Sweeping changes may be in store for McLaren before 2015 Formula One season

Ron Dennis and co will turn every wrench and then some to bridge the gap between themselves and the teams at the top of the grid.

From Kevin Magnussen's viewpoint this has not been an easy rookie season, but he has on occasion out-performed his more experienced teammate, Jenson Button. Mark Thompson / Getty Images

As far as sport goes, the past week has been pretty good for Germany.

Winning their first football World Cup for 24 years has given the European nation a huge lift. That was evident in the scenes at the Bradenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday when the players returned from Brazil.

The country could take things to another level if a German driver wins Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in a German car.

This is a realistic scenario given that championship leader Nico Rosberg will be driving in a Mercedes-GP, the dominant machine in the 2014 season.

Mercedes have won eight of the nine races run so far this season, and it would have been a 100 per cent record but for the brake problems that slowed Rosberg in Canada when he was leading.

It is a given that he will be a contender in Sunday’s 67-lap race.

However, history is not so encouraging for Rosberg and the other three German drivers on the grid – world champion Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil.

Only one German, Michael Schumacher, has triumphed at Hockenheim, albeit four times, with the most recent victory in 2006.

No German car has won at the Hockenheimring, but few German teams have competed regularly in Formula One. Mercedes have raced only twice at Hockenheim since becoming a team.

Until 2010 Mercedes had been an engine supplier, and their most recent success at Hockenheim was in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton, now a Mercedes driver, triumphed for McLaren-Mercedes.

The Mercedes engine partnership with McLaren, which has continued despite Mercedes going it alone as a team, comes to an end after this year’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a union that began in 1996.

It will be the end of an era.

Despite their British roots, McLaren were seen as the home team at Hockenheim because of what was powering them.

It was a partnership that promised much, with Mika Hakkinen winning the world title in 1998 and 1999 and one constructors’ crown coming their way inside the first four years of working together.

Since 2000 the only championship to have a Mercedes imprimatur was Hamilton’s 2008 drivers’ championship.

Considering McLaren have enjoyed the second-biggest budget in F1, behind Ferrari, and consistently have had the most powerful engine on the grid, their lack of results must be considered a significant failure.

The fault for the underachievement has to be seen to be coming from within McLaren, although they could point to unreliability in the Mercedes engine in 2005 for derailing Kimi Raikkonen’s title bid when, arguably, they had the fastest car on the grid.

Too often design mistakes with the car chassis have ensured McLaren have not built on momentum.

They won the most races in 2005 with 10, then won none in 2006.

Hamilton won the 2008 title but then had to deal with an often uncompetitive car in 2009 that won twice.

After matching Red Bull Racing with seven victories in 2012 McLaren have not won any of the past 28 races.

Last season was the first in 33 years that they failed to score a podium as Jenson Button and Sergio Perez toiled.

This year has been slightly better, with rookie Kevin Magnussen and Button finishing second and third in the season opener in Australia in March.

Button finished fourth at Silverstone two weeks ago, but both the Australian and British performances were aided by wet qualifying sessions allowing them to start farther up the grid than they would have done in the dry.

The car is slow.

It lacks the grip to allow both Button and Magnussen to push the car hard confidently when entering and leaving corners.

The results indicate they have been consistently the weakest of the four teams that have Mercedes engines – the equipment needed in 2014 if you want to be fast.

It is anyone’s guess how far back down the grid they would be had they chosen to go with a Renault or Ferrari power plant.

Ron Dennis, the team’s chief executive, two weeks ago put pressure on the drivers to do better, but neither Button nor Magnussen are miracle workers.

This is a tough first season for Magnussen in F1 but, while dealing with a limited car, he has held up admirably and qualified ahead of his 2009 world champion teammate in four races.

Button has raced more consistently, and you would expect that given his experience – tomorrow he starts in his 257th race.

Barring rain, McLaren will again not be a factor in the race at the front and neither will they likely be before the end of the season.

For a team who have won eight constructors’ titles, another season of irrelevance will pain them.

Relief is hoped for through the partnership with Honda that begins next year.

It was with the Japanese company that they won the double of drivers’ and constructors’ titles four years in succession, beginning in 1988, but it will be an amazing achievement if Honda are on an even level with Mercedes in their first year back.

And there is no guarantee that Button or Magnussen will be around to drive a McLaren-Honda. The unsubtle rallying call from Dennis doubled as a warning that nothing is certain as far as their driver line-up for 2015 is concerned.

They will not lack motivation to impress at Hockenheim tomorrow, but it is hardly their fault that their realistic aspirations will be for a points finish, given what they will be driving.

The adage that drivers can only be as good as the car they drive seems a neat way to sum up life racing for McLaren – at present.

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