McLaren - Thoughts?

A new relationship with Honda but starting out pretty much 5 seconds off the pace of the Merc.

Apparently the Honda engine is operating at about 200bhp down in comparison to the Merc and it's a combination of factors (not just raw power) that's holding the engine back.

From my (very non-technical) point of view I'm sure the Honda guys will sort out the issues. I get the impression that they haven't been conservative with the engine design and just produced one that is reliable and moderately powerful. They've (hopefully) took a risk and given themselves a good platform to build on. Obviously the unreliability and lack of mileage is seriously hindering them at the moment. But I expect that when they tidy up the numerous niggles they're encountering, the McLaren will potentially make the biggest gains race-on-race this season.

I no way expect them to be challenging the Mercs (like some of the McLaren guys have suggested) but I can't see them languishing at the back of the grid all season.