McLaren Mercedes Preview: Can They Recover and Challenge Again in 2009?
Finally we come to the big two teams in our season preview. First up is reigning driver’s champions McLaren, who have had a busy pre-season to say the least!
STATS AND INFORMATION
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh
Technical Director: Paddy Lowe
Team Base: Woking, UK
Chassis: MP4-24
Engine: Mercedes V8
Tyres: Bridgestone
Grand Prix: 649
Wins: 162
Podiums:
Poles: 141
Fastest Laps: 137
Points: 3293
2008 Position: 2nd(151pts)
Last 5 Seasons:
2004: 5th (69pts)
2005: 2nd(182pts)
2006: 3rd(110pts)
2007: 11th (218pts)*
2008: 2nd(151pts)
*Disqualified from championship over ‘Spygate’ scandal
First Driver: Lewis Hamilton
Nationality: British
Age: 24
Starts: 35
Wins: 9
Podiums: 22
Poles: 13
Fastest Laps: 3
Points: 207
Championships: 2008
Second Driver: Heikki Kovalainen
Nationality: Finnish
Age: 28
Starts: 35
Wins: 1
Podiums: 4
Poles: 1
Fastest Laps: 2
Points: 83
Best Season: 2008 (7th)
DISCUSSION
Paul Murtagh: Now we get onto last year's Drivers champions, McLaren. Lewis Hamilton made up for the errors of 2007 and took the title in dramatic style on the last lap. But did he make it hard for himself?
Daniel Chalmers: He made it extremely hard for himself. I think at times we saw more of what we expected in 2007. Some of his errors were very silly, particularly Montreal and Fuji. However when he was at his best he was absolutely untouchable. He was awe-inspiring at Silverstone. Overall, I feel he was the right champion.
Paul Murtagh: Do you think he drove as well last season as he did in 2007, or was he off the boil?
Daniel Chalmers: It was a mix of both. At times he was even quicker. Then there were was one or two occasions when he was amateurish. If he can cut out the errors in the future, he will become really hard to beat over the next five or six seasons.
He is far from the finished article yet though. He has a long way to go still I feel, but the potential for more championships is definitely there.
Paul Murtagh: Do you think that he will be a genuine title contender this year then, having already achieved his goal? We have seen with the likes of Villeneuve and Raikkonen that some drivers can lose their edge once they have achieved the title.
Daniel Chalmers: I think Hamilton can get better and better. I don't think he will do a Villeneuve. He will grow in confidence after winning a championship. When you have won the championship there is less pressure.
No matter what happens now, he will always be referred to as a F1 world champion. The big question mark is will he have the car to defend his title, which we will get onto later on.
Paul Murtagh: And what about Heikki Kovalainen? Do you think he is McLaren material? I think there is no doubt that he is a good driver.
I thought that when McLaren signed him it was a similar situation to 1987 when they signed Stefan Johansson as a stop-gap until they got a world-class driver in the car.
Daniel Chalmers: Kovalainen definitely is a good driver. But whatever way you look at it he had a poor season in 2008.
Finishing 7th whilst your team mate wins the championship isn't too good. I think he drove well in the first half of the season, but had a lot of bad luck.
Then in the 2nd half of the season the car setup fell away from him, and the season got even worse. He needs to up his game more in 2009, and forget about whom the driver is that he is sharing the McLaren garage with.
Paul Murtagh: Do you think that he will become a better driver in 2009? I have to say that he hasn't stood out so far in pre-season testing in my eyes.
Daniel Chalmers: There is no doubt that he will improve, but although talented he is, he simply isn't as talented as Lewis Hamilton. If he is to have any chance this season he has to hit the ground running straight away, and make the sure the gap to Lewis doesn't grow too quickly like it did in 2008.
He also needs to assert himself more within the team, so that he gets the changes to the car and support that he needs. He can't let himself be cast aside in the team. Easier said than done I have to say. It does seem that it is Lewis’s team.
Paul Murtagh: Do you think he is quick enough to give McLaren a realistic chance of winning the constructors' title?
Daniel Chalmers: That’s the key thing for McLaren. They need him to score more points and show more consistency. I think he will contribute more, but whether it will be enough remains to be seen. This season is make or break for Heikki. A bad season in 2009 could end his reign at McLaren.
Paul Murtagh: I agree Heikki needs a good season if he is to have any chance of staying with McLaren in 2010. The big news that came out of Woking this winter was Ron Dennis stepping aside as team principal after 27 years—how much of an affect will this have on the team?
Daniel Chalmers: I think the transition will be pretty seemless to be honest. I think Martin Whitmarsh has gradually been taking on more of Ron's duties over the last few years. I don't think there will be much of a difference. And Ron's presence will still be felt on the pit wall at most races.
