Long live the new king!

Sure, let's be realistic: they had the best engine on the grid back then. Even if Honda produced a power unit today that could go toe-to-toe with Mercedes', Alonso and Button would still be stuck behind every single team currently fighting for podiums. Which essentially means the McLaren chassis itself just isn't up to par, regardless of whatever magic Honda brings to the table.

William Bennett53 said:Sure, they had the best engine on the grid. But even if Honda built a motor equal to Mercedes', Alonso would still be stuck behind every single team fighting for wins.

Exactly. 👍
The real question is whether he’d even be in the conversation for serious points or a podium spot...

Plus, you can't ignore how critical the chassis is in all this...
A PU is designed to fit one specific chassis perfectly, and customer teams are basically forced to make compromises because of it...
And let's be real, during the development of that PU, there were probably a mountain of compromises made just to cram all the components into that specific chassis...
Both Renault and Honda are struggling largely because of the teams themselves—they built their PUs based on specific demands, and yeah, they messed up big time because of it.
Those two teams built cars that look, frankly, like they're suffering from extreme malnutrition...

Just look at Renault. They seem to catch fire constantly, but practically exclusively in the RB car. In any other team, they wouldn't have faced nearly those kinds of issues 😉
On top of that, we're seeing this year that the exact same Renault engine isn't actually that terrible in the STR, which is wild considering the massive gap in budget and driver experience...

And who's to say that same Honda wouldn't perform decently in an STR? Theoretically, they could even end up finishing there...
But probably not, because McLaren would fight tooth and nail to prevent that, mostly to avoid the embarrassment of finding out Honda works great in someone else's car 😁

Though, honestly, it's all just noise when you're talking about Alonso fans. If Renault actually buys Lotus or RB, I think it's almost a certainty he ends up there...
If not next season, then definitely 2017 or maybe even halfway through 2016...
Given his whole back-and-forth saga with Renault, this would actually be his smartest move yet.

Because the reality is, Renault will likely be able to compete for wins long before Honda does (assuming they have their own team, of course).
The only true factory teams are Ferrari and Mercedes, so Renault might eventually join that club ☕
but McLaren Honda will never quite get there, just like RB won't, unless Renault buys them out...
And since it's obvious Alonso isn't going to Ferrari or Mercedes, it's just as obvious that Renault is his best bet.

William Bennett53 said:neonfox65, while Mercedes had that insane warp drive effect, the guys over at Williams were actually way more impressive than McLaren. Honda is garbage, but that’s definitely not their only issue.

Let's be real—Honda's engine is absolute junk!
I hit up four F1 races this year, and honestly, my crew couldn't stop laughing whenever the McLaren Honda combo rolled by... you can just tell by the sound and the pace that they completely botched the engine....
Meanwhile, McLaren's chassis? Pure genius!
And Alonso was incredibly spot-on (again, he's the guy who leaks all the team secrets)...
His breakdown after Q1 at Monza was pretty telling:
"At Monza, you're at full throttle for almost 90% of the lap. There are six corners/chicanes, and looking at the detailed sensor and GPS data, McLaren lost about 3/10ths of a second through the turns. The rest of that 2-second deficit? That happened on the straights!!!"

I actually have a witness for Monza—Joža Presvetli and I were watching the race together right on the straight before the Ascari turn...
and yeah, just like everyone else, we were dying laughing at how the Honda sounds and how much McLaren struggles to push on the straights..........

Here's the link where Alonso spills the technical details (kind of like what Lewis did back in 2012 at Spa):

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/34208407

@swiftmaker12/">@@swiftmaker12

I really have to hand it to you—your level of dedication to everything F1 is seriously impressive.

But, if I'm being honest, I think you've got it a bit wrong when it comes to the McLaren Honda situation.

They aren't losing nearly as much time on the straights as you’d think; in fact, take a look at this breakdown—you can compare the McLaren against Ferrari Vettel in the first sector, then check them against Hulka and Hamilton in the second, and finally against Hulka again in the third. This data is all from Monza.



It’s honestly not quite the total disaster you're making it out to be.

As much as Honda might be struggling right now, let's be real—McLaren's chassis isn't exactly groundbreaking either; it just happens that having such a subpar engine helps mask those flaws.

William Bennett53 said:Exactly—they had the best engine on the grid back then. Even if Honda built something right up there with Mercedes' power today, Alonso and Button would still be stuck behind all the teams fighting for wins. Basically, it means the McLaren chassis just isn't cutting it, regardless of what Honda brings...

At this point, Honda is taking 90% of the blame! I mean, look at how much everyone focuses solely on them...

Jason Campbell70 said:After that Spanish clown, finally a little bit of perfect German symphony for my eyes and ears.

Total disgrace...🙂🙂🙂

Okani, you wouldn't know Formula 1 if it hit you in the face...

I was actually expecting some kind of answer regarding Dow—but instead... I've got nothing, and everything on the image above just says 🙂
...

neonfox65 said:I was actually looking for an answer about Dow, but instead... I've got nothing. Everything you need is right there in the image. 🙂

Exactly. It’s all right there...
Maybe just try following Formula 1 and learning how to read.

