One of the off-track highlights of the Magny-Cours weekend was a relatively rare(these days at least), McLaren-hosted evening at which Ron was present. On this occasion the team entertained the British press at the spectacular Chateau de Prye on Friday night. This is a sumptuous pile once owned by the Queen of Poland about half an hour's drive from the track set in its own parkland, complete with baying cows.
We were invited for the launch of a superb new book "McLaren - The Cars 1964-2008" which offers a complete pictorial and technical/historical guide to every car built by McLaren. It starts with the McLaren M1A in 1964 and goes all the way through the decades, via some of the best(MP4/4) and worst(M28) cars, up to this season's MP4/23 (which seems to be a pretty good one).
The book is a thing of beauty which would provide everyone who reads this blog with hours of enjoyment. It contains over 750 photographs of excellent quality - especially the studio shots of the cars - and the general standard of finish is excellent. There are some whacko machines in it, among them the M7C and M7D and a lot of cool looking rockets on wheels like the M14. The very latest cars stack up pretty well, looks wise. Apparently there is one car missing - the ground effect version of the M26(we can forgive them that, I guess).
On hand at the chateau was the photographer William Taylor who wrote the text and took the pictures, travelling all over the world to do so. Also there was the book's editor David Tremayne of the Independent who helped knock a mammoth work into shape. We had a nice evening at which McLaren's new communications director Matt Bishop made a useful debut on the hosting front and was joined by an immaculate-looking Ron who spoke about the long history of a great company which, he said, was "bigger than any one individual." He also admitted that, along the way, McLaren had built some terrible cars but some very good ones too.
The crap photographer(EG) was on hand. Below are a selection of pictures showing the chateau; Ron and Matt talking; a picture of the superb poster we were given alongside a copy of the book(signed by Ron, Martin, Heikki and Lewis); and a couple of other shots - the book and (the legendary) Alan Henry having a look through it. For the bon viveurs, I was the "designated driver" that evening so the wine passed me by. The food was excellent and was laid out on a vast table in the dining room where we helped ourselves. For the record, the chateau is also a hotel and is the home of a huge golden retriever called Valdek who kept us company(pictured with the moderator). The cows, by the way, were either irritated by Ron or impressed by him because they made a lot of noise when he was speaking.
        
The book is available as follows:
Websites: www.mclarenshop.com and www.coteriepress.com
It will also be available via the Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes merchandise areas at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. ISBN: 978 1 902351 32 2 Standard Edition (£39.95 on www.mclarenshop.com). ISBN: 978 1 902351 33 9 Limited Edition (£69.95 on www.mclarenshop.com)
The Chateau de Prye's website is info@chateaudeprye.com
 That was a great race in Turkey which was most enjoyable to watch. A solid performance by Felipe, an even better drive by Lewis and an outcome which certainly helps bring the championship alive going into Monaco with Lewis and Felipe now tied in second place, seven points adrift of Kimi. Any one of those three could end up being world champion this year and, just now, I would not like to bet on which one it will be.
By far the most interesting detail of the weekend, to my mind at least, was the revelation that not only were McLaren the only team to have tyre safety concerns but, within McLaren, it was only Lewis who had a problem and not Heikki as well. It is so easy to miss this kind of detail in the feverish atmosphere of a Formula One paddock after a race when you are dashing around trying to get interviews and pick up the thread of the race before everyone heads off to the airport.
At Istanbul Park on Sunday afternoon, it was noticeable that neither Martin Whitmarsh nor Lewis himself, in the interviews I heard at least, alluded to the fact that Heikki was supposed to have been on a two-stopper(he only made three stops because of the bang against Kimi's car which forced him to pit just after the start). I understand it was Ron, talking to other journalists, who mentioned that it was only Lewis who was required to three-stop. So suddenly it became clear that this was not a problem for the McLaren "team" as a whole but just Lewis's side of the garage.
And this is where it gets fascinating. What better illustration of the importance of different driving styles, which are often hard to see with the naked eye, could you want than the fact that Lewis alone among 20 drivers has a technique which causes excessive stress on his front-right tyre at Turn 8, while even his team-mate in the same equipment did not encounter the same problem.
