Breaking news
Formula 1
McLaren was prepared to build B-spec 2018 F1 car
McLaren would have committed to building a B-spec car this year if it had uncovered the 'fundamental' problem that held it back earlier in the campaign.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Dec 5, 2018, 9:14 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Woking-based team endured a disappointing 2018 season as it failed to make the progress it had hoped to following a switch to Renault power.
An inherent aerodynamic problem, believed to revolve around too much drag and the car being unable to maintain downforce levels through corners, was believed to have been its main handicap – but it took the team until after the summer break to realise this.
McLaren's executive chairman and shareholder Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa has now revealed that with the problem being unsolvable without a chassis change, that the team would have prepared a new car if it had known early enough.
"[Nothing] would have fixed it," he said. "And had we discovered that in April we would have had a B-car by now. But it was too late."
Asked when the team fully realised how big the problem was, he said: "Not until after the summer break. By the time it was confirmed, it was too late."
Although the realisation of the issue came too late to save the 2018 campaign, Sheikh Mohammed is clear that lessons have been learned that should ensure no repeat for 2019.
"I don't know if we want to disclose what we discovered and why, but we've taken steps, and the development of next year's car has helped us understand what went wrong here.
"So we are confident...we know why we have not been able to develop this year's car. That was a fundamental problem. And we think we have addressed it."
Read Also:
McLaren CEO Zak Brown says that although the team did not make visible progress with the pace of its car through the year, its understanding of what went wrong progressed rapidly.
"Specifically and technically we now know what we have done wrong," he said. "A lot of the development that has been reported – like we stopped developing the car in Barcelona – was totally inaccurate.
"We had tonnes of bits going on the car up until the US Grand Prix. Some of those were to address the current car and some of those were to validate what we understood were the issues with this car so we didn't replicate those issues going forward."
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL33
Photo by: Erik Junius
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article TAG stays with Red Bull despite losing engine name deal
Next article More than half of Raikkonen Haiku books sold
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
McLaren
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Latest news
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
General
Misc General 5 min
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
27 min
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
49 min
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe