Edward Gorman, Motor Racing Correspondent
Lewis Hamilton is a great talent — potentially one of the greatest to drive a Formula One car — but if he does not have a vehicle under him that can compete with the best on the grid, then even he will end up looking ordinary.
Having propelled the 24-year-old Briton to an historic World Championship in only his second season in the sport, McLaren Mercedes’s worst nightmare has come to pass and yesterday the team admitted what their rivals have suspected. The new car, the one that is supposed to deliver a second consecutive championship for Hamilton this year, is not quick enough.
After a lacklustre performance at its penultimate pre-season test in Barcelona this week, the new team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, said that the machine, codenamed MP4-24, is not performing to expectations. “This week the car has run in Barcelona with an updated aerodynamic package, as we had always planned it would, and a performance shortfall has been identified that we are now working hard to resolve,” he said.
Whitmarsh was asked if the car was fast enough in an interview at the team’s headquarters outside Woking, Surrey. “Not at the moment, and certainly not by our team’s extremely high standards,” he replied.
Whitmarsh’s candid assessment was matched by that of Norbert Haug, the head of motor sport at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, who suggested that a quick fix may be hard to find at the final test next week, in Jerez in Spain, before the Australian Grand Prix on March 29. “We are definitely not where we want to be,” Haug said. “We will continue our test programme next week at Jerez for another four days, but it will take time to improve.”
Whitmarsh and the rest of the 1,000-strong McLaren team will be working round the clock to try to find out why the car is not able to match on the track the performance predicted for it by computer and wind tunnel simulation.
In Barcelona, with either Hamilton or his team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, at the wheel, the MP4-24 was often the slowest of the ten cars testing and was more than two seconds behind the surprise pace-setter, the Brawn GP machine driven by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
Among McLaren’s rivals there is delight at a setback that could play a decisive role in the outcome of Hamilton’s season. One rival team member, with an educated insight into what might be going on, said that he believed McLaren were in a mess. “They are totally, totally in the s***.”
While everyone at McLaren will be hoping that they can produce a quick fix, the Brawn team are moving from outsiders to contenders after a stunning first outing in Spain. Several rival drivers have said that the pace of the car is going to be hard to match and Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, added his voice to the chorus yesterday. “I’m really satisfied with our competitiveness compared to all the others, except obviously Brawn GP, who were unreachable for all of us,” Massa said. “Right now we’re not the fastest car on the track.”
Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, has said that the British Grand Prix will not take place in 2010 if the owners of Donington Park do not complete renovations to the circuit by the summer of next year, thus ruling out a return to Silverstone.
“They’re doing a good job,” Ecclestone said of Donington, but it is believed that extensive work still needs to be done before the circuit is ready for next year.
Silverstone is due to host its last grand prix in June and Ecclestone said: “We left there because I’m trying to improve facilities throughout the world and when I get people to build new circuits to the standard which we’re trying to reach, how can we go back to Silverstone?”
What's wrong with Lewis's motor?
When a Formula One car fails to perform to expectations it is often very tricky to nail down the problem. It's like looking for the proverbial ghost in the machine. The MP4-24 is mechanically a good car and the engine is on the pace. The issue is the airflow across the chassis, which is not behaving as predicted, with the end result that the car lacks rear-end grip, which is crucial for speed.
How long will it take to solve the problem?
This is the million-dollar question. If McLaren's boffins cannot pinpoint the cause of the failure in the aerodynamic package quickly, they could be forced to run an uncompetitive car throughout the first few races, which could be fatal to Hamilton's championship chances. With in-season testing banned for all teams this year in order to cut costs, McLaren will have no track time apart from during race weekends to sort it out.
How have other teams fared in this situation?
Sometimes issues of this kind are dealt with quickly but there are examples of teams getting it wrong to start with - Jaguar in 2000 - and then struggling all season to correct the problems.
What have McLaren been doing to help to analyse the issue?
New aero parts were being tried out at the penultimate pre-season test last week and it is thought that the test team were also using a fairly crude technique to try to understand the airflow. This involved painting the front wing with a yellow fluorescent dye containing paraffin that then streamlines as the car speeds round the track and helps engineers to understand what is going on.
What is at stake for McLaren?
