Disastrous European GP for McLaren

[mrjones]

Kimi blows the motor (as if we haven't seen that before :rolleyes: ) and Coulthard goes offroading 2 laps from the end. :mad:

I'd like to read your opinions on this, as I've lost the last shred of hope for Mercedes/Illmor engines and Coulthard.

Even worse... what's the new car gonna perform like? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[C-Kompii]

I was just watching the Grand Prix... and as soon as I saw Kimi's engine blew off, I switched off the TV. He was leading the race after setting the pole position when the engine died on him. The Mercedes engine has been much more powerful this year (they even set the fastest trap speed around this circuit during the Friday 1st qualifying), but seems like they still need to work on the realiability aspect of it.

Williams has just overtaken McLaren in the constructor's championship, and now that the MP4-18 has been delayed until September due to failing to meet side impact safety standard, Kimi's chances of driver's championship this year took a significant dent.

The good news is that for 2004, McLaren Mercedes will make a new car in MP4-19.

I was so looking forward to this race after Kimi's pole position :(

-G'day-

[Rocky]

Originally posted by C-Kompii
...but seems like they still need to work on the realiability aspect of it.

Maybe it was a combination of a MAS failure, head gasket leak or bad engine harness?

[mrjones]

Originally posted by C-Kompii
The good news is that for 2004, McLaren Mercedes will make a new car in MP4-19. You mean the one to be launched in September? That will probably be reliable by Nov 2005, when the MP4-20 is 11 months overdue and extremely unreliable. :rolleyes: :(

[C-Kompii]

Originally posted by mrjones
You mean the one to be launched in September? That will probably be reliable by Nov 2005, when the MP4-20 is 11 months overdue and extremely unreliable. :rolleyes: :(

The September launch will be for the MP4-18, and they will make a totally new car for the 2004 season in MP-19 instead of trying to continously update the MP4-18 like they did with the MP4-17 this season. (its up to MP4-17D already!)

-G'day-

[MidniteBluBenz]

McLaren is just giving the championship to Ferrari. I don't car what anyone says about Coulthard, the guy has got to go. And Villenueve is the perfect replacement. He is a sick driver, just needs a good team.

Ron Dennis is pissing me off. How can he be so slow to bring the new car out. This is F1, you can't pull crap like debuting a new car more than half way thru the season and expect to win.

They deserve to lose. I hope Williams BMW and Honda both finish ahead of McLaren. Maybe then they'll wake up.

I just hope the SLR is nothing like their F1 Cars.

[C-Kompii]

There is no way Honda can dream of finishing above McLaren this year, their engine reliability problem is actually far worse than that of Mercedes, and lets not go into their chasis dynamics. As for Villenueve, his best is in the past, he can't even beat his younger team mate Button and he is WAY over paid. If I was McLaren, I would much rather keep a $7 million a year Coulthard than spend $20-25 million on Villenueve (the extra money could be used for further development cost). That said, Coulthard need to get his act together or be prepared to be shipped out for a younger driver.

-G'day-

[So.Cal_Benzo]

Originally posted by Rocky
Maybe it was a combination of a MAS failure, head gasket leak or bad engine harness?
:werd: hehehe

[ScottyC190E]

The new mercedes engine guy is going to get kicked in the nuts tomorrow. Did you see how pissed Kimi was when he got out of the car? I agree, Coultard is over his hill, JV would be pimp for McLaren.

[MB300E87]

Originally posted by Rocky
Maybe it was a combination of a MAS failure, head gasket leak or bad engine harness?

hahhahhahahha. and hopefully the heater or air conditioning won't go cause then they'd have to tear apart the whole car to get at it.

[mrjones]

If they're going to replace Coulthard, there's only one choice... Fernando Alonso.

[MidniteBluBenz]

Originally posted by C-Kompii
keep a $7 million a year Coulthard than spend $20-25 million on Villenueve (-G'day-

Couthards contract is only for 7 mil a year?!
I guess he doesn't deserve anymore than that cuz of his lackluster performance.

I still think Villenueve would be a good addition, but not at 20 mil a year. He'd have to prove himself first. He's got more experience than Button.

[Brabus]

Dang... I need to read up more :P