I wonder if he will be able to stay out of all the big decision making during the race? I bet he won't. Racing is still very much in his blood.
Paul Murtagh: Ron is definitely a racer at heart, but, as you say, he couldn't have left the team in better hands. I always thought that Ron would go once he had won another title. When he did it with a driver that came through the McLaren ranks it was the right time to go.
Martin Whitmarsh has been a very able deputy over the years, and is more than capable of stepping up.
Daniel Chalmers: Moving onto the car now. It certainly looks stunning like most McLaren’s so but it’s been struggling in testing. With the grid so tight McLaren may end up a long way back on the grid in Melbourne.
Paul Murtagh: I think it has been said before that McLaren, in recent years, have had mixed results in producing good cars. Since they lost the Honda engines back in 1992 they have only produced four genuinely fast cars (1998, 1999, 2005, 2007) and the rest have been mixed.
It looks like they have produced another mixed car because it hasn't shown at all in testing so far.
Daniel Chalmers: That is true. McLaren have been very inconsistent of late. They also haven't made full use of the seasons in recent times when they have made good cars. Think poor reliability in 2005, Alonso/Hamilton and spy-gate in 2007.
They nearly didn't win anything last season. 2007 and 2008 is the first time McLaren have produced a championship contender two seasons running since the late 90s.
This led some to believe McLaren had ironed out their inconsistency. Signs so far show that might not be the case after all.
Can McLaren solve their problems and still have a successful season? Even if, perhaps, they are not at the front at the first two races let’s say. Or is the problem too big?
Paul Murtagh: I think they can solve them, but with the ban on testing it will be hard work. Paddy Lowe and the team there are a very capable bunch of designers who can turn things around, but perhaps a good sign is that their fierce rivals Ferrari aren't setting the pre-season pace.
This might serve as an extra incentive to solve their problems, before Ferrari get on top of theirs
Daniel Chalmers: I agree McLaren is a great team so they have a chance of solving their problems. But as you say the testing ban will make life even harder for them.
Do you think that perhaps having two young inexperienced drivers may be part of why McLaren are having problems? It has always been rumoured that Hamilton is poor at giving his team good feedback.
Paul Murtagh: I'm not sure. Heikki was instrumental in continuing the development of the title-winning Renault car, as a test driver back in 2006 so he is capable. And I think that Lewis is good in terms of his feel for the car.
But inexperience could be a factor when you think that Ferrari, BMW, Renault and Toyota all have drivers with 100+ races in their line-up.
The Mclaren drivers only have 35 races each under their belt. They have an experienced test driver but that means nothing these days.
Daniel Chalmers: You are right that the test driver role doesn't mean much anymore. This a shame as the team really needs De La Rosa right now more than ever. Maybe he should have done more of the testing.
Paul Murtagh: It does create a dilemma for teams—do they put a test driver in the car to develop the car? Or do they give the race drivers time in order to get comfortable, with the car as they will be the ones racing it? Although having said that, they did improve slightly on the final day of testing—but were still behind the pace of the likes of Brawn?
Daniel Chalmers: There are still clearly going to be teams ahead of them come Melbourne. I don't think McLaren will fare as badly as they did in 2004, but even then they fought back to the front later on in the season.
The team are capable of a good recovery, but they have to recover as quickly as possible. Do you think they stand a chance of winning a championship in 2009?
Paul Murtagh: I think they could still be one of the main teams. KERS could play a major part in whether they are title challengers with both BMW and Renault confirming they will use the system from Melbourne—if McLaren don't sort out their grip problems they could end up behind these two from the start.
Daniel Chalmers: I think overall McLaren’s season won't be as bad as some of the doomsayers are suggesting. They could well surprise in Australia by being further up than people expected.
They only need to find a few tenths, and they make a big leap up the grid. That's how close it is now. I think Lewis has an outside chance of retaining his driver's title.
He needs to get as many points as he can whilst the car still isn’t a winner, and hope the gap to the top doesn’t grow too big, which is possible if there are a variety of winners.
However. I can't see McLaren winning the Constructors'.
Paul Murtagh: What could catch McLaren out is that the field should be very competitive this year. In previous years, they could have afforded to lose a few tenths yet still be at the front, but now I don't think that is possible.
They have a chance of the drivers' with Lewis, but I agree that the constructors' is a step too far.
MARKS
Scores (out of 10):
Chassis: 7
Engine: 9
Aerodynamics: 7
Mechanical grip: 7
Drivers: 8.5
Reliability: 9
THREE KEY QUESTIONS
Can McLaren solve their issues and challenge for the title once again?
Will Kovalainen step up and match Hamilton this year?
How much of an effect will the absence of Ron Dennis have on the team?
OUR OTHER PREVIEWS
Come and and join us on our lively motorsports discussion forum www.wheelnutsforum.co.uk
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
