McLaren: The best seat on the grid?

[Ross Prawn]

In view of McLaren's current efforts to totally stuff Sergio Perez's F1 career, I was reflecting on the drivers who have moved to McLaren anticipating a brilliant future only to have their careers thrown into reverse or teminated.

The list is quite illustrious and includes:-

Nigel Mansell
Juan Pablo Montoya
Heikki Kovalienen
Ferando Alonso (Ok, they didn't finish his career but they certainly dented it.)
Michael Andretti

Thats two F1 world champions and three indycar champions!

One might also mention Kimi, who surely deserved a world championship, but was served up a series of trucks to drive by McLaren.

So is this just the luck of the draw, or is a McLaren seat not the blessing that it first appears to be?

[Zetec]

Well, if you listen to drivers what they have to tell about the McLaren enviroment, I don't think it is a pleasure to be there.
A lot of media appointments compared to other teams, high pressure to deliver, even if the car is crap and so on.

And let's be honest: Button is lucky to still be there. It's not like he was far better then Perez, given the fact how long his carrer is. And they took damn long to confirm him.

[Rusujuur]

Well, you might have point there. McLaren has had more "off" years compared to some other top teams but they however have remained in the top despite those years. Andretti I can't judge as I started to follow the sport after his time, but some other names I can write off right away. Kovalainen ruined his career as he was not able to fight Hamilton. As we can see, it can be done as proven by Alonso, Button and Rosberg. Mansell was unfit and old, had he been at his prime I think he could have destroyed Hakkinen, who was still a rookie in my eyes. Montoya, I don't know... He was inferior to Raikkonen but that is all we can really say...

Taking a second seat at McLaren can be a dangerous gamble for sure, but Raikkonen made a name for himself by beating Coulthard and that shows it can be done. Maybe Magnussen is being tested against Button (Whom I rate higher than Coulthard) to produce a new Raikkonen? Who knows?

[SeedStriker]

McLaren also has a tendency of self-inflicting wounds that goes back in history. An example of that is the failed McLambo of 94. The team tested the Lambo engine in 93 in a spec-B car. Senna, Hakkinen and the engineering team managed to make the car 1 sec. faster than the racing car, and with more development to come, only for Ron Dennis to sign with Peugeot. Now, even with the promise of a more established manufacturer, you don't dismiss the effort of the best driver in the field just like that. At the end, McLaren not only had a dissaster of a season in 94, we all lost Senna in Imola.

Maybe we should do a thread of "The Best Things that Were to Be Only to Be Screwed by McLaren".

[mario]

Ross Prawn, I assume that the title of this threat is a reference to Magnussen's comments about McLaren being the best team on the grid?

Well, if you listen to drivers what they have to tell about the McLaren enviroment, I don't think it is a pleasure to be there.
A lot of media appointments compared to other teams, high pressure to deliver, even if the car is crap and so on.

And let's be honest: Button is lucky to still be there. It's not like he was far better then Perez, given the fact how long his carrer is. And they took damn long to confirm him.

It is definitely true that one criticism that has been levied by a number of drivers is that McLaren's sponsorship commitments are rather high compared to other teams - I seem to recall Montoya complaining about the sponsor commitments at McLaren, Kimi famously hated that and both Button and Hamilton have, at times, complained about that too (with both drivers having hinted at times that it might have occasionally hurt their performance on track).

As for Button, well, the fact that McLaren are reportedly trying their hardest to lure Alonso over suggests that Button might be being kept for the short term as a mentor to Magnussen and then sidelined to make way for Alonso for 2015, perhaps explaining why the team were so slow to confirm his seat.

[takagi_for_the_win]

Whilst it's true that McLaren haven't picked up as many titles as they really ought to have done, they are rarely away from the pointy end of the field. I mean, from the second half of 1997 onwards, they've consistently had a top 3 car (with the obvious exception of this year, and the start of 2009). Also, they're rarely away from the top table for more than one or two seasons at a time, so I reckon Magnussen has every reason to be optimistic

[Sublime_FA11C]

In view of McLaren's current efforts to totally stuff Sergio Perez's F1 career, I was reflecting on the drivers who have moved to McLaren anticipating a brilliant future only to have their careers thrown into reverse or teminated.

The list is quite illustrious and includes:-

Nigel Mansell
Juan Pablo Montoya
Heikki Kovalienen
Ferando Alonso (Ok, they didn't finish his career but they certainly dented it.)
Michael Andretti

Thats two F1 world champions and three indycar champions!

Some of those have themselves to blame as well:

Nigel Mansell - Never had a good relationship with Dennis, in fact some of the team were shocked that Mansell was even considered. Sparks started flying even before he drove for the team. Nige should have known better.
Juan Pablo Montoya - Don't know much. He had speed but couldn't adjust to F1, and McLaren probably wasn't the best F1 team for him. Being brilliant in IndyCar means he's proven but F1 is a different series...
Heikki Kovalienen - Again, don't know much. He was off the pace but why i don't know.
Ferando Alonso (Ok, they didn't finish his career but they certainly dented it.) - Alonso was fortunately young and talented enough to rebuild his career but that took a while. It was his own reaction to Lewis that hurt him, but the team mismanaged that spectacularly.
Michael Andretti - Similar to Montoya or Zanardi. He's a very good driver though you wouldn't think so just by his F1 career. Maybe he could have adjusted better but he refused to spend enough time in Europe and didn't really gel with the team as well as he could have.

It is odd that good driver + McLaren sometimes completely fails to work.

[Aerospeed]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

[dr-baker]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

Nicolas Hamilton?!

[Salamander]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

Yeah, for a year or two, but not a lot after that.

[fbjim]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

Yeah, for a year or two, but not a lot after that.

Other than being arguably the second best driver of 2012, you mean?

[James1978]

Can only think of (some of) 2011 when Hamilton was doing badly. Can't think of a single dry race in 2010 where he was slower than Button either (possibly Monza but we'll never know).

[James1978]

I also must add that most of the best McLaren drivers of recent times are the ones who have chosen to leave rather than the other way round.

(Prost leaving becuase of Senna, Senna leaving to go to Williams, Hakkinen retiring, Raikkonen going to Ferrari, Hamilton wanting to go to Merc. Can also see Button staying there till he retires).

[Collieafc]

Maybe its simply down to a culture fit? As in McLaren perhaps have a working culture that is different from other teams which suits some drivers brilliantly (Senna, Hakinnen) and others badly? (All drivers listed in the original post). Granted it wont be the only reason, but as I have had this with various places I have worked, it applies to everybody and definitely something to consider

At first glance (And only first glance) they seem to appear to suit drivers who are happy just to sit down and get on with things (media duties aside), while some of the drivers listed were quite dramatic (amd more individualistic?) in comparison (Montoya, Andretti the 2nd, Mansell). It doesnt explain all drivers (Kovi for example) but workplace culture and modus operandi must surely play some part

[Salamander]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

Yeah, for a year or two, but not a lot after that.

Other than being arguably the second best driver of 2012, you mean?

No. A distant third at best.

[takagi_for_the_win]

Let's not forget one driver who came in with high standards and delivered:

Pedro de la Rosa?