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McLaren astonished with lack of pace

Published on 07 Apr 2018 18:36
12
By: Fergal Walsh

McLaren admits that it is astonished after qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, as both cars exited ones again in Q2. The two papaya cars will line-up fourteenth and fifteenth, and rather more amazingly, behind the two Honda-powered Toro Rosso's.

Racing director Eric Boullier says the team will launch an investigation to discover just why the Woking-based squad lacked so much pace: "Obviously it’s a bit of a surprise, based on the pace we had in FP3,” Boullier told Sky Sports F1. "There is a need for a big investigation.

"On his last lap Fernando found some pace in Sector 2 and Sector 3, which would have helped earlier. We need to find out what’s going on. The balance is fine, obviously there’s a lack of grip, that’s my conclusion for the poor performance, but they don’t report anything wrong."

Last time out in Australia, the two McLaren's once again failed to finish inside the top ten in qualifying. However, in the race, both Alonso and Vandoorne managed to climb up and score points, and Boullier is confident that McLaren will be faster again on Sunday.

"We were struggling last year in Bahrain as well, which is something we need to investigate for this layout," Boullier said. "Our pace in Australia was not a dream, it was real in the race, and we know it will be better here tomorrow than the one-lap pace.

"But we need to find out why. We need to ask some questions at the factory. Like all of us on the pitwall, to be honest, I’m a bit astonished and we need to understand what happened," the Frenchman concluded.

F1 News Fernando Alonso Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda

Replies (12)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
In all fairness they didnt do a bad job. In fact, this was pretty much were I expected them to be. And generally speaking, McLaren is more of a race pace team.
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- Apr 7 2018 - 18:48
- Jutlandia
  
  Posts: 191
  And was'ent it Alonso that claimed that they could fight with RB?
  And now a Torro Rosso with a Honda PU is faster than both McLarens....
  It makes you think.
  + 0
  
  Apr 7 2018 - 18:54
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  And I dont think anybody seriously believed him, and neither do I think many believed him when he basically thought Works Renault would be a cake walk. As for STR... We'll have to see how things fare in the race, but it sure is interesting stuff.
  + 0
  
  Apr 7 2018 - 19:06
- ringo
  
  Posts: 3,633
  Mcclaren had a good car but after last year mercedes there was already some degradation, they wrote the lack of speed to much on honda aswell. will see how gasly performs in the Race, is pretty interesting if he can hang on on the race. on paper STR is less then RB and Mclaren, and mclaren lacks to overrule the main renault team.. there chassis has to much design flaws, mayby due to short time on the engine design or major..., i cheering for honda because yeah :p i think mclaren get a hard note on that :)
  + 0
  
  Apr 8 2018 - 08:59
Danimal5981

Posts: 574
In all fairness, on pure speed they're the 6th team on the grid, just outside top 10. So their performance is on par, maybe slightly disappointing because of STR Honda ...of all engines) getting the better of them, but to use a cliche: that's racing. Their race pace was alright in Australia and if it's the same tomorrow, then they'll bag some points again: nothing wrong, no need for alarm or a story larger than it actually is.
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- Apr 7 2018 - 18:52
mbmwe36

Posts: 533
This is so funny, and I'm loving every moment of it.
The "We have the best chassis on the grid" bullshit they've been saying for years was in fact bullshit - quelle surprise.

At least they can find solace in the fact that they aren't the biggest joke on the grid, I'm looking at you, Williams...
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- Apr 7 2018 - 21:30
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Whether its a fluke or not I find this to be hilarious stuff. We knew from the get go that they didnt have the best chassis, even durign 2017, and not we have it on paper. They wont beat Red Bull with a similar engine, and I doubt they will beat works Renault.
  
  Williams should write a book.... "How to get from beign 3rd best 2 years in a row down to race Sauber".
  + 0
  
  Apr 8 2018 - 08:32
siggy74

Posts: 194
Unless they have a good result like Australia, and improve the car drastically.
One would suspect that the old guillotine will be making a medival come back.

Very shortly we will have some french & American heads for the chop....
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- Apr 7 2018 - 23:58
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  "There are good noose tonight! A double header!"
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  Apr 8 2018 - 08:34
Bhurt

Posts: 320
I didn't think they were that impressive in Australia either. There was a lot of luck involved in that race for them (Haas + vsc).
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- Apr 8 2018 - 07:53
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yup, alot of luck there. Also Sainz was nauseous, so I doubt he was racing at 100%.
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  Apr 8 2018 - 08:33
f1ski

Posts: 726
launch an investigation? well seems to me they are slow. Eric can you hear me. those big red cheeks did you get them sitting in front of a computer or spending late nights behind the wine glass
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- Apr 13 2018 - 03:58