Still nothing on the word regarding Dow. For me, the fact that he’s never pulled off a win after starting outside the top three is just embarrassing. But hey, maybe today’s his chance to finally turn things around 🙂

What would be an even bigger embarrassment for Lewis Hamilton this season...
Is to actually nail qualifying every single Saturday, grab pole, and then go out on Sunday and win like he's supposed to.
Or maybe he'll just screw up qualifying so bad he starts 3rd or 4th, only to stumble into a win because the race turned into a total circus.

Honestly, I don't see how failing in qualifying and then riding a massive wave of pure luck and everyone else's mistakes counts as some kind of "elite driver" achievement.

Sebastian Vettel is such an idiot—caused another collision. And once again, he couldn't even pull off a win starting from 3rd... total loser.

Sebastian Vettel isn't a loser. He’s a four-time world champion.

Get it?

http://video.gazzetta.it/ferrari-che...6-218f1c1c8a44
Man mastered Italiano in just two years, which honestly puts his German predecessor to shame since that guy took ten.
At least we're getting something for once. 😬

neonfox65 said:Red Bull's Pevac 😂 looking absolutely crushed by Ricard



😂

Just to refresh everyone's memory, this is exactly how Sebastian Vettel will look at the end of 2017 after getting dismantled by Lewis Hamilton.

mellowtiger83 said:Let's take a quick trip down memory lane: this is basically how Sebastian Vettel looks at the end of 2017 after getting absolutely wrecked by Lewis Hamilton.

Don't you think even the Gays would be disappointed, just like whoever originally posted that...

neonfox65 said:Ric... 🤦 What a joke of a driver.

Just look at the nonsense Max Verstappen is pulling.😉

Give it a little while and they'll start rooting for Max, then suddenly they'll be claiming Lewis Hamilton is a disgrace of a driver.😲🙂🤣

ruggedhawk20 said:Don't sweat it. There are plenty of photos out there of Ivan Capelli, Stefan Johansson, Luka Badoer, and these other pixelated clowns just twiddling their thumbs.

Everyone’s just twiddling their thumbs—which, in my book, is basically the signal for the mechanics to go ahead and light the car on fire.

calm 🤣

Jason Campbell70 said:My first day at Ferrari
Man, we true fans have been waiting an eternity for a caption like that. 🙏🙏🙏
Fine, it’s seven years late, but let's not split hairs now.


Get used to that job description; you're going to need it next season.

Finger in the air, Ferrari champion! 😁

After that Spanish clown, it's finally some perfect German symphony for my eyes and ears.

Finger in the air, Ferrari champion!

steelmaker83 said:Total joke, Ferrari's gonna win it all!

Finally seeing sense, huh? 😍

You aren't totally wrong though...
That could actually play out perfectly this season...

If Valtteri Bottas spends this year slapping Lewis Hamilton around in Bahrain just like last year, and keeps it up until mid-season, then Sebastian Vettel definitely has a shot...
Because there's no way Mercedes is going to dump Hamilton for Bottas before Hamilton loses his theoretical title shot...
And even if they do decide that, or if they decide earlier, there's still a massive chance Hamilton will pull everything he can to make sure Bottas wins over Sebastian Vettel or Max Verstappen. Literally zero chance of that happening. ☕

The number one drivers at Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have the best odds this season, mostly because of Bottas and how much Hamilton is going to lose his mind—which we're going to see plenty of. As things stand, they won't be dealing with those kinds of internal team issues...

We'll probably know where we stand after Bahrain...
Once we see what Red Bull Racing and Ferrari's actual chances are against Mercedes, and whether Mercedes actually lets Bottas beat their golden boy or not.

stormybadger8 said:You’ve finally seen the light, 😍
.
Though you aren't entirely off base...
It could very well prove to be damn near accurate this season...

If Valtteri Bottas spends this year playing spoiler to Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain just like he did last year, and keeps up that momentum through mid-season, then Sebastian Vettel certainly has a shot...
It seems unlikely that Mercedes will dump Hamilton in favor of Bottas before Hamilton loses his theoretical title chances...
And even if they do decide that early on, there's still the chance that Hamilton might actually try to help Bottas secure the championship over Sebastian Vettel or Max Verstappen—which is basically impossible. ☕

The number one drivers at Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have the best odds this season. It all comes down to Bottas and the inevitable friction with Hamilton that we're bound to see quite a bit of this year. As things stand, those two won't be dealing with such internal team drama...

After Bahrain, we should have a clearer picture of the landscape...
Once we see the actual gap between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari compared to Mercedes, and whether Mercedes allows Bottas to outshine their golden boy or not...

Valtteri Bottas 🤣, they practically handed him this win on a silver platter!
Sebastian Vettel hit the nail on the head when he noted that Hamilton looked bored.

I would genuinely love to see Sebastian Vettel take the title so there would be five of them, but I don't know where you found Valtteri Bottas.🙂