<< Return to the news list

Boullier: "McLaren not best prepared for 2018"

Published on 21 Mar 2018 10:08
11
By: Rob Veenstra

McLaren is not setting a precise goal for 2018. Despite splitting with Honda after an abysmal three years, the British team had another troubled winter. Team boss Eric Boullier insists those problems have been sorted for Australia, but he also admits that McLaren is not setting unrealistic expectations either.

"The objective is clearly to be competitive and regularly at the front," he told RMC. "First we will have to see our new package. The relationship is new, so we need to discover the car, the engine, the operation. We'll see what happens in the first races," Boullier added. "We will try to be ready in Australia because it's an opportunity to score points, but we may not be the best prepared because we had a lot of little worries. But we will make sure we are ready."

Many people compared McLaren's winter to that of Toro Rosso's, whose opposite move from Renault to Honda power was smooth. "There are those who did a better job, like Toro Rosso," Boullier admitted. "The fact of having only eight days, and losing three because of the weather, didn't help," he added. "But it's a little too early to say where we are. We did not do enough driving, we did not do a race simulation, so we need a little more data."

McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne agrees. "Right behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, it's difficult to predict," he told Het Laatste Nieuws. "The fact that we have a new engine is a big step forward. But how big a step is still difficult to estimate." (GMM)

F1 News Stoffel Vandoorne Renault McLaren

Replies (11)

juju_hound

Posts: 180
If the weather was fine during those lost 3 days Mclaren would lost those days anyway due some internal problems.

Dark clouds are still gathering over this team.
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 10:31
Freguz

Posts: 160
"I don't know about that renault engine, or could it be the french culture?"
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 10:40
siggy74

Posts: 194
Here comes the back tracking, and the problems with that tight packaging ;p

Object is to finish the race, then to finish in the points, and then to TRY & finish on the podiums.

Start with the little things,and get them right ;p thats the way to become a good team. bad mentality from the top ( little things) ..
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 10:55
Major Tom

Posts: 152
I don't necessarily agree with the nay sayers. In order to be with the front runners having a good well sorted car is not enough. That puts you in the mid-field. To go faster you some new ideas that others haven't thought of. These take time to fully develop - time which McLaren haven't had yet. They are clearly going to have a mixed start to the season, but, if they have a basically quick car, they can have a much more competitive end to the season than many of the mid runners. You could see this with Red Bull last year.
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 12:22
mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
The troubles are all down to their own packaging an not PU related, so these are directly in Mclaren's hands to resolve at the cost of aero performance. Their pace though wasn't anything to write home about but with heat burning parts of car it is reasonable to expect they turned down the wick on those engines by a lot. Testing is a waste of time to extrapolate any meaningful information even for the teams themselves vs their competition, all a team can productively do is focus on their own self set targets and try and achieve them, if possible surpass them. The team has to hope their targets are high enough to be able to further team up the grid, conservative targets are a sure way to ensure no improvements or even a decline in performance vs their immediate competition.
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 12:22
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  @MCLARENFAN1968
  
  Testing will give you the understanding if your package is at a stage that the reliability is good enough to complete an race distance. Every team had issues however mcLaren seemed to be having more trouble than the others. As you say its only testing and I expect mLaren to overcome those issues within the next couple of races.
  
  If they do fall short in pace there will be a direct correlation between chassis and time behind. Lets hope they have a good year!
  + 0
  
  Mar 21 2018 - 15:43
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
"The relationship is new, so we need to discover the car, the engine, the operation" setting up a low expectation already? This looks bad for McLaren.
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 16:38
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Is McLaren trying to normal distribute their hype with some downplaying now? You cant have it both ways, Boullier. Either you have a race winning car, or its a podium snatcher, or its a car you'll make the most out of. You cant have it all at once...
- + 0
- Mar 21 2018 - 17:02
- xoya
  
  Posts: 583
  Sure you can.
  "It's an race winning car that we will make the most out of by snatching some podiums."
  
  See? 1st lesson from a "McLaren boss handbook" learnt. :)
  + 0
  
  Mar 21 2018 - 18:59
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Im not falling for that, McLaren Boss Brain Parasite! :p
  
  On a serious note... No you cant have all three. Either you have a mediocre or bad car that you make the most of, or you have a csr able to dnatch podiums, or you have a car ready to take on Merc and Ferrari. Csnt have um all. :P
  + 0
  
  Mar 21 2018 - 19:10
siggy74

Posts: 194
ow dear first practice, and mclaren sat playing with engine covers and such..

Nothing to do with the exhaust and temps on that packaging gove honest.

No body move we,ve got a plan pray for rain and lower temperatures..
- + 0
- Mar 23 2018 - 02:44