get as far as the relationship getting untangled, then there is at least one silver lining - F1's regulations will guarantee McLaren a competitive engine.

As part of an engine manufacturer deal agreed last year, if Honda leaves then Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault (who are all currently supplying three teams each), must make a supply available to a customer team (as long as certain conditions are met).

In fact, according to the rules, the decision on which engine McLaren could get could come down to a 'ballot' - with the final choice drawn out of a hat. One rival manufacturer cheekily suggested such a draw should take place live on television for a bit of added excitement!

Such an event still seems a long way away, but you can be sure that right now things are pretty intense in the corridors of Woking and Sakura.

[Baldy]

"If things get as far as the relationship getting untangled, then there is at least one silver lining - F1's regulations will guarantee McLaren a competitive engine "

I call BS on this quote from the article.  Ask how Red Bull and Torro Rosso fared when they tried to switch.  Running 2015 specs engine in 2016 was a great idea right?  If this was the case McLaren would have never switched from Mercedes.  This is F1, the only guarantee is that the other teams will try to screw you which is fitting for competitive sport.

 

[avaldes]

3 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

Joe Saward described F1 with the old engines as “a sitting duck for anyone who wants to hit us” and “the poster boy of the old era”. Pat Symonds on the eve of the F1 hybrid era concurred. “I think that it was important that we were never seen to be socially unacceptable in motorsport,” he said then, “and I think if we’d done nothing there would have been a faction that would have said ‘this is wrong, this is harming the planet’…you wouldn’t walk down King’s Road wearing a fur coat now would you?”

 

This is a total cop-out. NASCAR doesn't seem to have a problem running seriously high strung small block V-8's...in fact the noise and power is a significant draw of NHRA. Lots of teams running in both of those series. What F1 really doesn't want to admit is that it was a mistake to go to the hybrids in the first place.

[MIKA27]

16 minutes ago, avaldes said:

 

This is a total cop-out. NASCAR doesn't seem to have a problem running seriously high strung small block V-8's...in fact the noise and power is a significant draw of NHRA. Lots of teams running in both of those series. What F1 really doesn't want to admit is that it was a mistake to go to the hybrids in the first place.

I agree completely, SOMEONE made the wrong decision.

I also can't help but wonder if even there were a string of truth that the BIG TEAMS would pull out, is this stupid idea of GREEN Power of sorts a European thing as referring back to NASCAR, real rev heads who love racing don't mind at all having bigger engines, so does this funnel down to a European thing whereby Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari wish to be seen as saving the planet and race at the same time?

You cant do both, save the planet with engines that run off a bees fart and be the top tier of racing and Formula 1 shouldn't be about that IMO. 

[Baldy]

"Green" and F1 is an oxymoron.  Look at all the travel and consumption over a typical F1 weekend.  How in anyway is that green?

 

[MIKA27]

BOULLIER: WITH MERCEDES WE WOULD BE WINNING AGAIN

McLaren have aimed another swipe at their beleaguered engine supplier Honda by declaring they would be winning in Formula One if they were powered by Mercedes.

The British team’s relationship with Honda is in crisis ahead of the new campaign after a dour eight days of pre-season testing in which they were struck down by a number of reliability issues. McLaren completed the least mileage of all F1’s 10 teams in Barcelona, while the Honda engine is also down on speed.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso was heavily critical of Honda at last week’s final test, and racing director Eric Boullier has added fuel to the fire with his comments that McLaren would be fighting at the sharp end of the grid if Mercedes supplied their engines.

McLaren were powered by Mercedes for nearly two decades but ended their relationship in 2015 to team up with Honda – the Japanese car manufacturer with whom they enjoyed great success in the late 1980s.

“I think we would be winning again,” said Boullier when asked how McLaren may fare with a Mercedes engine. “The truth is we’re having more problems than we expected. We knew we’d encounter some things, but truly not as many as we’re seeing.

“The only solution is to keep working hard. The problem is the timing. We should be fixing these issues in January, not in March.”

McLaren, who have won a combined 20 drivers’ and constructors’ championships, have endured a miserable time of it in recent years. They have not won a race since Jenson Button triumphed at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012 and finished a lowly sixth in last season’s constructors’ championship.

McLaren are entering their third of a 10-year deal with Honda, and while both sides publicly insist they have no intention to pull the plug, their on-track troubles are significantly harming both brands.

Alonso, who has won 32 races in a career which yielded the last of his two championships more than a decade ago, is out of contract at the end of the season. And the 35-year-old, who staged talks with Mercedes over their recent vacancy following Nico Rosberg’s retirement, has said he would take a decision on his next move after the summer break.

Speaking to Spanish publication AS, Boullier added: “I think Fernando is being honest with us, just as we’re being honest with him.

“He first wanted to see how the new car was and how the new regulations are. He likes the new F1 and he wants to be competitive because he has talent to show the world and to himself.

“We need to be competitive to keep him happy. If we’re competitive he’ll be happy and if not he’ll take his own decisions.”