Lehdistötiedotteet - McLaren Racing - Season 16 Review

McLaren Racing - Season 16 Review

Best season for McLaren to date

Season 15 was all about breaking records for McLaren Racing, a feat that was again matched in Season 16. With new engines and a revised team line up McLaren set about season 16 with high hopes of success and a determination to take the fight to F1 top team Red Bull.

Below is the season recap and more about the records that were broken.

The season kicked off in Australia for Round 1 and was a dream start for Rocco Rapido who took the win to lead the championship at the first round. Débutante Guido Di Rado finished in 7th after a strange choice of pit strategy.
Malaysia and Round 2 brought the team back down to earth somewhat as Rocco could only manage 5th and Guido 10th on a circuit that didn't suit the new car.
Round 3 in China brought success for McLaren as Rocco recorded his second win of the season. Guido backing up with a 6th place finish.
Bahrain came with a good result for the team in Round 4 as Rocco finished 2nd and Guido 4th as Red Bull made mistakes to help the McLaren cause.
Round 5 saw mixed results with Rocco making an uncharacteristic error causing a DNF whilst team mate Guido Di Rado upheld McLaren pride with a solid 4th place, his best result of the season to date.

Monaco hosted Round 6 and saw Rocco finish on the podium in 3rd to keep it tight at the top of the championship but a spin from Di Rado saw him finish in a none points scoring 11th place.
Round 7 produced the best team result of the year so far as the Canadian GP finished with 2 McLarens filling podium spots. Rocco in 2nd and Guido in 3rd.
The Austrian GP Round 8 resulted in another strong team finish. This time 3rd and 4th in the McLaren standard Rocco then Guido outcome.
McLarens home GP came next for Round 9 and the Silverstone circuit brought another strong team result for the 3rd race in succession. 2nd for team leader Rapido and 4th place for Guido.
Round 10 in Germany rounded off the first half of the season well and came with a 5th consecutive strong team showing with Rocco leading the way finishing in 3rd and Guido finishing just behind him in 4th place.

At the mid stage of the season it revealed the strength of McLaren, 2nd in the drivers points with Rocco Rapido and 2nd in the teams championship too courtesy of Guido Di Rado being in 5th place. The season surprise may have arisen not from the fact that a Red Bull was top of the table but which one it was. Grosjean Jr seemingly ousting Saint-Germain Jr at the top of the table.

Round 11 in Hungary brought an end to the good run of team results as the first mechanical failure of the season removed Guido from the race after he had outqualified his team mate for the first time. Rocco was 5th.
The mighty Spa circuit hosted Round 12 and was the stage of Rocco's 3rd win of the season. He was backed up by Guido in 5th place
Round 13 was not at all unlucky as Rocco won again in Italy bringing the title gap to just 4 points. Guido finished in 7th place helping his 5th place in the championship.
Singapore didn't finish as well as it could have for McLaren racing. Round 14 was a small weather disaster. Fortunately Rocco bagged 3rd place but Guido took a costly tire gamble when the rain came and ultimately found himself in 11th and out of the points. A run of 3 below par performances by his high standard.
Round 15 in Japan was a better team result with the cars finishing 4th and 5th but perhaps not the result that Rocco would have wanted with 4th. However both results kept the respective drivers and teams title hunts open and still to fight for.

With the final 5 races to come the stage was looking set. The drivers title would be a straight fight between Grosjean Jr, who had the headstart, and Rocco Rapido in 2nd. It was a similar story in the teams championship with Red Bull and McLaren in a straight fight.

Round 16 in Russia saw a boost for both the drivers and teams championship despite Guido Di Rado's 2nd mechanical retirement. Rocco finished 2nd and would take the championship lead as Grosjean Jr binned it and put it into the wall. The fight was on.
America Round 17 and the Red Bull dominance was back. A 4th for Rocco and a 5th for Guido was not enough to stop the championship lead changing hands in Grosjeans favour and an increase in the points gap to Red Bull.
Round 18 in Mexico all but condemned the McLaren team to 2nd place in the title chase as Rocco helped his cause by finishing 2nd but Guido could only manage a 9th place finish.
Round 19 confirmed 2nd place in the teams standing for Mclaren as the Brazilian GP finished with win number 5 for the season for Rocco Rapido leaving a 3 point gap for the final race and a straight winner takes all showdown in Dubai. Guido finshed in 6th spot to further bolster his 5th place in the championship.
Round 20 The finale. Grosjean Jr vs Rapido. Winner takes the title. Di Rado outqualified his team mate for the 3rd time this season putting him in the ideal place to ride shotgun for Rocco. The most important detail was Rocco also outqualified Grosjean Jr. As the final chequered flag of the season dropped it was the blue car that crossed the line first taking the win and the title. Rocco right behind in second. Close but not this time.


Summary
Despite the disappointment that the title wasn't won for McLaren this year it is still incredibly important to look at the season highlights and to once again see records broken for the team.

Rocco Rapido 2nd Place in the championship
McLaren Racing 2nd place in teams championship

2 more best placed records for the team.

Looking ahead
The team lineup remains unchanged for Season 17 and this should again allow another monumental tussle at the top of the championship. With Guido having a season under his belt he will be hoping to be pushing up there with his team mate in an attempt to bring home the teams championship crown.

On behalf of the McLaren Racing management I would like thank all the fans for your support and voting points this season and wish you all the best for Season 17. It's bound to be a cracking season so there is only one last thing to say...Let the best man win!