Mclaren's 2015 final constructor position?

[andburg]

Norfolkit said:

Marussia didn't have a fruitless season last year.

you're right, but they had a legal car to race and a brilliant driver. Now they don't have a legal car, and have 1 driver who isn't exactly top drawer and another who's imaginary.

[RYH64E]

I originally voted 7th, that's looking optimistic now.

[Bradgate]

Well, they're definitely not going to beat Mercedes. They are almost certainly not going to beat Williams or Ferrari, and they are highly unlikely to beat Red Bull.

So realistically, that's fifth at best. Even that might be optimistic if Lotus have got their act together.

Jenson is putting a brave face on it in public, but he must be furious. When Alonso gets back, I predict it won't be long before the toys start flying out of the pram.

[allergictocheese]

You think Alonso will come back?

[ecsrobin]

allergictocheese said:

You think Alonso will come back?

I doubt he will.

[Bradgate]

allergictocheese said:

You think Alonso will come back?

If they've got the car working properly by Spa, we might see him there .

[Jasandjules]

Sixth. If they improve over the course of the season.

[IforB]

8th. Manor will be stone last if they aren't chucked out by the FIA over not taking part in qualifying, Sauber will go pop at some point so will be 9th and everyone else will be ahead of McLaren.

Given where they are and the limited time to develop the engine, then I think is season is already a write off for them. They were behind going into the season and thanks to limited running, they are getting less data than everyone else to fix the problems, so will be falling further behind.

Force India have the merc engine and look not too bad considering their testing programme, Toro Rosso look pretty solid and there's no way you can drop points to teams like Merc, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull and expect to catch them over the course of a season. McLaren can develop things fastr than most, but they are starting from a very long way back and they aren't competing against no-hopers, but other teams with great development abilities of their own.

[red_slr]

6th. Ish.

Forget top 3. Ferrari and Williams are already way, way ahead.

I expect McLaren and Red Bull to be back nearer the top by Monaco. But by then the damage will be done.

However the mid season upgrade that most teams do may well cause them problems - as Red Bull and Merc Merc found out last year.

I suspect Alonso is letting the ink dry on that Merc contract....

[Bradgate]

Not looking good, is it?

Perhaps Ron should sack himself

[slipstream 1985]

Martin whitmarsh somewhere is having a chuckle at rons performance so far.

[revrange]

slipstream 1985 said:

Martin whitmarsh somewhere is having a chuckle at rons performance so far.

I thought that, all the stick and blame he took for position they were in

[Jasandjules]

Somewhat tragic to see Button cruising around - their only hope of points being if someone drops out.

[onyx39]

Jasandjules said:

Somewhat tragic to see Button cruising around - their only hope of points being if someone drops out.

Very true, but Button must have been very surprised to be challenging for points.

[RYH64E]

onyx39 said:

Jasandjules said:

Somewhat tragic to see Button cruising around - their only hope of points being if someone drops out.

Very true, but Button must have been very surprised to be challenging for points.

'Challenging for points' is a very generous interpretation of trundling round 20s behind the second from last car, hoping that yet another car drops out...

[MartG]

In a post race interview Button has referred to fuel saving - if the Honda unit is that thirsty even when turned down that he had to drive to conserve fuel then it looks like McLaren have little chance of scoring any points this year

[FourWheelDrift]

MartG said:

In a post race interview Button has referred to fuel saving - if the Honda unit is that thirsty even when turned down that he had to drive to conserve fuel then it looks like McLaren have little chance of scoring any points this year

I would have thought the fuel use is the same as the other's engines turned up or not, either way it's working at maximum fuel usage to run at the maximum allowed power and everyone has to save fuel in the same way?

[kambites]

I must admit I was pleasantly surprised they even managed to get a car to the end of the race. Given that the engine is so far off the pace, I think it's impossible to have any idea how good the rest of the car is so it's very hard to know how possible it is for them to recover evne if Honda can sort the engine out.

[Jasandjules]

MartG said:

In a post race interview Button has referred to fuel saving - if the Honda unit is that thirsty even when turned down that he had to drive to conserve fuel then it looks like McLaren have little chance of scoring any points this year

His engine was turned down as well?!?! Ah heck.

[FourWheelDrift]

Jasandjules said:

His engine was turned down as well?!?! Ah heck.

Yes, that's they are doing now to try and preserve units early on. They only have 4 for the year like everyone else so blowing up engines at the first race weekend will not help later in the year when they have things sorted and able to use full power but are unable to fully use it by starting from the pitlane.