McLaren Documentary

[Deleted member 387850]

Just watched the trailer for the upcoming McLaren documentary, Grand Prix Driver, which is being released on Amazon Prime. Looks like an interesting insight into one of the most challenging eras the team has been through! I believe it begins on 9th February and is a four-part series. Hopefully they release all four parts in one go, as my Prime membership expires shortly after the release date and I'm unlikely to renew it

 

[Slowdive]

Looks cool, although probably a bit heavy on the marketing. I also let my Prime membership lapse recently, although I might have to renew it when Man in the High Castle comes back for season 3. This gives me another reason.

 

[davewilliams000]

Looks cool, although probably a bit heavy on the marketing. I also let my Prime membership lapse recently, although I might have to renew it when Man in the High Castle comes back for season 3. This gives me another reason.

Just finished watching this today. I watched all 4 episodes over 2 days. I would recommend it. I mean, any insight is good in my opinion. It really only goes up to the end of pre-season testing last year, and then gives a very quick summary of the events of the year right at the end of ep4. I found the bits where they were putting the car together to be the most interesting, and also when they tried to fire up the car the first time.

 

[josap11]

It was a good, interesting and insightful series but it was sort of disappointing that it ended at pre-season testing. I was looking forward to getting an insight in how the season unfolded behind the scenes at McLaren and how they handled the disappointing engine and the potential loss of Alonso.

It was a good series but I feel like there are a lot of episodes missing...

 

[Deleted member 387850]

I meant to come back to this thread to say I thoroughly enjoyed the series. As others have said it would have been interesting to see beyond pre-season, and I think they could have easily done 4x 1hr episodes if that was the case.

It's by far the most behind-the-scenes look at F1 I've ever seen and it was refreshing to see the team so exposed, especially at one of the weakest points in their history. I'm glad they didn't try to cover up the difficulties they were facing, although I think it was much easier for them to be honest about that when we already knew the deal with Honda was dead and they would be moving to Renault. I sincerely hope they do a follow up season showing their transition to a new engine supplier and hopefully a change of fortunes.

One thing I thought was very interesting was how Fernando conducts himself. It might not be a popular thing to say, but I'm not a Fernando fan for reasons I won't go into so I don't get bombarded with "dislikes". However, I do have a lot of respect for what he has achieved as a driver and I was very surprised at how he conducted himself around the team, especially in contrast to Stoffel. It is very clear when he walks into the room that he is #1 and he seems to go to great lengths to ensure he seems completely relaxed and in control. Obviously part of that comes from his experience and the fact he has been doing this for quite some time now, but there definitely appears to be a psychological dominance side to it that many great sporting figures possess. It must be very daunting for a rookie!

As a final thought, I think Zak Brown has taken great strides with McLaren on the business side, but I cannot understand why they haven't attracted a title sponsor (or any significant sponsorship for that matter!). Despite their recent poor results they still get great exposure, and certainly much of the pre-season focus has been on them. Considering they have a Fernando, who has a massive draw as demonstrated by his Indy and Daytona appearances and upcoming WEC commitment, surely sponsors would be tripping over themselves?