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[darwin dali]

McLaren's struggles have resulted in a war of words between the team's chief executive Ron Dennis and BBC TV pundit Eddie Jordan, culminating in Dennis labelling Jordan a "village idiot".

Jordan was critical of McLaren ahead of the British Grand Prix, saying top level management have become arrogant and the team is "hopelessly" off the pace.

"You can say Honda is a mess but so are McLaren," Jordan said. "They have been a shadow of their former selves since they arrogantly stated that Lewis Hamilton would rue the day he left McLaren. Look how that has rebounded on them.

"That arrogance is still there at the top of McLaren. They are hopelessly off the pace and anyone who thinks it is just the engine is deluding themselves. The engine is a lot of it, but there are lots of other issues there."

Speaking to Sky Sports, Dennis did not mince his words when responding to Jordan's remarks.

"I consider Formula One a bit of a family. Families live in villages, villages always have a village idiot and he fits the bill perfectly.

"I don't consider him not a friend. I just think he is disconnected with reality. He wants to be colourful, but colourful at other people's expense."

But Dennis admitted McLaren's struggles are becoming painful.

"We have a real challenge with our partners Honda - they are wrestling with reliability as well as performance. Honda has a huge resource and it is applying it. We are in deep discussion with them on a regular basis and it is not pleasant for them.

"Is it painful? Of course but you have to use pain as a motivating force. It is the right challenge because without the support of a company such as Honda I don't think it is possible to win the world championship."



Village idiot - a bit harsh

[myownalias]

I think EJ's statement must have hit a raw nerve, its clear that McLaren are in all sorts of trouble, how long before RD starts to blame the personnel for McLaren's shortfalls.

[CigarGuy]

Clearly, Alonso and I picked the wrong year to switch........
At least I also support Lotus!

[darwin dali]

ESPNF!:
Honda admits it underestimated the challenge of returning to Formula One this year, but is confident it is getting on top of its problems.

Honda joined forces with McLaren at the start of the year and has built an innovative and tightly packaged power unit under the current V6 turbo regulations. However, the Honda engine is down on power compared to its rivals and has struggled with reliability issues since its first test.

Asked if Honda underestimated the challenge of returning to F1, its chief officer of motorsport Yasuhisa Arai said: "Expectations were always going to be high because of our illustrious history with McLaren. Most of the fans have a great image of McLaren-Honda's heritage so they expected us to return to Formula One and be competitive immediately. Obviously this has not been the case.

"The sport has changed immensely since the McLaren-Honda 'glory days'. The current technology is much more sophisticated and it is tough to make a good racing car. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but perhaps we didn't imagine that it would be this hard.

"We believe that our compact power unit layout will prove to be very competitive; however we knew from the start that it would cause problems with heat rejection. We now know which area is affected, and in the second half of the season we will apply new parts to resolve the issue and apply more horsepower to improve our competitiveness.

"I certainly didn't imagine technology wise what we would be facing, but I have complete confidence in the direction we have taken with our power unit. We needed to create something radical in order to beat the top teams, and that is our ultimate goal - to beat the best."

Arai said balancing the energy recovered by the MGU-H against the efficiency of the turbo was one of the reasons the engine is down on power.

"The current regulations of the whole power unit package are very complicated so one small component triggers a domino effect of other items leading to the issues that we have been seeing.

"Let me put this concept of the domino effect into a technical example: if you try to harvest energy using the MGU-H, it puts a strenuous workload on the turbo. When the turbo is under stress, it cannot do what it is supposed to do, which is to force more air into the engine, thus leading to decreased power output. This is the result of one component working against the others, instead of working together.

"These types of technical chain reactions which lead to vehicle stoppage were definitely more than we calculated, or more than we envisioned. The difficulty with this is that you cannot calculate precisely without running the car in actual conditions, on track."


Interesting insights. It sounds like you have to find the sweet spot and Honda isn't there yet.

[CigarGuy]

Well, if they remain hopeful, I guess I should too?

[sagi58]

ESPNF!:
... "Let me put this concept of the domino effect into a technical example: if you try to harvest energy using the MGU-H, it puts a strenuous workload on the turbo. When the turbo is under stress, it cannot do what it is supposed to do, which is to force more air into the engine, thus leading to decreased power output. This is the result of one component working against the others, instead of working together...

To quote Alanis Morisette "Isn't it ironic" that McLaren is the one supplying all the cars on the grid with the MGU-H?

[darwin dali]

I don't think that's true. What McLaren has been providing is the ECU (Electronic Control Unit). And I'm not sure they still do (probably yes). The MGU-H is different for each engine manufacturer as far as I know.

[sagi58]

I stand corrected (...again... )!!

[darwin dali]

I stand corrected (...again... )!!

[sagi58]

I stand corrected (...again... )!!

That's pretty harsh!!

((I knew I'd be able to use that line, if I waited long enough!! ))

[darwin dali]

A bit harsh

[sagi58]

[darwin dali]

TAG Heuer to switch sponsorship from McLaren to Red Bull

Watchmaker TAG Heuer will end its 30-year sponsorship of McLaren at the end of the season to work with Red Bull.

TAG Heuer becomes the latest long-term sponsor to leave the team after Hugo Boss switched to rivals Mercedes at the end of last year. McLaren has not had a title sponsor since Vodafone's contract came to an end in 2013, although Honda's arrival as engine supplier has also brought significant financial backing.

Nevertheless, McLaren prides itself on the longevity of partners such as TAG Heuer and the loss of the watchmaker to a rival team will come as yet another blow after a disappointing season on track.

"We just signed with Red Bull Racing in F1 for next season," TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver told L'Hebdo. "It's a young, dynamic and go-getter team, which perfectly fits TAG Heuer's strategy."

McLaren has already announced a new partnership with winemaker Chandon next year, which is owned by the same holding company as TAG Heuer, LVMH.


Now even the big fat old rats are leaving the sinking ship - ouch

[sagi58]

..."We just signed with Red Bull Racing in F1 for next season," TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver told L'Hebdo. "It's a young, dynamic and go-getter team, which perfectly fits TAG Heuer's strategy."...

CEO says RBR is a "young, dynamic and go-getter team", so it's not about "winning", eh?

[sagi58]

Laurence Edmondson wrote:">Ron Dennis told Christian Horner to 'suck it up'

Ron Dennis showed little sympathy for Christian Horner at a recent meeting of the F1 Commission, telling the Red Bull boss to "suck it up" when confronted about his decision to block a Honda engine supply deal.

Dennis vetoed a possible Honda customer deal with Red Bull because he wants the Japanese manufacture to remain focused on McLaren next season. After falling out with current supplier Renault earlier in the year, Red Bull has renegotiated a deal to continue with the French manufacturer in 2016, although exact details of the agreement remain unclear...