Lewis's harshest critics will say this is because he is a "bad" racing driver who murders his tyres. But this, of course, is to simplify a complex issue with many inter-related factors at work, not all of which are in Lewis's control. In any case, Bridgestone sources privately do not agree; they argue that every driver's style is different and the effects they exert on the tyres are subtly different, not better or worse. As one source at the Japanese manufacturer put it to this blog: "Somebody who finished second in the world championship is already an exceptional driver."
It seems the problem with Lewis's front-right tyre going through Turn 8 was a failure in the inside sidewall area of the tyre as it experienced extreme lateral load for a period of around 6 seconds on a cornering sequence with a sustained G-Force of around 4.5. Among the factors which caused the problem are these:
Lewis's overall car set-up and level of downforce/wing angle
His performance over the entire lap at Istanbul
His preferred angle of entry going into the sequence
His speed of entry
His mid-corner speed(Kimi set the fastest apex speed at 226.6km/h)
His throttle inputs
His steering inputs
The slip angle of the tyres(the difference between the trajectory of the wheel and the trajectory of the tyre itself)
The toe angles of the tyres(pointing in or out)
Somewhere in all of that and combining it all produced a safety issue for Lewis alone and only at Turn 8 at Istanbul. I got the impression from Lewis that the team were more or less told to adopt a three-stop strategy on safety grounds. It turns out this is not quite correct. Bridgestone in fact advised McLaren that they could run two stops but they would have to go for a short middle stint(20-18-20). Assessing this, the McLaren strategists decided to go for three stops and four sectors(hard, hard, hard and medium).
Equally remarkable in this story is the fact that Lewis had a similar problem last year when his tyre delaminated after Turn 8. It was only him again and, despite improvements in the tyre over the winter, a similar failure was on the cards again this year. We will have to wait for Istanbul Park in 2009 to see if this syndrome repeats itself for a third season in succession.
Pic of Lewis on track in Turkey courtesy of mclaren.com
 In the official McLaren preview for this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, Norbert Haug spoke candidly about the inferior competitive position of the McLarens just now and indicated that Turkey is going to be another tough weekend. Reading between the lines, you sense the guys at Woking and Stuttgart are expecting another Ferrari one-two at Istanbul Park and the overall situation in the points is going to get worse before it starts to get better.
Here are two answers from Norbert:
Prior to Barcelona, it has been the opinion of experts that on this track the real balance of power would become obvious and that the team which is in front in Barcelona would remain in front for the rest of the year. What is your opinion?
“Barcelona as the first Grand Prix of the European season and, with its challenging track layout, is definitely a yardstick for the following races. In qualifying, we missed pole position by less than three tenths of a second; however, we carried a little more fuel and therefore more weight. Anyway, even with the same fuel load we wouldn’t have been fast enough to beat Ferrari. Since winning the season opener in Melbourne, our car has improved gradually and has become significantly faster. Unfortunately, we didn’t score all possible points, neither in Melbourne, Malaysia, Bahrain or Barcelona, mostly due to self-induced mistakes and this is the reason for the gap to the top of the rankings, after Ferrari had scored only one point in Melbourne. Our aim is to improve further over the next few races, however it is possible the Turkish Grand Prix might be a challenging race for the team.”
How do you evaluate the chances of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in the Turkish Grand Prix?
“We didn’t really shine here in the past, and also this time we are not the current benchmark. The team wants to score as many points as possible, but after three consecutive wins Ferrari obviously arrive here as the favourites.”
Lewis will have taken some comfort and renewed confidence from a solid race at Montmelo and we know he loves Istanbul Park(just think back to his epic GP2 race there in 2006) but, as last year's Grand Prix, underlined it is a tricky place to overtake, notwithstanding the obvious one under braking at Turn 12. The British driver knows that qualifying well will be critical but, again, it looks a tall order to get ahead of the red cars.
As for Heikki, however much the team big him up - he's "fighting fit" and so on - you have got to expect, at the very best, another steady weekend from him after his huge wipe out in Barcelona. And then there is BMW to think about. Will Robert get a good start to his race this time to match his performance in quali? It's going to happen sooner or later.
