[Team] McLaren - can they compete?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by RWill2073

Good question! Whatever did happen to that usf1 team?

They made toasters...

[Mekola]

And they robbed López. Pechito had to refund to their sponsors the 830,000 usd they took from him.

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

They made toasters...

Microwaves!

[S griffin]

That's Haas

[Akrapovic]

I believe USF1 actually went on to make several products. Mostly false hope, impossible dreams and lots of money for lawyers and creditors as the entire thing collapsed so hard that they were banned from competing in FIA competitions and fined a quarter of a million dollars.

All in all, that's above average for a potential new F1 team, so not bad.

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by S griffin

That's Haas

[S griffin]

USF1 actually had a design of their car and also signed James Rossiter alongside Lopez. Just a shame they didn’t get further than that

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by S griffin

USF1 actually had a design of their car and also signed James Rossiter alongside Lopez. Just a shame they didn’t get further than that

They also inspired a cool parody series Here

Peter Windsor & Ken Anderson play F1 team owners...

[V8 Fireworks]

Hmm, gearbox failure and no Monaco points for the supposedly well tuned McLaren chassis...

[peebee2]

Honda got a few though. And every other Renault-powered car bar none.

[karting]

But McLaren have the best chassis on the grid....

[Mekola]

There is a strong reason I renamed "Leighton House McLaren" to this team.
Don't make a mess on it.

[Mekola]

It seems somebody who knows the battles of psychological warfare seems to do the battle of Trafalgar on this matter.
And am adamant to do this reflection.

[Richard C]

So... It is the Daily Mail... But I wonder if there is a nugget of truth buried in this article?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/for...g-F1-team.html

Richard

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

So... It is the Daily Mail... But I wonder if there is a nugget of truth buried in this article?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/for...g-F1-team.html

Richard

From the above:

Welcome back Martin, bye bye Zac?

"Whitmarsh, who spent 25 years at McLaren before being leaving as team principal in 2014, is a potentially influential ally because of his close links to the company's shareholders, especially his long-time friend, the French-Saudi Arabian billionaire Mansour Ojjeh.Whitmarsh, who spent 25 years at McLaren before being leaving as team principal in 2014, is a potentially influential ally because of his close links to the company's shareholders, especially his long-time friend, the French-Saudi Arabian billionaire Mansour Ojjeh. Whitmarsh, who spent 25 years at McLaren before being leaving as team principal in 2014, is a potentially influential ally because of his close links to the company's shareholders, especially his long-time friend, the French-Saudi Arabian billionaire Mansour Ojjeh."

Good swap if it happens imo!

[S griffin]

At this rate, Ron Dennis will make another comeback at some point!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

At this rate, Ron Dennis will make another comeback at some point!

[Aysedasi]

Stranger things have happened in F1.......

[chillibowl]

RD will only come back to oust Whitmarsh again!

it is all a bit concerning though...when RD was being ousted from the board there was (iirc) apparently a group of Mclaren staffers who were loyal to him/ fighting on his behalf.

due to the assertion that Whitmarsh's still has a strong connection with Ojjeh, i would assume that the RD faction is a different group to those who are now directly communicating with Whitmarsh (which is in and of itself is troubling).

sounds very game of thrones over there!

speaking of TV shows, there is an upcoming Amazon documentary about Mclaren's difficult 2017 season...starting to sound like there will be enough palace intrigue for a season 2 if the series continues!

[Racer65]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

R

speaking of TV shows, there is an upcoming Amazon documentary about Mclaren's difficult 2017 season...starting to sound like there will be enough palace intrigue for a season 2 if the series continues!

That documentary has been out since February. Was meant to be about Stoffel but it transformed into a four parter more about the McLaren Honda difficulties.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

RD will only come back to oust Whitmarsh again!

it is all a bit concerning though...when RD was being ousted from the board there was (iirc) apparently a group of Mclaren staffers who were loyal to him/ fighting on his behalf.

due to the assertion that Whitmarsh's still has a strong connection with Ojjeh, i would assume that the RD faction is a different group to those who are now directly communicating with Whitmarsh (which is in and of itself is troubling).

What also has to be considered is that a) RD and MW are also old friends, going back many years (isn't he a god-parent to one of Martin's children, or am I imagining that?), with their respective families spending considerable time with each other, and b) RD's friendship with Mansoor goes back to the days when he created the current McLaren group out of his own racing team.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

What also has to be considered is that a) RD and MW are also old friends, going back many years (isn't he a god-parent to one of Martin's children, or am I imagining that?), with their respective families spending considerable time with each other, and b) RD's friendship with Mansoor goes back to the days when he created the current McLaren group out of his own racing team.

How close are either of those friendships these days though?

As previously mentioned Ron wanted Martin gone a few years back and latterly MO was involved in the 'removal' or Ron from McLaren as a whole.

Unless all have said hey it was only business and are still great mates?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Would RD even be allowed back? He lost his case at the High Court and was subsequently removed from his position in November 2016. He then sold 25% of his shares in McLaren Technology Group back to the other shareholders, as well as his shares in McLaren Automotive, in June last year.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

What also has to be considered is that a) RD and MW are also old friends, going back many years (isn't he a god-parent to one of Martin's children, or am I imagining that?), with their respective families spending considerable time with each other, and b) RD's friendship with Mansoor goes back to the days when he created the current McLaren group out of his own racing team.

I don't know about Ron & Martin but as far as I'm aware Mansoor fell out severely with Ron which was what led to Ron's removal (or lack of backing from the board) from McLaren.
I'd be pleased to see Mr Whitmarsh back in F1, to me (and this was only based on what I saw in TV interviews, I've never met the man) he seemed to be very honest and straightforward, not like this smarmy, layered on with a shovel, positive spin BS we get from Zak Brown!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chunterer

How close are either of those friendships these days though?

As previously mentioned Ron wanted Martin gone a few years back and latterly MO was involved in the 'removal' or Ron from McLaren as a whole.

Unless all have said hey it was only business and are still great mates?

Well, it needs to be borne in mind that Martin remained actually working in the Technology Centre at Woking for nearly a year after he was removed from his position as Team Principle; not gardening leave, but actually in gainful employment under Ron. And, so I believe, they still socialised after he was ousted.


As for RD and MO, that may also be a case of "business" only. They fell out over RD's attempt to sell McLaren to the Japanese, which didn't go down well with MO or the Bahrainis, either. And RD obviously has a reasonable relationship with them because he is yet to be paid anywhere near in full for all his shareholding, even though he has relinquished all his voting rights that went with that shareholding.