Laughing Stock Of The Paddock
Written by George Katinger · May 31, 2004
Minardi? Usually, but both of the Wilux Minardi’s finished yesterday’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Granted, 3 laps down, but they at least demonstrated reliability. Jordan, Jaguar? Wrong again fans, both cars of each team again completed the race. It’s a sad day when a team with the heritage and winning tradition of McLaren is now considered the laughing stock of the sport. More importantly, who is to blame and is there a fix in sight?
racing-live.com: McLaren pinning hopes on new car debut
reuters.co.uk: McLaren hit by double engine failure
planet-f1.com: Dennis defends Mercedes in Euro double engine failure
McLaren is pinning their hopes on the MP4/19B, scheduled for the French Grand Prix in July. Will the “new” car correct the disaster the current car is, or will the joke that the 2004 season has become continue? It depends on what the root cause of the cars lack of reliabilty really is. If its strictly the engine not having the proper durability, then what difference will a new chasis make? Much has been made all season long about the chasis’s inherent flexibility directing too much stress to the engine block, hence causing the explosive failures we’ve been witness to.
But what of the cars sheer lack of speed? Mercedes-Benz may be able to deflect their engines reliability blame to excess chassis flex, but why can’t they generate any grunt? The McLaren’s sheer lack of staight line pace can only be attributed to poor engine performance. That means you, Norbert. How can Renault, BMW, Cosworth, Toyota, Honda and Ferrari all find a reasonable level of power and dependability, and the mighty M-B, so embarassingly poor?
Now comes the hard part. Its time for Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug to face the wall and take the bullet they so richly deserve. Fire them both, regardless of their financial standings within the team. The car that is currently on the track is a direct result of their mismanagement and gross errors. This car had been subjected to extensive testing and as a direct outgrowth of last years never raced MP4/18, should have been bullet proof. Why isn’t it Ron? Were you too busy running other aspects of the entire organization to pay attention to the cars development and problems? No excuses please, its all on you. And Norbert.
Time to replace the figureheads of the operations if for no other reason than to acknowledge the miserable failure of both, in what has become the laughing stock team of formula 1. If they had any sense of responsibility they would both resign.
Comments
One Response to “Laughing Stock Of The Paddock”
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
rase was not fair but is was micilins folt and the fans should not throw things on the track