McLaren’s difficult pre-season preparations continued on the first day of the final test as another technical problem halted their running after just seven laps.
The team blamed a hydraulic leak for the early end to their day and will change the engine in their MP4-30 before tomorrow’s test.
Jenson Button was driving the car as Fernando Alonso recuperates following his crash at the circuit on Sunday.
After nine of their twelve days of pre-season running McLaren have not yet passed the 1,000 kilometre mark with their Honda-engined car.
Button will continue to drive the car tomorrow.
2015 F1 season
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- Over 100 driver penalties issued in record-breaking 2015
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- The Complete F1 Fanatic 2015 season review
- Your favourite – and least favourite – F1 races of 2015
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
26th February 2015, 14:09
It seemed quite normal to have so many problems in first test, but they’re not moving forward. So now is the time, when Mclaren really have to start to worry. They’re real season will probably start when F1 lands in Europe.
Tiago Sá
26th February 2015, 14:11
Now is probably the time to start developing next year’s car and stop pretending they still have a chance this year.
Raúl Valencia (@rvalencia)
26th February 2015, 14:48
Well, they could still race Manor :)
Fletch (@fletchuk)
26th February 2015, 17:56
You joke, but its pretty likely we’ll hear that old chestnut earlier than usual from Ron this year :P
I need a new coping mechanism for being a McLaren fan…
PT (@pt)
26th February 2015, 19:06
I need one as an Alonso fan. Imagine, if Ferrari score wins and Alonso languishes outside the points or in the lower fringes of the top ten how the anguish would be. Another wrong decision from Alonso – it would seem. How many more such decisions can Alonso fans bear to witness. And now McLaren isn’t even sure whether he will race in Australia…
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
26th February 2015, 19:34
Lol I’m in no way a McLaren fan, but I am a Jenson fan, and his best years are being wasted in such a poor team. It’s a former shadow of the days when Mika was around.
Virender Singh (@vjskang)
26th February 2015, 14:57
That was on my mind as well.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th February 2015, 14:09
well… at least they are in better shape than Force India and Manor…
Wait until Melbourne people…
favomodo (@favomodo)
26th February 2015, 14:24
So they wil be 15th and 16th in Melbourne? I’m afraid they will.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th February 2015, 14:57
@favomodo they might, but they might finish the race too, something that, by in theory right now, seems quite far from reach.
Sure, it’s not an ideal scenario. But it’s not like they’ll fail in the first lap every race. The real test happens in Melbourne, when points are awarded.
anon
26th February 2015, 19:15
@fer-no65, technically, if McLaren were to have similar issues in Australia to what they are having now, to the point where they were unable to set competitive lap times in the practise sessions, they could potentially be barred from starting due to the 107% rule.
Force India will have the major disadvantage that they will be under prepared for the first race, since they haven’t even hit the track yet, but they at least have the advantage that the Mercedes engine seems to be pretty bulletproof. Furthermore, the VJM08 is an evolution of the VJM07 rather than an outright new package like the MP4/30; as the components will probably be iterations of proven designs, they will probably have a better idea of how they should behave.
I expect that Force India will still be near or at the back, but the car should have enough inherent performance and be reliable enough to at least make the 107% rule, if nothing else. McLaren, by contrast, seem to have proven the car is potentially quick, but haven’t yet proven it is reliable enough to actually be assured of passing the 107% limit.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
26th February 2015, 15:28
better than manor, sure! better than fi, i seriously doubt that! they have a merc engine so in my book that makes a huge difference to the new honda engine! (of course, the fi car hasnt been run jet, and surelly thats what you mean…)
Maza Raap (@maza)
26th February 2015, 14:14
Yeah can’t help thinking how hugely this has compromised their season altogether. Having just one car on the grid for the testing and only two for the rest of the season equals so little feedback and data compared to what other teams had in 2014. It’s not like that would justify this catastrophic testing though, but still. It’ll just take them like 10 % of the season to properly wrap up their testing that was supposed to be done before Melbourne! And after that they’ll know if their car is any good. Sure it’ll be a great race car, but doesn’t seem like it’s gonna be that in 2015.
favomodo (@favomodo)
26th February 2015, 14:23
So they wil be 15th and 16th in Melbourne? I’m afraid they will.
favomodo (@favomodo)
26th February 2015, 14:24
Oops, this should be the reaction at @fer-no65)
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
26th February 2015, 14:27
Before the first test I added a comment to an article outlining my belief that McLaren’s first priority should be reliability. A good number of people, whom I felt should have known better, disagreed saying that if there was to be any value to their season then McLaren should seek performance. I am not inferring McLaren engineers were of that opinion or that F1Fanatic managed to change their minds ;) but I am now at the stage of concern. In the first two tests I would have been surprised if we saw the car in any sort of anger but these problems are far too frequent for a team of McLaren’s standing. Without any representative running how can developments of the car’s aerodynamics be made? For me, McLaren’s season was always going to start in Europe and then hopefully have a podium challenging car by the end of the year. With the development schedule skewed, that looks less and less likely. For McLaren to have any chance of a win this year then the Honda engine is going to have to be on par with Ferrari and Renault out of the box and hope to improve as the season progresses. My worry is that at the moment I am seeing more Australia 2014 Lotus than Australia 2014 Red Bull but with so little proper testing that impression might be completely wrong as well!
DanimalHouse (@thrillerwa09)
26th February 2015, 17:52
Forget that. They need to go back to the Mclaren way of things… make it extremely fast with dodgy reliability. I’d sacrifice speed for reliability right now. The Mclaren has been almost TOO reliable the last two seasons, at the expense of outright speed.
