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As hard as it may be to believe at the present time, there was actually once a time that
McLaren were at the forefront of championship battles. Boasting past mercurial drivers
such as the late and often heralded 'great' Ayrton Senna, Fins Mikka Hakkinen and Kimi
Raikkonen, Alain Prost and the billy whizz of the F1 world Lewis Hamilton. The present
driver pair of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button isn't too shabby either, all are world
champions in their own right. However the current McLaren car is a pale shadow of it's former glorious self. Forget that
their livery has changed multiple times since it was last a championship winning car as far
back as 2008, the performances have changed even more so. Having made the move
back to manufacturers Honda, a team they enjoyed so much past success with, after 19
years with Mercedes as their engine provider. Those within McLaren have staunchly supported switch to the Japanese manufacturers
since the rather bleak results suffered this racing season (barring an 8th place finish from
Jenson Button at the Monaco GP). In particular the 'Godfather' of McLaren Ron Dennis
has been particularly vocal in his backing. As far back as the first grand prix in Australia he
reiterated that "if your objective is to win a World Championship, you have to have a strong
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) behind you which has the technology and
capability to produce a winning engine." Can you say he's wrong, the sport is dominated by Lewis Hamilton's and Nico Rosberg's
Mercedes cars. Like the previous team to rule the roost at F1, Red Bull Racing, they are
both OEM's with Sebastian Vettel's former team backed by French manufacturers Renault.
Despite the performance slump Renault and Red Bull have suffered this season since the
Germans switch to Ferrari, they just as Mercedes currently do, had the competition in a
choke-hold from 2009-2013. The only team that has threatened Mercedes and actually
pipped both of their cars to the chequered flag is the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
It should come as no surprise to those of you reading this, that Ferrari is also an OEM and
with Mercedes and Renault they supply the engines for the rest of eight teams on the grid
(seen below). So even for a team like Williams that have emerged as front runners after
years in the middle-row wilderness, being realistic they will never receive the quality
engine that Mercedes do. Same can be said for Sauber, Ferrari will always be the first in
the line from their Italian engine supplier. Teams like Williams, Force India, Lotus, etc, can
do is try to build on the older versions of Mercedes engines given to them. But will they
ever really have enough to dislodge Mercedes at the summit, highly unlikely.
As you can see from the table below McLaren are the only other team outside of Ferrari,
Redbull and Mercedes to be backed by an OEM.
Constructor Engine supplier
Ferrari Ferrari
Force India Mercedes
Manor Ferrari
Sauber Ferrari
Lotus Mercedes
Torro Rosso Renault
Red Bull Renault
Mercedes Mercedes
McLaren Honda
Williams Mercedes
It is going to take a while for the Woking based team to catch up, but I firmly believe that
this is the best route for them to take if they are to once again reach the pinnacle of
Motorsport. Having been a McLaren fan since the Mikka Hakkinen/David Coulthard driver
lineup of 1996, the last few season have tested my patience and that of every other
supporter. The recent testing in Austria done by Fernando Alonso and 3rd driver and
current runaway GP2 leader Stoffel Vandoorne was encouraging. Both driver managed
181 laps between them with no problems and hopefully the penalties incurred at the
Austrian GP will allow for them to have a more positive race at the British GP this
weekend.
However for now the thought of podium finishes should be put firmly to the back of the
mind, at the moment those affiliated with the team, from the driver to the engineers are
working towards creating a more reliable and consistent point scoring McLaren.
Only time will tell whether the patience needed for now will be rewarded with future race
wins and dare I say perhaps a return to a Championship winning team for the 21st century
McLaren-Honda team.
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