Fierce criticism surrounds McLaren
The English team is overwhelmed in sports terms and not for the better. In the past Grand Prix at Silverstone, Alonso earned his first point of the season with the MP4-30, finishing tenth, but that certainly has not calmed the spirits - it is not enough for a team like McLaren Honda. If yesterday the head honcho of McLaren, Ron Dennis, spoke, today it was the turn of the Japanese, Yasuhisa Arai.
The Japanese has set a goal to achieve the long-awaited improvements for the team, close goals, in a short time, specifically at the Belgian Grand Prix. "We will perform adequately very soon, I promise. In the second half of the season, I hope it happens from Spa-Francorchamps. I would say that we have built a good foundation for development. This is in line with our planning and we are progressing step by step. The objectives are being met," he said.
These statements clash considerably with those made by the McLaren leaders, who have hinted on several occasions that patience comes to an end at some point.
"We have followed a roadmap, despite the rumors, the work has been carried out hand in hand with McLaren," he stated in the newspaper 'O Globo'. He also wanted to highlight and remember a not too distant past. "We had great success in the 80s, there is mutual trust. Of course, there is pressure to improve, but we discuss everything together. Sometimes we have one solution and the team has another, but that is normal."
"I feel more pressure from the directors of our company and the Japanese media. I don't think the results would have been different with another manager. The management at Honda and McLaren trust in me. Each manager thinks about how to do better, and I do the same. I think about it every day," Arai declared.
With all this, the British team is convinced that the MP4-30 will evolve and deliver greater performance than its current state. All with the ultimate goal of being competitive in the not too distant future. However, McLaren's technological offering to Honda has fallen on deaf ears. Arai has stated that "Honda doesn't need that kind of help."
Lastly, in the form of a request, he states that "the results are not in line with fans' expectations, but we know what we are doing. Please give us some time. The second half of the season will be better."