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Canadian GP Papers: McLaren malaise worsening, say British press

Fleet Street suggests problems at McLaren run 'deeper' than just early teething snags with Honda after both drivers retire in Canada

Fernando Alonso: A spectator again for the closing stages of a race
Image: Fernando Alonso: A spectator again for the closing stages of a race

McLaren-Honda’s dismal performance has been put under the spotlight by Fleet Street in the aftermath of the Canadian Grand Prix, with questions raised over whether the partnership will ever find a breakthrough.

Two weeks after McLaren finally opened their points account for 2015 in Monaco, the team never threatened the top 10 in Montreal with the Honda-powered MP4-30 ill-suited to the demands of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. To compound the misery, McLaren suffered their second double DNF of the season on Sunday after both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button dropped out with exhaust problems.

On the day that their one-time protege Lewis Hamilton expertly controlled the race at the front for Mercedes to claim his fourth win of the season, unflattering contrasts were inevitable.

‘Hamilton’s previous victories here in 2007, 2010 and 2012 were all for McLaren, the team who nurtured him. His sense in moving to Mercedes was rarely better illustrated than here. While he was blazing ahead at the front, McLaren were trundling at the back,’ Jonathan McEvoy wrote in the Daily Mail.

‘Tempers at McLaren, a model of patience for so long this dreadful season, are beginning to wear thin. It is a remarkably poor stretch of results for McLaren. Yes, their partnership with Honda is having severe teething problems but, given that their last win came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012, the problems are deeper.’

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Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso vent their frustrations over McLaren’s team radio during the Canadian GP.

To their credit given the circumstances, both Alonso and Button have remained steadfastly optimistic about the longer-term prospects for the McLaren-Honda project in interviews with the media and both adopted the same approach despite retiring from this race. However, The Times suggested Alonso’s outburst over the radio when requested to save fuel in the heat midfield of battle told a different story.

‘There was little chance of Hamilton or Rosberg taking the “two fingers” attitude of Fernando Alonso when his McLaren team told him that he must “target zero” to save fuel,’ Kevin Eason wrote. ‘It may be a guess, but it seems that the honeymoon period between Alonso and his ailing McLaren-Honda mob is over.

More from Canadian Gp 2015

‘The ignominy is total: Ron Dennis…expected some pain this season but this must feel worse than appendicitis and needs severe surgery as soon as possible.’

Underlining how far the eight-time constructors’ champions have fallen, The Sun awarded the MP4-30 their ‘Milkfloat of the Day’ award after ‘Jenson Button trundled around at the back before retiring’.

Indeed, rather than agreeing with McLaren’s protestations that they will eventually march up the grid, questions are beginning to be asked about whether such a bright future will ever materialise.

‘Their unhappy reunion with Honda only worsens, with any ­indication of progress hard to discern. After all, this was their eighth retirement of the season,’ Daniel Johnson said in The Daily Telegraph. ‘The longer this goes on the harder it is to believe that this partnership will ever make it to the front.’

Difficult times for McLaren and Honda
Image: Difficult times for McLaren and Honda

Those front-running positions, of course, remain firmly occupied by McLaren’s former partner Mercedes and there was praise aplenty for race winner Hamilton for the way he impressively bounced back from the disappointment of Monaco.

Under the headline ‘Hamilton soothes Monaco pain’, The Times’ Eason said: ‘Hamilton had pole position, took up his place at the front and refused to budge. Rosberg was always in his mirrors but so what?’

‘Hero of the day’ Sebastian Vettel, too, earned plaudits for his recovery drive from 18th to fifth, but after Ferrari's Brackley rivals won by 40 seconds, The Daily Mirror's Byron Young succinctly, and not exactly uncharitably given the results of the three other ‘big four’ squads, said 'behind the Mercedes, their rivals were failing apart'.

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