Fletch (@fletchuk)
26th February 2015, 17:59
@rbalonso
… after the Concern phase comes the Despair, then the Anger, shortly before the Hope for the next season.
I’ve been a McLaren fan for many cycles now. Enjoy!
Paul Findsen (@)
26th February 2015, 20:03
I’ll keep that in mind this year.
Again.
barkun (@barkun)
27th February 2015, 10:27
@fletchuk me too… part of me is still hopeful for this season, the other is between despair and anger :S
James Devon (@tata)
26th February 2015, 14:28
Could Mclaren’s much touted ‘size zero’ be their undoing? Is the Hoda Power Unit too advanced and extreme too soon in order o fit into a ‘size zero’ body?
As some1 pointed out somewhere, ‘size zero’ in real life, is unhealthy. In fact, it is anorexic.
Maybe it is time to fatten up the rear section or, to say the least, waist of that car so that.
Bebilou (@bebilou)
26th February 2015, 14:30
Wait and see, yes… But admit they are very, very, very late on their schedule.
alesi27 (@alesi27)
26th February 2015, 14:45
Prepare for 2004 all over again Mclaren people!
retak
26th February 2015, 16:25
That would actually be an improvement. McLaren’s 2004 season was better than their 2013 and 2014 seasons.
The Abbinator (@abbinator)
26th February 2015, 14:49
Oh dear… Not looking good. Still, you never know, they might get lucky and have hit on a good basic design once they get some running in. Here’s hoping the Honda proves powerful and reliable…
PeterG
26th February 2015, 15:10
The frustrating thing is that by all accounts when there running it actually seems like it could be a competitive car which may be capable of running around 3rd-6th if they could just sort the power unit out.
John miller
26th February 2015, 16:55
Where are Ron and Eric?
McLaren, if nothing else, are all about process. Some one appears to have put the p in process and buggered it up completely.
Leaks? Jeez, it’s not as if they’re hitting reliability or performance problems, this is just quality control.
The Blade Runner (@)
26th February 2015, 17:07
As a McLaren fan I’ve tried to take a reasonably relaxed approach to the team’s pre-season woes thus far. Recent memory of Red Bull’s experiences in 2014 had calmed my nerves and I was confident that as long as McLaren got some decent running in the last test then by the time they got to the Spanish GP in May they would be competitive and everything would be looking good for 2016.
My demeanour (denial?) has now changed somewhat and I am genuinely concerned that McLaren will struggle to even complete the first 3 or 4 races let alone be competitive. Unless there is a quantum leap in reliability over the next few days then this is a very real scenario.
Fletch (@fletchuk)
26th February 2015, 18:03
@thebladerunner
I can see a very anxious Spaniard starting to lose his temper publicly at or around that 4th race
PT (@pt)
26th February 2015, 19:09
Which means he’ll already be knocking on Mercedes’ doors?
OmarR-Pepper
26th February 2015, 19:22
@fletchuk maybe he can keep resting at home the whole season!!!
ZeusMC
26th February 2015, 21:30
Well, he did said that the win win formula may come in first or second year. Clearly, Mclaren and Honda are not worried about performances, they need to put themselves together, and solve those pesky gremlins. They haven’t had any major issues for now, but any component failure, ERS or some pump on the engine, requires much more time to be replaced, and test day is lost. Mercedes had ERS problems today and the test was over for them. I don’t compare them, but replace time needed on these “engines” is very long in such narrow and limited testing time. Maybe “available test time” would be better if measured by actual time spent on the track, not in the pits. But that’s only my opinion. “You have xx time on track for the season, use it how you like”. I think, in two or three weeks, the teams could gather every informations they need and spend their “track time” that is given. The cost of running would be the same for everyone, because all of them have exactly the same number of laps or time to spend. What do you think of that?
English is not my primar language, I apologize for the mistakes.
RogerA
26th February 2015, 17:19
So much for all those who a year ago were insisting that Ron Dennis’s return to the F1 team ensured the team would improve.
The Blade Runner (@)
26th February 2015, 17:27
That’s a step too far!
Ron himself has been insistent that the Team’s change of approach is to ensure continued success in the medium to long term. As we’re only at the pre-season testing stage your comment is, frankly, nonsense!
Hairs (@hairs)
26th February 2015, 18:24
7 laps? That’s practically a race simulation for McLaren. Mechanics must be thrilled!
PT (@pt)
26th February 2015, 19:10
That’s a good one… :)
lockup (@)
26th February 2015, 19:02
They could still be fast.
OmarR-Pepper
26th February 2015, 19:21
Looks like, as their now motto, they will not repeat history but make new history… the lowest point in McLaren’s history ever.
ZeusMC
26th February 2015, 21:46
Don’t you worry about McLaren, this season Kimi knows what he’s doing :) and Allison knows his demands. If someone thinks Kimi would be the waterboy, think again. So, Vettel simply must be better than him, second year in a row on second spot in the team would ruin his career. There is a point for you to worry about, no need for going in the others people businesses. Cheers!
nickfrog (@nickfrog)
26th February 2015, 23:17
Performance vs reliability does mean very slow/very reliable or very fast/very unreliable.
It’s a bit less binary then some seem to think.
It will all fall in place eventually, possibly in Australia, possibly in Europe. Doesn’t mean they’ll win, nor that they’ll be lapped, nothing that binary in motorsport, all kinds of shades of grey…
nickfrog (@nickfrog)
26th February 2015, 23:18
I meant NOT mean very slow/very reliable or very fast/very unreliable.
Why can I edit a post ?
nickfrog (@nickfrog)
26th February 2015, 23:19
LOL. Why can’t I edit a post ?