McLaren launched their new MCL33 challenger for the 2018 season with great optimism. After three barren seasons with the Honda engine, the new partnership with Renault was going to return the team to their glory days. This was the hope of the Woking-based team and the fans. But the pre-season testing so far has been troubled with frequent stoppages on the track.
Formula 1 Testing – McLaren’s Woes Continue
The first race of the season, the Australian GP (Melbourne March 23-25, 2018) , is just two weeks away. The pre-season testing with just two tests of four days each is a short one. This has further been hampered this year with unusually cold weather and snow in Barcelona, Spain. In the first test much time was lost due to cold track conditions.
McLaren had to get it right in the second and final test as Melbourne looms. The team had done 260 laps in all in the first four days of testing to finish seventh on the leaderboard, in terms of laps done. They had to contend with heating problems even in extremely cold conditions during the first test. The second test has seen the team frequently stopping out on the track and losing time.
On the first day of the second test, Stoffel Vandoorne‘s car broke down three times. The first two times with battery-related issues and the third time with a hydraulic issue. On the second day of the second test, Fernando Alonso stopped out on the track because of an oil leak. The Renault engine had to be changed before Alonso was back on track.
There are concerns that the tight packaging of the new Renault engine is causing problems. McLaren had to make quick modifications to the engine cover to prevent exhaust heat from burning the car. The current reliability issues raises ghosts of the zero-size car design that started the McLaren-Honda era on a disastrous note.
Eric Boullier Not Concerned
Eric Boullier, McLaren Racing Director, thinks the reliability issues in testing are not a cause for concern. Boullier said:“We aren’t overly concerned about the issues that we’ve faced today.
“It’s obviously not the productive day we had planned, but the problems are the types of niggles that we almost hope and expect to face during testing, in order to prepare us properly for the season ahead.
“We are here to test, and today is what sometimes happens in testing. It’s not ideal, and we would have liked more track time, but we’re working on it, we’re learning from it.
“The car breaking down – we have some little issues which we have to fix, but it is just testing. It is part of the process.
“We are on top of this and it is a new partnership with Renault, new packaging, completely new packaging for the car as well. This is testing, give us time – it is fine.”
When asked if the reliability problems were related to design issues with engine packaging Boullier replied:“I don’t think it is related, no.
“Obviously we try to design the best car, so we have to be convinced about the car concept, and with a new car concept you have to prove out on track if it works or not.
“There is an adjustment – we are trying to make the best out of our car to make sure the aerodynamic platform is delivering much more, so we will see.
“We are now about to fine-tune, and the leak we have is nothing related to that.”
The First Race
The top 3 teams of last season, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, are in good form and have had good results so far in pre-season testing. Most teams seem to have good reliability, with even the new Toro Rossa and Honda partentship in good shape. McLaren in six days of testing has completed only 350 laps, 303 laps lesser than champions Mercedes.
This does not augur well for the start of the season. It will take all the experience and expertise of the McLaren team to get on top of the various issues before the first race.
The Launch of the MCL33: https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsports/2018/02/24/the-brave-new-mc…e-mcl33-launched/
MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images