In the same preview Martin Whitmarsh provided a more positive outlook on the team's prospects at the open and free-flowing track in Turkey. What struck me, however, was the confidence Whitmarsh expresses about high-speed corners as against the under-performance of the car on tight turns. This would seem to be a reversal of the form of last year when the MP4-22 was the king of the twisty tracks but struggled against the Ferraris on the faster, sweeping circuits. The interesting element here is that Lewis's supporters have been arguing that the current run of poor form will come to an end at Monaco. After reading this you would have to question that assumption.
Here's Martin replying to two questions:
The Istanbul Speed Park tends to be quite a demanding circuit on tyres, what are your expectations in this area for the race?
“The circuit has actually some terrifically demanding corners, and it is therefore positive that we are coming away from Barcelona where the MP4-23 was very strong in high speed corners. If you can have a well balanced car through high speed corners then you can be kinder to the tyres. So we have every reason to be optimistic that we will be able to preserve our Bridgestone Potenzas at this track. A key part of the practice sessions is understanding the conditions we find when we get to the track, we will be very careful in these sessions to analyse, working together with Bridgestone, tyre wear and degradation with representative race fuel loads”.
Has the team been focusing on any particular areas of development prior to this race, what is required from a car to be quick here?
“Given the challenging nature of the circuit, we have come away from Barcelona with some confidence for the high speed corners, but we also come away knowing that we have areas where we need to strengthen the car. The tighter, more twisty parts of the Circuit de Catalunya were certainly our Achilles heel during the race weekend, and there has been a lot of analysis and study of that as we endeavor to strengthen our car in that area.”
Pic of Heikki at Barca courtesy of www.mclaren.com
I'm in Barcelona. It is great to be back at a circuit, ready for some track action. There is much to report but I am busy with the paper for now. Just one snippet that may be of interest. We saw Lewis today in the McLaren "brand centre" - the big round thing in the paddock - and he was asked about that terrible start he made in Bahrain. This was the moment a difficult weekend in the Gulf really went "west" for Lewis and it was largely responsible for him eventually finishing 13th.
This is what Lewis said about it: "Before you stop(on the grid) you are required to switch on the launch map. You have to do it before you stop. If you do stop and you haven't done it, you have a three second window. I stopped and I switched it on at four seconds. I thought it was on but it wasn't. So when I went into the sequence of doing the start, I realised it wasn't set in the right position and the anti-stall kicked in when I released the clutch. That was basically it - I had to try and pull away as quickly as possible."
Result: Lewis lost six places before the first corner and this was followed by his clash with Fernando. After that his race was more or less run.
Lewis switched to a one-stop strategy after he ran into the back of Fernando Alonso on lap two. Have you determined the cause of the accident?
"It’s an interesting situation for those of us on the pit wall, because you see an incident such as that and have to respond in terms of pulling him in, getting the car repaired, looking at fuel load options that might help him recover and so on. At the time we didn’t actually know how it all unfolded, however. People come up immediately after the race and ask, "So, was he brake-tested?" and you can’t answer. It is assumed that you are being evasive, but in truth you simply don’t know. It was only when I went into the engineers’ room and started looking at the details that I realised Lewis’s upper front wing had disappeared about two seconds before the accident, so he suddenly lost downforce. We haven’t analysed why that happened but we suspect the structure had been weakened by previous contact. To be fair to Lewis it could have broken of its own accord, but that has never happened before so contact is the most likely cause. There’s certainly no evidence that Fernando did anything wrong. The impact damaged other elements of Lewis’s car apart from the wing - he just had to cope as best he could."
EG writes: The above is from McLaren's official race de-brief released today. BTW there are tons of comments waiting to be published on this subject. I will try to get round to putting them up but that "day job" of mine(and sleep deprivation) is getting in the way again...
Several people have asked about the strange situation regarding the McLaren garage at Bahrain following reports that the Woking-based team will no longer be occupying No.5 as it did at Melbourne and Sepang, but has been pushed back to the bottom of the pitlane next to Force India.
It just so happens that I asked Bernie about this the other day and it turns out that he received a letter from Max(pre-scandal) in which the FIA president claimed that, due to complaints from rival teams, it would be best to return McLaren to the bottom of the 'lane as required by their last place finish in the 2007 constructors' championship.
So it seems Bernie's compromise arrangement - about which I had heard no complaints it must be said - has been swept away and for the rest of season. McLaren's "Brand Centre"(aka Terminal 6) will henceforth be squeezed in at the European tracks and may have to be out of line with the team garage at some places. All very humiliating I would imagine.
