Grand Prix Rejects

golic_2004 wrote:The reason for Alonso's brake failure is my ROTR http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118916

What the bathplug! That IS rejectful

Shizuka wrote:

golic_2004 wrote:The reason for Alonso's brake failure is my ROTR http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118916

What the bathplug! That IS rejectful

Indeed. McLaren is the last team that wants to be associated with an image of "comedy of errors" like these. A team that built its reputation around straight-laced, pure engineering "perfection", reduced to small bits of plastic causing the brakes to burn to a crisp. And the well documented issues with the powertrain.

I do wonder if McLaren risks becoming the "new Williams" per se - that phase they went through after BMW defected to Sauber and their competitiveness dropped through the floor. Not much has gone right for Macca since 2008. It'll be hard for them to keep their "fans" too - a team based around attracting interest for their engineering prowess, rather than an emotive connection as Ferrari has to its fans.

Biscione wrote:It'll be hard for them to keep their "fans" too - a team based around attracting interest for their engineering prowess, rather than an emotive connection as Ferrari has to its fans.

I'd go one further and suggest that support for McLaren has always come from their choice of drivers rather than the cold technological World-Of-Ron-Dennis thing they have going on.

Biscione wrote:

Shizuka wrote:

golic_2004 wrote:The reason for Alonso's brake failure is my ROTR http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118916

What the bathplug! That IS rejectful

I do wonder if McLaren risks becoming the "new Williams" per se - that phase they went through after BMW defected to Sauber and their competitiveness dropped through the floor. Not much has gone right for Macca since 2008.

Also, things are not really that similar as McLaren managed to prize Honda as an engine partner supplier with full backup while Williams switched from costumer deal to costumer deal up until now, never becoming again a privileged partner of an engine manufacturer. McLaren has better odds of surviving this downturn.

Another candidate's come to mind; race control for letting Maldonado continue in potentially dangerous machinery. Remember when Schuey's wing let go in Hungary?

CoopsII wrote:McLaren - For being like dat. But also for seemingly getting the media to believe that going from really bloody awful to just bloody awful is a massive achievement worthy of praise.

Couldn't agree with this more. It's all good and well saying you're making big steps forward but the car never should have been that bad in the first place. And then when you go and make a big step backwards like they did in Spain, well, they look like complete amateurs. Throw in the whole incident with Alonso's tear off and you've got a decent recipe for ROTR pie.

watka wrote:Throw in the whole incident with Alonso's tear off and you've got a decent recipe for ROTR pie.

Alan Partridge wrote:...and the driver has got Formula One pie all over his overalls!

Or words to that effect.

Biscione wrote:My provisional pick for ROTR has to be McLaren. Brake failure destroying a very promising performance by Alonso (and almost taking out his pit-crew like skittles in a bowling alley), while Button was by far and away the slowest car in the field that wasn't a Manor. Just when it looked like with Alonso they had finally made progress in the right direction, everything falls apart again.

Nothing post-race has developed that could justify taking the award away from the Woking team, and so McLaren get ROTR for Barcelona.