Monday, March 9, 2015

F1: McLaren goes Solo...



Otay, just couldn't resist that title, even if McLaren's simply  going "solo," for the moment anyways, on the engine front. As surely Honda will seek a second engine  partner to accelerate its learning curve eventually...

McLaren's new MP4-30 seems to favour Mercedes-like livery during  its first winter test at Jerez.  (Image source: adamcooperf1.com)

McLaren Honda
Chassis: MP4-30
Engine: Honda
2014 Constructor Ranking: 5th; 181-points
Debut Race: 1966 Monaco GP

Drivers
(Car#/Name)
14) Fernando Alonso
22) Jenson button

History
The team began under  founder Bruce McLaren's tutelage, before finally floundering, albeit nearly a decade after his death, when Ron Dennis and his vaunted Project 4 F2 Operation under title sponsor Marlboro's urging assimilated the team into McLaren International in 1980.

After scoring the team's first "Hat Trick" of world championships with the highly successful TAG/Porsche V-6 turbo from 1984-86, Dennis and McLaren further padded their respective trophy cabinets during the first Honda era, circa' 1988-92 by winning four consecutive titles, i.e.; 1988-91 before Honda left Formula 1 for the second time, to date.

McLaren rebounded by securing another three championships with "Mika-the-Finn," (Hakkinen) 1998-99 and Lewis Hamilton in 2008, all with Mercedes 'lumps, the Woking based squad's last (championship) triumph to date, with the team's last Grand Prix victory being scored by Jenson Button in 2012 at the season finale's Brazilian GP at Sao Paolo.

As McLaren, in all of its guises is the second longest running F1 Constructor, surpassed only by la Scuderia, nee Ferrari...

Notes
Obviously this year' will be very daunting for McLaren, and especially Honda, who's returning as an engine supplier  to McLaren for the first time since '92, along with making its initial foray into the "mighty" Hybrid PU (Power Unit) era. As the Japanese giant is depending upon a much more mature "Fredrico Suave" (Fernando Alonso) and his elder team-mate 'JENSE (Button) to take them to the promised land, whilst thee 'Ronster (Ron Dennis) simply hopes that Alonso won't cause major disharmony or put another significant dent in  his pocketbook a la 2007's "Spy Gate," when Dennis had to shill out a whopping $100m to the FIA!

Meanwhile, Jenson Button, who moved into the number three for all-time Grand Prix starts last season, by surpassing Ricardo Patrese's 256-starts, says Formula 1 still gets him "Jazzed."


And don't be too surprised if McLaren changes its Spot's; Err colours this season to reflect their new Honda partnership, perhaps to distract Y'all from the unrelenting pressures of trying to get the new Honda PU up to speed, literally!