At McLaren, by the way, they say, a team or teams did complain but they did so only after they were "asked to".
Just so you get it from the horse's mouth so to speak, here is what Bernie said about this a couple of days ago.
"For years I always lay everything out in the pits and the paddock - it's nothing to do with the FIA. For 30 years there's always been a joke that if we don't have enough garages, they will have to be on the grass. It is always 'take it easy, or you are going to be on the grass next year.' So we always had the principle that whoever won the championship would go at one end of the pitlane.
"I said 'well we've got a bloody great motorhome which we are going to have a job to fit in different places - because it takes a lot of room. So let's do a bit of a compromise and put McLaren four or five - something like that.' And Ron said 'where are we going to be?' And I said that's what we'll do.
"Then I had a letter from Max the other day explaining - he said Bernie I have had a lot of complaints from people saying that you sort of arbitrarily put Ron there which is something you've never done before. You've always been very strict no matter who the team is and suddenly, out of the blue, you do this and the teams are complaining. So I think you ought to follow what you've been doing for 30 years and put them where they should be which is at the end of the pit lane."
So there you have it. Me thinks there is a lot more golf in this hole....I'll keep you posted.
The headline pretty much says it all.
While Ed's winging his way Down Under, here's a snappy interview with the boy wonder.
Video courtesy of Vodafone Teamcast
EG writes: Thanks to Ignacio for offering this translation of what Fernando said after qualifying(I'm pretty sure it was then).
The exact translation for his words would be:
Q: Do you think your teammate deserves the title despite everything that has occurred?
A: I think so, he deserves it if he wins it at the end. One has to be realist in that and totally sportsmanlike. I think one needs to know how to win, how to lose, and if this year I don't win, it's because someone has summed up more points than me, and if someone has summed up more points than me, it's because he's done a better job. And even more, having a 12 points lead at the end means everything has resulted better for him. If it is because he has abandoned less races, because of decisions, because of whatever, he has more points and he deserves it.
The Asturian hero also has another real go at McLaren and Ron...read this...
Like everyone else, I am waiting in Shanghai for the next chapter. In the meantime here is the latest from McLaren straight-up. This is taken from their most recent official press release previewing the race and it gives a flavour of the way the team is trying to approach the endgame. At the bottom I have included a paragraph about Fernando's race car.
Fernando Alonso
"My retirement in Japan has not made it easy for me in the Championship, but there are still 20 points to be won and I am going to fight hard for each one of them. There is always a lot of talk of pressure and distractions at this time of the year, all I think about is racing and winning at Shanghai and Interlagos. We are all focused on this aim and giving the maximum over the next few weeks. I like to race at the Shanghai circuit, it is new but it has character, although I have mixed memories from the track. Last year was a frustrating race, whereas in 2005 I won. I hope to repeat this result this weekend! The track is very wide and has been designed to allow overtaking. Slipstreaming along the main back straight and then passing into the first corner is one of the main chances. You have to make sure you have as much momentum as possible when you exit turn 13, so mechanical grip is as important as making sure we have a competitive top speed."
Lewis Hamilton
"We are going into these races with a really tight drivers' battle with only 12 points between me and Fernando. Anything is still possible but I am feeling confident and very determined and I hope we will have another couple of exciting races. There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of days about the Championship, but I just push that to the back of my mind. I am only focused on the next two races and doing the best I can in China and Brazil with the team. The last two races of this season are at tracks that I have not ever been to before. I don't see that as a problem, as this has been the case on four occasions already this season, at Melbourne, Montreal, Indy and Fuji, and I was on the podium at all these races. From what I understand of the Shanghai circuit, it is very vast in comparison with Interlagos, so we will probably have two quite different races. Everything is too tight for me to predict what will happen, but the races in China always seem to be exciting and I feel well prepared to take on the challenge."
Martin Whitmarsh, CEO Formula 1, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
"To have both Lewis and Fernando going into the final two races of the season with an opportunity to win the World Championship is a fantastic situation for the team. Whilst Lewis is clearly in a stronger position, it is by no means over for Fernando and we are going to have two very motivated drivers in China. Japan was the first race where two Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars did not take the chequered flag. This demonstrates the competitiveness of the team this season, and we aim to maintain that level of performance this weekend in China."
Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"The Chinese Grand Prix has a lot of challenging aspects for the team. In Shanghai, Lewis will be able to win the World Championship; however, on the other side if he can produce the appropriate result Fernando will be able to reverse the situation and to keep his title hopes alive until the final race in Brazil. Of course, we always have to watch out for Kimi who still has the chance to clinch the World Championship title. The team members will go into this possibly decisive Grand Prix as focussed as into the previous 15 races, and they will do everything to ensure both Lewis and Fernando will have the best opportunities to win. Prior to the 16th Grand Prix of the year the World Championship is still exciting and open, although Lewis now has a significant advantage after he won in Fuji last weekend whilst Fernando retired. Both the drivers will have the same equipment and support; we obviously hope that the Formula 1 World Championship will be decided on the track under the same conditions – tough, fair and without crashes."
Fernando's car
Where will the repairs take place to Fernando's car prior to the Chinese race? As the Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix are back to back races, a replacement chassis (MP4-22 01) was despatched from the McLaren Technology Centre on Sunday 30th September for China. This chassis will become the spare, with Fernando using the spare chassis from Japan as his race car (MP4-22 03). Fernando's damaged car was sent back due to significant damage to the chassis, which is not reparable at the track.
James Ducker will be posting on the Formula One weblog while Ed is away on holiday.
THE general consensus in my local is that Lewis Hamilton’s feud with Fernando Alonso already has the makings of one of the most bitter sporting rivalries of the last 50 years.
There may only have been about ten of us who arrived at that conclusion, but given the wide range of topics that tend to be debated every evening in pubs across the country, there is perhaps no better barometer for gauging exactly how popular something has become.
And let’s face it, to all but the most ardent (or blinkered) of petrolheads, Formula One had become about as much fun in recent years as dental surgery without the anaesthetic.
Even Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal who oversaw the sport’s last great feud, between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the same team almost two decades ago, might agree that, for all the trouble it has caused him, the bad blood between Hamilton and Alonso has captured the imagination like side pods and stabilisers never could.
Hamilton doesn’t like Alonso; Alonso doesn’t like Hamilton, and both drivers will do just about anything to get one over the other, even if it costs the team points. Talk about high drama and suspense. Hitchcock would have had a field day.
And so, it seems only fair to ask now, what is the most notorious feud between so-called “team-mates” to have enthralled and appalled the sporting world down the years?
We look forward to reading your posts, but will any really come to match some of the bitter rivalries documented below? So much for there being no “I” in team.
Continue reading "A rivalry for the ages" »
The most impressive facility has to be McLaren's base at Woking - the "Technology Centre" which blows you away with its sheer scale and aesthetic ambition. You simply cannot come away from there without wondering how much of that outfit's effort is being wasted on style as opposed to content. Of course McLaren is flying high at the moment but the longer term picture is not so good with no drivers' championships since 1999 and their last constructors' title the year before that. It is a very secretive set-up and Ron Dennis has imprinted his distinctive obsessional personality on every nook and cranny of it(actually, to be accurate, there aren't any nooks or crannies, it's more glass walls, silent phones). My reaction is ambivalent; on the one hand I admire Ron for what he has achieved and the example of excellence he has created at Woking, on the other you feel, as he often reminds us, it is getting close to the time when McLaren needs to be handed on to new minds who can re-fresh the organisation and move it away from some of Ron's more unique thought patterns.
Mood: James Bond
Setting: Architect's drawing
High point: Could this be England or are we in Silicon glen or a new colony on the Moon?
Low Point: Spookily, eerily quiet
Memory: The main F1 design studio where scores - or was it hundreds - of boffins are glued to their computers, trying to find ways of making Ron's cars go faster
 Edward Gorman launched his Formula One Blog in 2007 when he started his first full season as Motor Racing Correspondent of The Times. He couldn't have picked a better time. Lewis Hamilton burst onto the scene in spectacular style, locking horns with Fernando Alonso, the McLaren-Ferrari saga gripped the sport and we toasted a new world champion in Kimi Raikkonen. Nominated for Internet Journalist of the Year by the Sports Journalists' Association, Edward's blog promises to be bigger and better than ever in its second season.
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