These are early days and very possibly the team will find solutions. In the long run, however, McLaren know that they must keep producing competitive cars for Hamilton if he is to fulfil his wish of seeing out his Formula One career with a team he first signed for at the age of 13.
Having propelled the 24-year-old Briton to an historic World Championship in only his second season in the sport, McLaren Mercedes’s worst nightmare has come to pass and yesterday the team admitted what their rivals have suspected. The new car, the one that is supposed to deliver a second consecutive championship for Hamilton this year, is not quick enough.
After a lacklustre performance at its penultimate pre-season test in Barcelona this week, the new team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, said that the machine, codenamed MP4-24, is not performing to expectations. “This week the car has run in Barcelona with an updated aerodynamic package, as we had always planned it would, and a performance shortfall has been identified that we are now working hard to resolve,” he said.
Whitmarsh was asked if the car was fast enough in an interview at the team’s headquarters outside Woking, Surrey. “Not at the moment, and certainly not by our team’s extremely high standards,” he replied.
Whitmarsh’s candid assessment was matched by that of Norbert Haug, the head of motor sport at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, who suggested that a quick fix may be hard to find at the final test next week, in Jerez in Spain, before the Australian Grand Prix on March 29. “We are definitely not where we want to be,” Haug said. “We will continue our test programme next week at Jerez for another four days, but it will take time to improve.”
Whitmarsh and the rest of the 1,000-strong McLaren team will be working round the clock to try to find out why the car is not able to match on the track the performance predicted for it by computer and wind tunnel simulation.
In Barcelona, with either Hamilton or his team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, at the wheel, the MP4-24 was often the slowest of the ten cars testing and was more than two seconds behind the surprise pace-setter, the Brawn GP machine driven by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
Among McLaren’s rivals there is delight at a setback that could play a decisive role in the outcome of Hamilton’s season. One rival team member, with an educated insight into what might be going on, said that he believed McLaren were in a mess. “They are totally, totally in the s***.”
While everyone at McLaren will be hoping that they can produce a quick fix, the Brawn team are moving from outsiders to contenders after a stunning first outing in Spain. Several rival drivers have said that the pace of the car is going to be hard to match and Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, added his voice to the chorus yesterday. “I’m really satisfied with our competitiveness compared to all the others, except obviously Brawn GP, who were unreachable for all of us,” Massa said. “Right now we’re not the fastest car on the track.”
Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, has said that the British Grand Prix will not take place in 2010 if the owners of Donington Park do not complete renovations to the circuit by the summer of next year, thus ruling out a return to Silverstone.
“They’re doing a good job,” Ecclestone said of Donington, but it is believed that extensive work still needs to be done before the circuit is ready for next year.
Silverstone is due to host its last grand prix in June and Ecclestone said: “We left there because I’m trying to improve facilities throughout the world and when I get people to build new circuits to the standard which we’re trying to reach, how can we go back to Silverstone?”
What's wrong with Lewis's motor?
When a Formula One car fails to perform to expectations it is often very tricky to nail down the problem. It's like looking for the proverbial ghost in the machine. The MP4-24 is mechanically a good car and the engine is on the pace. The issue is the airflow across the chassis, which is not behaving as predicted, with the end result that the car lacks rear-end grip, which is crucial for speed.
How long will it take to solve the problem?
This is the million-dollar question. If McLaren's boffins cannot pinpoint the cause of the failure in the aerodynamic package quickly, they could be forced to run an uncompetitive car throughout the first few races, which could be fatal to Hamilton's championship chances. With in-season testing banned for all teams this year in order to cut costs, McLaren will have no track time apart from during race weekends to sort it out.
How have other teams fared in this situation?
Sometimes issues of this kind are dealt with quickly but there are examples of teams getting it wrong to start with - Jaguar in 2000 - and then struggling all season to correct the problems.
What have McLaren been doing to help to analyse the issue?
New aero parts were being tried out at the penultimate pre-season test last week and it is thought that the test team were also using a fairly crude technique to try to understand the airflow. This involved painting the front wing with a yellow fluorescent dye containing paraffin that then streamlines as the car speeds round the track and helps engineers to understand what is going on.
What is at stake for McLaren?
These are early days and very possibly the team will find solutions. In the long run, however, McLaren know that they must keep producing competitive cars for Hamilton if he is to fulfil his wish of seeing out his Formula One career with a team he first signed for at the age of 13.