2016 F1 Constructor tech info/development thread. (READ 1ST POST)Formula 1 

TenEightyOne
I'm not sure why I thought it... but I thought it was a done/announced deal?

EDIT: It's in this article, Exxon Mobil are leaving and McLaren have replaced them with BP.
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I must have missed that one.

I wonder if we'll see a Castrol-style livery, like the ones used by Honda in the WTCC and Toyota in the WRC ...
 
prisonermonkeys
I must have missed that one.

I wonder if we'll see a Castrol-style livery, like the ones used by Honda in the WTCC and Toyota in the WRC ...
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That may well depend on the outcome of the Dennis affair. He won't cut sponsor prices just to cover a car, his replacement might.
 
TenEightyOne
That may well depend on the outcome of the Dennis affair. He won't cut sponsor prices just to cover a car, his replacement might.
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Autosport are reporting that he'll leave next week.

But Dennis has been trying to move the business model away from title sponsors and B2B deals.
 
prisonermonkeys
Autosport are reporting that he'll leave next week.
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It looks like he might be nominally retained to the end of his current contract (Jan 2017) but yes, the writing is on the wall.

And on a High Court judgement too, it seems.

It's a shame in some ways - Ron Dennis is McLaren for many people. In other ways I have to wonder if his old-school never-give-quarter approach has just been too inflexible for the modern F1 situation that McLaren finds itself in.
 
Aaaand Ron is gone, he's announced his "resignation". The definite end of an era, if nothing else.

BBC.

MTG
As of this afternoon Ron Dennis no longer holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Technology Group (or its subsidiaries). However, he remains a shareholder and a director of McLaren Technology Group.

Over the past 35 years Ron's contribution to the success of McLaren has been colossal. During his tenure the team won 17 World Championships and 158 Grands Prix, making him the most successful leader in Formula 1 history. Like the company's founder, Bruce McLaren, Ron is and will always be one of the true greats of the sport.

McLaren Technology Group is now in the process of seeking a new Chief Executive Officer. Until such an appointment has been made, the company will be run on an interim basis by an Executive Committee comprising the Group's majority shareholders, in close collaboration with the Board of Directors and the senior management team, all of whom remain utterly committed to the company, its partners, its employees and its fans, and share a passionate determination to build on our many strengths towards future prosperity.
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TenEightyOne
A good career obituary for Ron from the Beeb
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With apologies to WH Auden:

"Perfection, of a kind, is what he was after
And the language he invented was tricky to understand.
He knew the McLaren boardroom like the back of his hand,
And he was greatly interested in keeping Woking neat.
When he laughed, champagne corks hit the rafters,
And when he cried, the McLaren board voted with their feet."

TenEightyOne
Sky are reporting that Zak Brown will take his place at McLaren rather than taking a higher role in F1 itself.
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Brown seems to have been nudged out of the heir apparent role by Chase Carey. But he's going to have his hands full running McLaren, since he's off consolidating motorsport print media under one roof.
 
Brown has been confirmed, but not as a direct replacement for Dennis - rather, he's a step down in the hierarchy, on the same level as Jonathan Neale. David Croft is speculating that McLaren could get a radical overhaul in 2017, starting with the livery.
 
prisonermonkeys
...McLaren could get a radical overhaul in 2017, starting with the livery.
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I'm going to miss the "dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment".
 
Pezzarinho17
I'm going to miss the "dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment".
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I'm sure that I saw that in Sniff Petrol somewhere...
 
Keep waiting for you guys to put up the rumor that Allison will take over for Lowe at Mercedes...

I say this because among all this McLaren talk Allison has been linked to two places potentially and you guys are currently talking about one of them.
 
Interesting comment during Abu Dhabi free practice on Sauber sticking with 2016 engines for 2017 - Ferrari are completely revising the engine for 2017, including the mounting points. Sauber, however, have already started developing their 2017 car, and don't think it's worth redesigning it to accommodate the 2017 engine.
 
prisonermonkeys
Interesting comment during Abu Dhabi free practice on Sauber sticking with 2016 engines for 2017 - Ferrari are completely revising the engine for 2017, including the mounting points. Sauber, however, have already started developing their 2017 car, and don't think it's worth redesigning it to accommodate the 2017 engine.
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I figured as I said prior with open regs...this was going to happen and it has.
 
TenEightyOne
Aaaand Ron is gone, he's announced his "resignation". The definite end of an era, if nothing else.
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Jost Capito is out, too. He only joined the team in September, but he was hired by Dennis, and so he's leaving.

Wouldn't surprise me if he didn't fit into the culture of McLaren. He was always a difficult character when he was running Volkswagen Motorsport.
 

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