McLAREN-HONDA may reunite in 2014

Renault have signed a 5 year deal with Red Bull to supply engines and Infiniti own a share of the team so this is now effectively the works "RENAULT" team

Renault will change to Lotus- Renault but previously Renault sport wanted to supply only two teams but seems to have changed the tone to supplying more. Also Carlos Ghosn- CEO of Renault Nissan promises to help revive Williams

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As for Mclaren - Honda with two world champions forming the most intense rivalry has a nice sound to it like the late 80's
 
With these reports of McLaren and Honda having talks, what many have thought a logical linkup now starts to look feasible. The thought of McLaren as customer instead of partner once the engine deal ends brought a bit of worry and anxiety
The thought of McLaren building their own engine suggests a few years of exploding engines and bad cars, I wondered what Ron was thinking

Now, if this is true could point to Ron having started this dialogue earlier and maybe even had an indication when the breakup with Merc was negotiated

Would make sense in light of the history Ron has of securing great deals like getting Tag to pay Porsche for an engine and ofcourse stealing Honda from Williams in the first place, and replacing a crap Peugeot after just a year with the Merc deal

Honda are pretty hard nosed when it comes to entering and leaving F1 and I am now sure Ron has been working his connections there
 
I wouldn't get to excited about Honda powered McLaren if I were you I've been looking into Honda's racing performances (Not just in F1.) of late and the Honda's racing pedigree in the last decade has been absolutely atrocious.

Honda's success in the past is no guarantee of success in the future, McLaren could do a Williams and fall to the back of the grid, and remain there for years. their last F1 engine was one of the worst in the field, it was well down on power and not very drivable, it took a Merc engine bolted into the back of one of their cars to make it win.
 
Everyone starts afresh with the new engine regs

Honda are thought to be expert with turbos

With McLaren directing and specifying their engine as an exclusive partner, could be how to get the best out of a big car maker like Honda

The Merc engine wasn't great to start, Mclaren wi have guided Ilmore to evolve it into the success it is now

F1 is not only about an engine, a focused team like McLaren who know how to build cars will be best placed to lead development of the engine, if it's exclusive to them. Can't di that with a standard customer engine

Therefore it's exciting IMHO if this deal happens
 
mephistopheles said:
I wouldn't get to excited about Honda powered McLaren if I were you I've been looking into Honda's racing performances (Not just in F1.) of late and the Honda's racing pedigree in the last decade has been absolutely atrocious.
Click to expand

I'd like to know why you think Honda are incapable. You have said that you have been following Honda across Motorsport for the last few years but it would be interesting for you to share your learnings to accompany your conclusion.

I only really watch F1 and Moto GP and Honda are currently only in Moto GP and are making mince meat of the competition.
 
mephistopheles said:
I wouldn't get to excited about Honda powered McLaren if I were you I've been looking into Honda's racing performances (Not just in F1.) of late and the Honda's racing pedigree in the last decade has been absolutely atrocious.

Honda's success in the past is no guarantee of success in the future, McLaren could do a Williams and fall to the back of the grid, and remain there for years. their last F1 engine was one of the worst in the field, it was well down on power and not very drivable, it took a Merc engine bolted into the back of one of their cars to make it win.
Click to expand

Hmm... I'm not so sure....

The Honda power-train was not that shabby in 2007/2008 - the problem was that the car was absolutely awful - the chassis flexed in all the wrong ways, and the overall aerodynamic concept had been down a developmental cul-de-sac! Admittedly, these problems stemmed from Honda appointing their own technical director (Who knew very little about F1), but Ross Brawn has gone on record to say that if the Brawn in 2009 had had the Honda engine, they would have been even more dominant!
 
It will be interesting to see, if Honda come back to F1, if they "place" a preferred driver with any team they decide to supply. I accept that having to take Ayrton Senna as part of an engine deal is not such a bad choice but Lotus had to have Nakajima as part of their deal and that wasn't so good really was it?
 
FB said:
I accept that having to take Ayrton Senna as part of an engine deal is not such a bad choice but Lotus had to have Nakajima as part of their deal and that wasn't so good really was it?
Click to expand

He did better than Johnnie Dumfries LOL

I can see the attraction of a Mclaren / Honda link up, not just from a nostalgic point of view but surely it's better to be an engine supliers first choice team rather than a works teams customer from Mclarens point of view.
 
Does this mean Takuma Sato will be a Mclaren driver?

There have been so many rumours about these 2 linking up again - some even started by myself - so will wait for an official word I reckon before I get too excited. Makes logical sense for both I reckon.

Button might be chuffed to be working with his old mates again too.
 
If Honda come back and work on the engine then they will be back at the front very quickly there's no doubt about it

The difference between Honda in the 80's and 90's and Honda in 2000's was that
with Williams, Mclaren, and Lotus they worked solely on the engine and did not meddle in team affairs except for having a preference for a Brazilian driver Senna/ Piquet and Nakijima in the other car

Honda in 2000 tried to run the team as another division of Honda corporation and it was never going to work with the rate F1 developed and waiting around for decisions to be made

It was a disaster from the moment they took over BAR

Firstly to get rid of Dave Richards who managed to sort the team out and make it a front runner then putting a muppet like Nick Fry in charge who is no more than a corporate YES man.

Then as someone said getting a designer with no F1 experience to design the Earth car. Things only turned around when they got Ross BRawn on board and allowed him to run the team like it should be. They should have been savouring the results of 2009 as well but they pulled the plug too early

If Honda come back with Mclaren..there is no way Mclaren will let them mess things up
 
FB said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_MP4/9 :snigger:
Click to expand
You know what was most gutting about that car? The previous October, they had been running with a custom-built Lamborghini engine, funded by Chrysler - and were running about 1-2 seconds a lap faster than they had with the Ford lump!... In the end, Ron opted for Peugeot power, and the team were left languishing (relatively)....

Had they opted for Lambo power, Senna might've stayed...and who knows what would have happened then!
 
Honda are winning plenty of races in Indycar lately. :D

It seemed pretty clear to me that McLaren would be looking actively for a new manufacturer partnership for the new turbo regulations. Clearly, come 2014, all the best engines and latest developments will be heading to Brackley, not Woking, and McLaren are too good a team to accept second best (memories of 1993 etc.)

Honda's last spell in F1 was pretty mixed, it must be said, but they've been as committed to F1 as any engine manufacturer over the past three decades barring Renault. Given McLaren's standing, I'm sure there won't be any question of them interfering in driver selection or the operation of the team.

Maybe they'll swap their engines for some road car manufacturing expertise?
 
Well, McLaren chose Brundle over Alliot that year, didn't they?

McLaren are in a stronger position than most teams vis รก vis picking drivers, its when the money/prestige runs out that you have to obey an engine supplier.
 
Well lets face it Kobi is a Toyota man and Honda don't have any Japanese driver in the wings anymore - so after Kobi who is Japan's fave racing driver? Who was Honda's choice to lead their own team? Jenson Button!

maybe its been Mclaren's long term ploy all along.
 
makes sense to me as Jenson has strong Japanese links and his win was well received this year

Having said Honda loved Senna despite his seemingly ridiculous demands they worked their socks off for him to give him powerful engines whenever he demanded it

It should be said whilst Honda gave Mclaren an immensely powerful engine..they did push the limit with numerous blow ups then....it was the genius of Senna that ensured the drivers title went to Mclaren rather than the superior Williams Renaults in 1991

By 1992 WIlliams with Newey/ Hill and Renault found the sweet spot and started the season too far ahead for Mclaren/ Senna and Honda to claw back
 

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