Paul Jeffrey
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After a disastrous qualification that saw both McLaren cars eliminated in Q1, Racing Director Eric Boullier labelled Baku the "most painful weekend" of his seven year association with the sport.
The struggle for performance from the McLaren Honda partnership has been well documented across many different media channels these past few years, however after one of the most uncompetitive sessions of the teams recent history in Baku, when neither superstar team leader Fernando Alonso nor rookie talent Stoffel Vandoorne managed to lift themselves out of the opening session of qualification, McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier was dumbfounded by his teams lack of competitive edge.
"I guess you know my answer," said Boullier when speaking about his teams performance following their failure to progress from the opening round.
"I'm a racer like these guys (drivers), so this is the most painful weekend I've ever had, I think."
"I'm a racer like these guys (drivers), so this is the most painful weekend I've ever had, I think."
Another disaster from McLaren was not altogether unexpected on a circuit that places a premium on horsepower that still remains severely lacking in the back of the orange cars, however for a team of the pedigree and budget McLaren still hold no one can be left believing that a 16th and 19th place result is anything other than unacceptable to the Woking concern.
Rumours within Formula One continue to persist that the initial five year partnership between the two manufacturers could be terminated early, with Mercedes waiting in the wings with a ready supply of the same power units once supplied to the now defunct Manor squad practically sat on a shelf back in Brixworth just waiting to be installed in the back of a competitive outfit. These rumours seemed to gather momentum recently with the deal to bring Honda power to Sauber from 2018 onwards, seen by many as a fail safe choice from the Japanese giants such they find themselves without a team in which to supply at the end of the current season.
Regardless of what the future may hold for both McLaren and Honda in the coming months and years, one thing is for sure and that is both parties absolutely must find another level of performance in the immediate future or risk irreversible damage to their proud racing legacy.
Check out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix race thread for all the session reports and race discussion during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend!
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What do you think of McLarens Baku weekend and season in general this year? What do you think McLaren could do to lift themselves out of this current slump? Do you think the team can lift themselves back to the top of the field within the next couple of years? Let us know in the comments section below!
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