McLaren or the temptation to broaden its horizons

McLaren currently in a sort of deadlock in Formula 1

The arrival of Honda as an engine supplier in 2015 could have sparked hope of repeating the past glorious achievements of the partnership. Unfortunately for McLaren, the results never materialized due to numerous reliability issues and a significant performance gap compared to other engine suppliers. The team then decided to part ways with the Japanese company at the end of 2017 in favor of a new partnership with Renault. Meanwhile, the Japanese engine supplier joined Toro Rosso with the prospect of powering Red Bull in the future if significant progress was made.

During the off-season, McLaren was very optimistic, praising the qualities of its chassis and estimating that the Renault engine should boost the car’s performance. However, right from the start of the season, all observers noticed that the chassis was lagging compared to the previous season. Additionally, although improved, the Renault engine did not allow the expected progress due to difficulties in adapting it to the chassis.

It took until the Barcelona Grand Prix to see the appearance of a version B of the MCL33. Indeed, some elements of the car could not be introduced at the beginning of the year. The numerous developments introduced brought satisfaction but did not allow the Woking team to move ahead of its direct rivals. Renault, Haas, and Force India also made progress during the same period.

On the drivers’ side, Fernando Alonso is showing performances in his usual standards with the car, or even better. On the other side of the garage, Stoffel Vandoorne is going through a period of great difficulties against his double world champion teammate. Even though the Belgian shouldn’t be written off too soon, this could jeopardize his position in the team. Especially since, at the same time, young Brit Lando Norris is performing well in junior formulas, particularly in F2 this season. It is not yet decided that Norris will join the team as a full-time driver next year, but he represents a formidable competitor for Vandoorne.

It’s a podium finish in Monaco for our Reserve Driver, @LandoNorris, as he finishes the F2 Sprint Race in P2. 🏁🏆 Nice work, Lando! 👏 pic.twitter.com/DW1tdtvRVc

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 26 mai 2018

During this period, internally the executive director of McLaren, Zak Brown, became the CEO of McLaren Racing. This was a consequence of the company’s restructuring into three divisions instead of two. The company separated the Formula One branch McLaren Racing from the manufacturing branch named McLaren Automotive and from the technology supply branch McLaren Applied Technologies. Only this last division does not yet have a director.

Another management change, Tim Gross, head of the chassis department, was quickly dismissed after a few races due to poor performance in this area.

Last major event for the company, the arrival of Michael Latifi as a new shareholder with an injection of 228 million euros into the team. This amount is to be directly allocated to the different branches of the company. Some see an intention from the director of Sofina Foods (the third-largest Canadian food group) to place his son Nicolas Latifi, who drives in F2 for DAMS, at McLaren. This rumor was quickly dismissed by the team’s senior management.

Desires of America and Sarthe

Entangled in this deadlock and experiencing a gradual decline, McLaren wishes to expand its motorsport activities into other disciplines. The most feasible project is located across the Atlantic in the American IndyCar single-seater championship. This comprehensive program project has its origins in Fernando Alonso’s participation in the 2017 Indianapolis 500. The Spaniard participated as a guest within the Andretti structure, led by former McLaren F1 driver Michael Andretti. The idea would be to field a full-time car in the transatlantic championship, still under Andretti’s leadership but in McLaren’s orange colors.

The team founded by Bruce McLaren has recruited former ChampCar driver (predecessor to IndyCar) and Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran as a consultant. His role encompasses both Formula 1 and the exploration of a potential future in the championship. This desire to participate in this discipline comes primarily from its CEO Zak Brown, who is American, but also from Fernando Alonso’s motivation to compete once again in the Indianapolis 500 in the hope of achieving the triple crown (Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Indianapolis 500). However, it is difficult to say where this project stands, both in sporting and commercial terms.

As the team get set for #MonacoGP race day, motorsport fans Stateside will be waking up for the awesome #Indy500. We look back our US adventure from 2017: https://t.co/Jpo3fdrICA 🇺🇸🏁 pic.twitter.com/qCyVXRQcyS

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 27 mai 2018

The second avenue for expanding McLaren’s activities in motorsport leads to the World Endurance Championship. The British manufacturer is part of the commission tasked with studying the next prototype regulations for the discipline. These regulations are not set to come into effect until 2020. McLaren will be particularly interested as the idea behind this regulation is to reduce costs and, more importantly, to allow manufacturers to give their prototypes the appearance of production cars. This would enable effective promotion for these models.

Primeras vueltas en Le Mans! Circuito de circuitos. Aprendiendo cada vuelta y progresando ✊️

First laps at Le Mans! Mega circuit! Learning and enjoying every lap ✊️@Toyota_Hybrid #toyota #Lemas24 #wec #test pic.twitter.com/xst4B0dTFU

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) 3 juin 2018

This project would be supported both by Zak Brown and by long-time team shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, as well as the Bahraini sovereign fund that also holds shares in the structure. This coincides with Fernando Alonso’s participation in the super season of the championship that will span 2018 and 2019 with Toyota. The Asturias bull, who will participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time this season, could be highly interested in a main driver position for McLaren in the championship in the near or distant future. Moreover, according to the Spanish newspaper El Confidential, the negotiations regarding Fernando Alonso’s new contract might include a provision for an IndyCar and Le Mans project in the future.

A double-edged diversification

If the idea of diversifying activities might seem interesting for McLaren, it could be a double-edged sword since the Woking team would find themselves straddling several programs. The risk would then be to create a distraction that would prevent them from being effective in F1. The British manufacturer’s budget, which is not unlimited, could force McLaren to participate in multiple programs without being able to give their best in all areas. However, it’s hard to imagine such serious structures like McLaren doing things halfway. Diversification would not necessarily mean that McLaren plans to abandon the premier discipline of motorsport that represents its DNA. At the same time, these two new programs could provide additional motivation for the team members and enable the launch of a new cycle that has been awaited for so long.

Remembering the man who started it all. 🇳🇿

Our founder, #BruceMcLaren, who was tragically killed testing his M8D at Goodwood, #OnThisDay in 1970. pic.twitter.com/fue2WQBZW7

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 2 juin 2018

The addition of new activities could also help to solve the driver problem that has been arising for some time. Indeed, McLaren has Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne, Lando Norris, and Nyck de Vries. One could imagine Lando Norris or Nyck de Vries in IndyCar for the season, with Fernando Alonso competing only in the Indianapolis 500, for example. Another possibility is that Lando Norris would be integrated as a main driver, and Stoffel Vandoorne would wait a season before joining the endurance team.

In any case, the realization of these two ambitious projects could be a crucial issue when it comes to extending Fernando Alonso’s contract, as he shares the same ambitions as his team. If one of the two projects materializes, there is no doubt that it would make more than one fan dream, whether of McLaren or the history of motorsport.