F1

Sam Michael McLaren

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  • #130063
    raymondu999
    Participant

    The rumor around the paddock is that Mr. Michael, currently of the circle Williams, will be making his way to McLaren; to be announced soon. What do you folks think?

    #178132
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    I don’t think McLaren would be stupid enough to take him. Ever since Michael started designing cars for Williams – in 2005 – they’ve steadily fallen down the grid.

    #178133
    raymondu999
    Participant

    It’s the hottest rumor in the paddock right now; along with Costa to Mercedes; especially if you ask those who have paddock connections. And no matter how dominant or how pathetic 1 team is; it can never be attributed to a single man. Ever. It sounds cliche, but in Formula 1 it really is the case.

    I certainly don’t think he was the (only) problem at Williams; same way I don’t think Adrian Newey is the (only) reason Red Bull is so dominant at the moment.

    #178134
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    For “the hottest rumour in the paddock”, this is the first I’ve heard of it.

    #178135
    Journeyer
    Participant

    scarbsf1 mentioned it first – retweeted someone who tweeted him about it, then seemed to confirm it a few hours later.

    either way, looks like mclaren will announce a new staff member today. he first thought it was chris dyer (also leaving ferrari), but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

    and i think costa to mercedes is a done deal – it’s just waiting to be confirmed.

    as for what i think, sam needs mclaren more than mclaren need him, imo. i’m not sure what role he’d fill there, unless they need an additional man to help distribute the workload pat fry handled previously.

    #178136
    raymondu999
    Participant

    I say in the paddock; not outside the paddock. I don’t actually mean that figuratively. I mean people who are involved with F1 teams; etc; are touting it as a very big rumor; and in fact the latest rumor is that McLaren have a new technical signing they will announce soon; and that the McLaren announcement will be Sam Michael.

    I got it off the same source that told me HRT will be getting a technical signing soon; and sure enough earlier today they signed Jorg Zander.

    #178137
    DavidS
    Participant

    Unless he’s taking a much much more junior position, I don’t see it as likely.

    I don’t see McLaren as the kind of team that brings on people who have been stood down from their previous role due to lack of performance. They are able to attract the best from other teams.

    Sam Michael will probably end up at one of the newer teams.

    #178138
    Icthyes
    Participant

    I wonder if Michael is going there for McLaren to work on a tight rear end for next year. I doubt very much he’ll be the senior designer and if not then he should be a competent addition to the team; a bad chief isn’t always a bad henchman.

    #178139
    raymondu999
    Participant

    I suspect he’ll be a great insight to the workings of the Williams gearbox this year too

    #178140
    raymondu999
    Participant

    So. Right. As I was just saying…

    #178141

    Williams’ problems began when they separated from BMW. That started a chain reaction of unfortunate events through which they;

    – lost Mark Webber,

    – took on Kazuki Nakajima,

    – should’ve won the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 after the whole Piquet debacle, but Renault weren’t stripped of that victory,

    – invested a large amount of money into flywheel KERS in 2009 which I don’t think they ever used,

    – had Nico Hulkenberg get a brilliant Pole Position in Interlagos last year and then promptly dropped him for a guy with less talent but more sponsors and

    – generally struggled for money and sponsorship after the financial crisis.

    To point the finger at Sam Michael for Williams’ downfall is just plain unfair.

    #178142
    raymondu999
    Participant

    To be fair Geoff; the 05/06 Webber wasn’t as good as 2010 Webber or even 2011 Webber; and showed no signs of blooming as such. I remember the squabbles between BMW and Williams. Williams would say the BMW was weak and BMW said the Williams chassis was slow. Also, they did license that flywheel technology and Porsche Hybrids use those. About Rosberg’s Singapore 2008 “victory,” who knows? We might’ve seen a Mark Webber 2010 Barcelona type awakening from him.

    #178143

    I don’t think it would’ve made any difference because we only found out it was fixed a year later, but I still think they should’ve stripped Renault of the victory and given it to Rosberg if not purely out of symbolism.

    #178144
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    had Nico Hulkenberg get a brilliant Pole Position in Interlagos last year and then promptly dropped him for a guy with less talent but more sponsors

    Hulkenberg had every chance to retain his seat at Williams. The team asked him to find sponsors. Hulkenberg refused. With the team lacking money, they had little choice but to let him go in favour of someone who could bring sponsors. They might have been able to run him for another year without sponsors, but I’d be willing to bet that if they did, they’d be staring down the barrel of bankruptcy right about now.

    Nico Hulkenberg has no-one to blame for his failure to secure a seat for 2010 but Nico Hulkenberg.

    #178145
    raymondu999
    Participant

    I find it quite interesting that they’re keeping Sam away from technical design. His job is sporting and not technical.

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