McLaren to switch to Honda engines

[The Pits]

no-FIAt-please Geekery, and reading, amongst other things.

http://www.f1technical.net/news/15792

There is also a link at the bottom of the page.

Just as an aside, the Honda efficiency was stated as 93% in charging and 99% in discharging. Mercedes has been quoted around the 80% mark for the "round trip efficiency"

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I'm slightly disappointed McLaren aren't developing their own engine, what with the road car business and what-not.

 

[Westy]

McLaren and Honda have a working relationship already in IndyCar. McLaren supply the engine computers for all of the teams so they actually work with not only Honda but also Chevrolet and Lotus (the IndyCar engine supplier). I'm not saying that this is the key to their "inevitable" F1 dominance, just an interesting side note.

I don't think we can jump to conclusions about how effective This new partnership will be until we see them in actions. I don't think there will be that much of a shift of power next year. However, what do I know? I didn't think there would be a change of the status quo after the 2009 rule changes came in.

 

[cider_and_toast]

siffert_fan Honda may not have succeeded as a car manufacturer in F1 however their record as an engine supplier is pretty good. Just because a company can build engines doesn't mean they are always going to be able to build the rest of the package.

 

[downforce]

Imagine if McLaren did go to using Honda engines, made the car red and white, and employed Bruno Senna and Nicolas Prost as the drivers!

Didn't McLaren make completely their own engine for the McLaren MP4-12C? I thought that was supposed to be practice for making their own F1 engines?

How did they make that engine themselves but be unable to make an F1 engine?

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

downforce I'm pretty sure I've read before that Mclaren have stated that they have no interest in (rather than being unable to) developing a F1 engine of their own because of the extremely high cost and low volume, whereas a road car engine would have a (somewhat) wider potential market.

 

[downforce]

ok thx, shame though, would be good to see a pure McLaren (not a reference to PURE)

I'd have thought they would be able to sell them to Marussia or something

 

[siffert_fan]

I think that Honda's brilliance in the old turbo days may have been somewhat misleading. After all, they had the two best drivers of the day in the cars, which conferred a HUGE advantage on them.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

siffert_fan how can you be absolutely sure it wasn't the other way round?

 

[FB]

Or a 6 and 2x3. I think the whole package made the Mclaren's of the late 80's the dominant force they were. Their last turbo engine was something else compared to the other crap on the grid.

 

[Brogan]

Whitmarsh has confirmed that McLaren will be using Mercedes engines until at least the end of 2015.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...Honda-talk-and-says-focus-on-Mercedes-engines

 

[Greenlantern101]

boo hiss

 

[cider_and_toast]

That's interesting. I guess its more a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". McLaren and Merc are a tried and tested partnership so its less of a risk in the early years of the new turbo era.

I wonder who Honda will look to partner with? There's going to be no change at the obvious candidates now that McLaren are staying put. Which means the next batch of teams, Force India, Sauber, Williams are the next likely with the other three bringing up the rear. I expect Williams and Caterham have long term(ish) deals with Renault themselves which really only leaves Force India, Sauber, TR and Marussia.

Of those four, I guess the best organized and most stable team would be Sauber. Now that would be an interesting partnership.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

That doesn't read to me like an unequivocal denial; more along the lines of Michael Heseltine when he said he could see no circumstances under which he would run against Margaret Thatcher for the Tory party leadership.

 

[Kewee]

siffert_fan.....engines played a far greater role in the turbo era. I have to go with you Chad Stewarthill on this one. Engine designers were able to chase the holy grail of engine revs without the restrictions that are placed on them now. Drivers did the best they could with the cars they were given. My bet is Gilles Villeneuve would probably have dominated the World Championship had Ferrari been able to come up with a half decent Chassis. Their engines were fabulous and I don't think there was a driver in the field that Villeneuve couldn't match.

 

[Andyoak]

CaT... I thought Williams only had a deal to the end of this season.
I'd love to see a Williams Honda more than a McC Honda but then that's just me.

My one thought on this is how much trust do the teams have in Honda?
I suspect Honda will struggle to find much interest for their engines outside the midfield and bottom end.

 

[FB]

So Honda go to Williams for a few years and then dump them for McLaren. That would never happen would it?

 

[Boyle]

McLaren and Merc are a tried and tested partnership

I would say more of a tired and tested partnership

I get the feeling Mclaren need an injection of fresh energy in the engine department and taking the risk with Honda may provide that. Things are going a bit stale with the Mercedes partnership at the moment (although others may think this is stability )

 

[downforce]

Vodaphone McLaren Ferrari?

 

[Kewee]

Why shouldn't Honda supply more than one team, as do Renault and Ferrari. Honda and McLaren would be a perfect fit, they have been in the past. McLaren powered by Honda took Senna to 3 World Championships. Between 1983 -1992 Honda powered cars won 6 Constructors Championships and 5 Drivers Championships including Senna's. Why wouldn't McLaren trust them. They'd be superb.