Should Martin Whitmarsh step down?

[CaptainRaiden]

Rumors are already coming in that he's gonna get the boot:

Whitmarsh won't walk away | Planet F1 | Formula One News

Whitmarsh won't walk away

Martin Whitmarsh will not resign as McLaren's team principal despite their current woes.

Instead of challenging for podium finishes and race victories, McLaren are fighting for points this season as their MP4-28 has lacked the pace of the frontrunners.

And although the team had hoped to close the gap in Spain where they brought various updates, any progress McLaren made was negated by their rivals' steps forward.

The team's woes have also led to rumours that former team boss Ron Dennis could return to the role in a bid to turn their ailing fortunes around.

Whitmarsh, though, has downplayed the reports.

"I don't believe it's been considered at board level at the moment, as far as I know," he told Reuters.

"I believe in the team, I believe we are going to power through this.

"So no, I am not considering anything other than getting this team back to where it belongs."

He added: "I've been around in the sport for a long time, [and] I think I've sat here in difficult, dark moments and sat here in good moments as well.

"I am sure we are going to win some more races and we're going to work hard to do that this year."

[steveaki13]

I think Mclaren could need to move on because at the moment they are not consistantly making championship winning cars and are not as radical as they to be

[Ranger]

No - He should not step down.

[AndyL]

I'm confused. What's the rumour now - that Ron Dennis is getting the boot, or that Martin Whitmarsh is getting the boot and Ron Dennis is taking his job?

[Knock-on]

The problem with all these boots is that it's cobblers

[henners88]

No he shouldn't stand down, absolutely not.

[The Black Knight]

I don't see what is happening at McLaren as entirely being Whitmarsh's fault. He surely has to claim some burden of responsibility but it wasn't his decision to go with a this radical approach. It is true though that with the resources McLaren have they should be doing a lot better and their overall performance over the last couple of years has not been good enough for a team of their stature. Alonso is right when he says that they haven't won a constructors championship since 1998 despite sometimes having the best car. It pinpoints to me as something that is a longstanding issue at McLaren and one they need to get on top of as they are becoming the nearly men of F1 but to lay blame at Whitmarsh's feet is all too easy. These issues existed long before he became team principal. It is, however, up to him to sort it out and he hasn't been able to do that so far. They can forget the championship this year, it's not going to happen but they need a change in philosophy or approach as they are just an embarrassment right now.

[zako85]

This is a lame duck car with a lame duck engine. Since McLaren is not fighting for the title, not even for race wins, they will soon abandon the 2013 car and start working on 14 car IMHO.

[Firstgear]

They've only got about the 5th best driver pairing (maybe 7th if the car doesn't exactly suit Button) this year, so they won't be winning often, if at all. That's where I'd point my finger. Well that, along with tossing a good car and chancing a clean slate in the year before a big regulation change.

[MAX_THRUST]

NO