On the Saturday evening of every Grand Prix weekend McLaren holds a âmeet the teamâ event. Racing Director Eric Boullier and the two drivers take questions from journalists in an open forum, and this year theyâve been joined by Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai.
But in Montreal three of them might as well not have been there. It was originally said by one of the questioners, and repeated by Arai at the conclusion (though apparently without bitterness), that it had become in effect a Honda press conference. Virtually all of the questions were directed at Arai, none of them rude but all of them searching and plenty of them uncomfortable. Most pointedly of how long the Honda board would continue to throw money at the F1 programme with the current apparent snailâs pace progress, particularly with a new CEO coming in. Meanwhile the two drivers sat with heads bowed, giving the impression theyâd rather be anywhere else.
Hondaâs Hopes Hit
This was but a day after Arai spoke of his âvery good feelingâ about the upgraded Honda unit brought to Canada. But it hardly could have been worse timed as both McLaren drivers had commented to the media the day before that there wasnât likely to be much, if any, gain in performance, only in reliability. And the day after, on Saturday, even that didnât appear true as both McLarens needed a unit change, which in Jenson Buttonâs case meant sitting qualifying out. Come the race things sank yet deeper with the Hondaâs lack of power as well as this time its fuel-thirstiness pitilessly exposed. Much to the audible frustration of both drivers.
Arai throughout the press conference played a straight bat, maintaining that nothing changes in Hondaâs commitment and ambition. But he also repeated the mantra that âcome the second half of the season we can achieve good competition with the top level teamsâ.
Keeping a positive outlook is one thing but this is beginning to sound like delusion. It also doesnât effectively manage expectations as well as opens yourself up to ridicule.
What next?
And short of transformations it is genuinely difficult to identify where this pick-up is coming from. We have now completed seven rounds of 19 this campaign so the âsecond halfâ isnât far off and the European season that stretches ahead is, Hungary aside, monopolised by power tracks. Not until Singapore in late September is there an obvious salvation, but like Canada that oneâs tough on fuel. Then we have Hondaâs home round in Suzuka, where you suspect it simply must get it right.
What must compound the frustration for all at Woking is that some murmurs suggest its chassis is somewhere in the ballpark of Ferrariâs, which if true means that with a power unit on a level with Mercedes or Ferrari, McLaren would be in the mix for podiums. In Fernando Alonso it has a driver capable of winning out in such battles too.
But equally, team and engine supplier appear stuck with each other. McLaren will recall why it threw its lot in with Honda in the first place, given not being the works team appears to mean second best service. In an odd back-to-front sense Hondaâs struggle helps the commitment too, given it demonstrates how difficult it is for new manufacturers in this formula, which presumably will deter new entrant suppliers for now. And even in Hondaâs case it had around 18 months of preparation time before its track debut (albeit this was around half of what the three existing suppliers had). For two McLarenâs key figures of Ron Dennis and Alonso similarly it is this or quits. Plus no one said this was a one-season job. All of the pieces are there for McLaren-Honda success, the chief discriminant now is that all of them stick it out.
Images: Honda News