Mid-season review: McLaren, a rather dull papaya
The Woking team is still chasing the ghosts of its past glory. The engine partnership with Renault seems to offer more possibilities for McLaren, but the road is still long...
7th in the Constructors’ Championship: 52 pts
The switch to Renault engines delayed the development of the single-seater this winter, but not its entry into the points. The financial performance is already much better than in 2017, even though the performance is below the pre-season expectations. The team’s restructuring this year is also slowing the climb in the constructors’ standings.
In reality, the work at Woking is immense, as evidenced by the upheaval in the technical organization chart. Present since January 2014, Eric Boullier announced his departure just before the British Grand Prix.
The pilots
Incisive driving and controlled communication, it’s a Fernando Alonso true to himself that we found in 2018. His parallel participation in Endurance did not affect his involvement in Formula 1, and the Spaniard remains the source of points for the team, unlike his Belgian teammate. His 5th place in Melbourne remains the best result of this season, and we also remember him bringing his MCL33 on two wheels back to the pits after the chaos of the first lap in Azerbaijan.
Just watch Alonso’s hands 👀 💪#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/QmzZjC59QM
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 2, 2018
At the beginning of the season, this car was announced as unfinished, yet McLaren scored 4/5 of its points between Australia and Spain. The Spec B brought an improvement starting from the Barcelona Grand Prix, but Renault, Haas, and Force India have done better since Europe. This lesser progress pushes McLaren back into the second half of the standings, from which it has been trying to extricate itself for three seasons.
Discreet in communication as on the track, Stoffel Vandoorne is experiencing the worst moment of his Formula 1 career. With only 8 points on the scoreboard, there is concern for the Belgian driver. Fortunately, his performance level was reassuring in Hungary, before his stubborn gearbox deprived him of a 9th place that would have been a morale booster.
| Face to face… | Score | |
| 1 | In Qualifications | 11-1 for Alonso |
| 2 | In Race | 8-4 for Alonso * |
*: the statistic does not take into account cases of double abandonment
| Driver | Qualifications: number of top 10 | Qualifications: best place | Race: number of top 10 | Race: best place | Number of championship points | |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | 3 | 7th (Monaco) | 8 | 5th (Australia) | 44 |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | 0 | 11th (Australia / Spain) | 3 | 8th (Bahrain) | 8 |
The rest of the season
Asserting themselves will be the key phrase for the second half of the championship. Since Monaco, the point tally has been slim because the MCL33 struggles to advance against its direct competitors. A contest for the 6th place in the constructors’ standings with Force India seems to be the last realistic goal. The team from Silverstone is also undergoing major changes, and it’s up to the team from Woking to challenge the Pink Panthers.
“A very positive day where we came close to a double-points finish.” Our race report from the #HungarianGP: https://t.co/dbzkFGJg1N 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/rlVFLxdE6b — McLaren (@McLarenF1) 29 July 2018
