Should Martin Whitmarsh step down?

[steveaki13]

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.

This could be an option, as its a big year for development given the engine changes, so it would be a good year to get a head start.

[MrJan]

No.

[i_max2k2]

No, I think he is a fairly balanced Team principal, I'd honestly put him up there with the best. The aero teams failure should not be credited as his own, however being the principal he'll have to share part of the blame.

[dj_bytedisaster]

As the principal you always share some of the blame if your organization fails to reach its goal, but I'm not sure his dismissal would rectify the problems. There are plenty of problems at McLaren and not all are his faults. For starters for as long as I can remember McLaren hasn't got a top driver this year. Button is solid and dependable, but he isn't one who can make a difference. Checo is too inconsistent and prone to errors.
If there is someone who should be sacked it is whoever decided to ditch what effectively was the best car last season and go for a risky cleansheet design in a transition year.

[Koz]

What The Black Knight said.

McLaren over the past few years have been no different than they have for the last 20. They have been the #2 team in F1, consistently. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Even last year, their performance was great. A championship winning performance, in a fragile car - which is what happened to Kimi. They won the constructors championship in 2007*.
They were competitive enough in 2010. Second in WCC.
2011, second in both WCC and WDC.
2012, third in the WCC and if not let down by reliability, could have had the WDC.

This year, they're not doing well. But there is still plenty of time to recover to something respectable, similar to 2009, maybe a win or two in the right circumstances.

So lets roar at Ferrari and ask for Luca and Stefano's resignations please, because overall they have been as bad or worse in recent years.


Also, McLaren have the weakest lineup in over 33 years. So lets not get ahead of ourselves as to how the car should be performing.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Koz, some of the things you described are due to poor decisions by McLaren though. They handed Kimi the title in 2007 by letting their drivers run roughshod over each other. And the fact that they have the weakest driver lineup since the Romans left isn't some sort of tragedy that befell them out of the blue. It's a direct consequence of their own decision.

Poor reliability isn't the only thing that cost them the title last year. They've wasted a lot of points by completely disastrous pitcrew performances.

So a lot of blame goes to McLaren management, but I think it doesn't yet warrant a sacking of Whitmarsh as he didn't make all the poor decisions on his own.

[MAX_THRUST]

Intersting to see if Honda wants him to stay or if they want ROn back.

[henners88]

Intersting to see if Honda wants him to stay or if they want ROn back.

Unless they are buying a majority share in McLaren, I don't see how they would have any choice. If they are purely an engine supplier, it will be up to the team and their board of directors who is in charge. I think Ron is enjoying a slower pace of life judging by him stepping down recently.