McLaren at the moment can’t give anyone a title. But neither can Renault , Haas or Sauber. Red Bull can’t either and if and when they can will probably be gunning for Max.
Imo if Riccy wants a title his best option is McLaren. They can and probably will eventually be in the title hunt and he can be in pole position for a number 1 driver status. Something he won’t get at Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull
That sounds like a carbon copy of why Alonso went to McLaren....didn’t exactly work out.
From what I hear, McLaren is the last place in the F1 paddock I’d want to be if winning titles was my priority. I really like what Zak is trying to do in terms of branching out, but at the same time, when you hear rumours that McLaren Employees are staging a revolt (apparently many are not too keen on “branching out”), it raises red flags.
I saw a video the other day, with some British talking head who made some interesting points. Basically he was saying McLaren have too many cooks in the kitchen, and no master chef to make a final call on the balance of ingredients. They have all these department heads who are unwilling to compromise with the other department heads, and then internal politics kicks in and nothing gets accomplished.
I still don’t believe any customer team will win a title under the current rules, so to me, now that McLaren have dumped Honda, McLaren is a waste of time.
If Ferrari and Merc want to play it safe with their secure #1 / #2 driver arrangement (chickens!), then I think Dan’s best shot at a title is to stay with Redbull, or go to Renault.
Speaking of Renault, is there anything to the rumours that they have been seriously tempting Newey away from Redbull? At first I couldn’t see why Newey would leave...but then I saw it pointed out it would be his first go at designing a car where engine and chassis are produced by the same team, giving him control he’s never had before. If this is true, and I was Dan, I’d follow Newey to Renault.
If he stays at Redbull, his two worries are the Honda engine, and Max. At this point, I see more promise in the Honda engine than the McLaren team....Illmore has been working with Honda, apparently their new facilities are up to snuff...I see potential. As for Max....I don’t think Max is a worry for Dan. Ya, the team might want max to win, but they can only bet on a losing horse so many times. How much longer until he “figures it out”. Just like if Dan went to Ferrari, I don’t think he’s got anything to worry about in terms of who is in the other seat - he’ll work them either way - his only concern would be internal politics.
I just looked up Max’s wiki.....I didnt realize he’s never won any major championships outside of karting. He’s fast, but I don’t know if he has the full package to be able to win a championship in big boy cars.
