F1 Mid-Season Review: McLaren - The glory days no more

When the news broke out last year that Honda would be reuniting with McLaren we naturally harked back to the mid- to late-80s when the McLaren-Honda was tearing the field apart in the hands of two great World Champions. They’ve at least got half of that.

It was obvious that Honda would struggle to get their power unit up to scratch in the early part of the season, but even they have admitted that they didn’t expect it to be such an uphill climb. A severe lack of power from the internal combustion engine itself and the inability to run their ERS at 100% (otherwise it will blow up), combined with a lack of reliability and you have one formerly great team scrambling at the back of the grid with frustrated team members, frustrated drivers and frustrated fans.

That’s not including the constant talk in the media concerning Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and where their futures lie within motorsport.

But McLaren have done their part of the job well. The chassis and aerodynamics of the MP4-30 have been its redeeming feature, helping it to points finishes in Monaco and Silverstone, as well as a double points finish in Hungary.

Honda insist progress is being made, but initial targets were passed a long time ago; saying the power unit would be at 100% in Spain, then by mid-season, and now there are talks saying McLaren could be struggling still come the start of the 2016 season. For their sake, let’s hope not.

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