As a multi-millionaire and the top executive in a miniature city of more than
2,000 employees, Whitmarsh adopts a strikingly Que sera, sera take on his
own prospects. “I plan as if this could all end tomorrow. Don’t have a debt,
I always say. Don’t have too many mortgages. Live on a fraction of what you
are earning. Then, if it goes wrong, you can still act with conviction.
Whole careers can be built on not making mistakes, but I’m going to be
myself, do what I think is right. My strength is to feel: ‘If they don’t
like it, so be it.’ I probably wasn’t good enough to get here on talent
alone, so I had to add some bravado.”
Still without a drivers’ championship or constructors’ title in his fifth year
in charge, Whitmarsh is undeniably under pressure as the Formula One circus
prepares to roll into Monaco next weekend. The 2013 car in which McLaren
invested so much hope, the MP4-28, has thus far been one of the most
alarming duds in recent memory. Paddy Lowe, their highly regarded technical
director, is on gardening leave ahead of his switch to Mercedes next winter.
The catalogue of misfortunes, which persisted in Barcelona as replacement
front wings failed to arrive in time for safety-testing, was stemmed
eventually by the announcement last week of Honda’s restoration as engine
suppliers for 2015, reviving the halcyon Prost-Senna days of yore.
“Formula One is often a very chastening experience,” Whitmarsh acknowledges.
“You go from hero to zero very quickly. Since 1966 we have won 186 grands
prix, more than any other team over that period, and I have been around for
more than 100. That’s what we expect of ourselves. If people give us
aggravation, then rest assured we give ourselves worse. I don’t like turning
up at a race without the genuine belief that we can win.That’s why I go
motor racing. So this is not a comfortable or sustainable position. But it
increases the determination to sort it out.” Describing the renewed
McLaren-Honda partnership as “synonymous with success”, he declares with
some emphasis: “The will at this place is going to drag us back there. We
have underperformed dramatically with this car, but we have fought our way
through before.”
McLaren lie sixth in the rankings behind Force India, and amid such indignity
do small mercies assume great significance. Not that you might have noticed,
but the team are in the midst of a run of 62 consecutive point-scoring
finishes, a distinction that Whitmarsh is desperate to protect. “You think
you’re going to throttle somebody if they’re responsible for ending it.
That’s how we’re hardwired.”
Whitmarsh conveys all this with a genial grin, but it is worth stressing how
ruthless he can be when required. He offers a reminder of the plane trip he
took last autumn from Japan to South Korea, with three of his former McLaren
proteges. “Martin Brundle turned to me and said: ‘You sacked me, didn’t
you?’ Then David Coulthard piped up: ‘Me, too.’ And then Heikki Kovalainen:
‘And me!’ I suddenly realised that pretty much all of the drivers on that
aircraft I had fired.”
One driver for whom he reserved a particular indulgence was Lewis Hamilton,
the young man whose absence is most acutely felt by McLaren as they adjust
to the dynamic between elder statesman Jenson Button and the Mexican
wunderkind Sergio Pérez.
Whitmarsh, on the same table as Dennis when a 13-year-old Hamilton made his
now-fabled declaration that he would one day drive for them, remembers:
“Lewis grew up in the glare of fierce scrutiny, and had a later adolescence
in the public domain. I have a tremendous soft spot for him. When he was
going through karting and junior categories I used to ring him up and calm
him down. Sitting here in my office with him, it was a magical moment saying
to him: ‘Right, Lewis. You’ll be driving in Formula One next season. Now,
let’s ring your mother.’ She was on a factory production line somewhere and
to be able to tell her: ‘Your son is now an F1 driver, I’m going to hand you
over to him’ was hugely memorable.”
Whitmarsh, by his own admission, is profoundly in love with his sport. “I’m
too much of a racer, which makes me a lousy CEO. I emphasise the racing side
to cover up my other deficiencies.”
But he is not cocooned by paddock life, accompanied as he is to all races by
wife Debbie, and he appreciates that a life lies beyond. With a second home
he adores on an island in the Bay of Biscay, he reflects: “I could decide,
‘Actually, it’s b—– stupid, dashing around the world like this all the
time.’ My wife and I had all of five weekends in the UK last year. At some
point I must do something different with my life, otherwise Formula One will
have defined my entire existence. And I don’t necessarily want that.”
Experts’ view: what McLaren must do
DAVID COULTHARD (Former McLaren driver)
McLaren have a proud heritage over half a century, but their struggles this
season mean they are still judged exclusively on their last race. It seems
to me that their car is struggling for traction through low-speed corners.
The title already looks to be out of reach, as to be competitive they would
need to be finishing all the races high up in the points, not a realistic
prospect given their technical problems.
DAMON HILL (Former world champion and Sky analyst)
McLaren have the biggest challenge, because of the expectation on them. The
pressure is there to demonstrate that they are going in the right direction,
especially with their main rivals Ferrari, Lotus and Red Bull all proving
competitive so far. But if McLaren could just find a little extra raw pace
from this car I believe that both their drivers would be right up there.
GARY ANDERSON (BBC analyst)
On the inside of McLaren’s front wing, you can see that there is insufficient
angle. It affects the airflow to the rest of the car, particularly to the
sidepods and underfloor, which loses them potential overall downforce from
the underbody. Frankly, it is an extremely primitive design, and this car
will never perform to its maximum potential until the front-wing situation
is properly addressed.
JOHNNY HERBERT (Former driver and Sky analyst)
Martin Whitmarsh is under pressure but he knows that. The problem with
McLaren’s car appears to be aerodynamic, and that can be a very difficult
type of fault to fix mid-season. While the championship might be a
write-off, the answer could be the ‘silver bullet’, or I might even say the
‘golden bullet’ of the new engine deal with Honda, beginning in 2015. That
has to be the focus for the future.