Sasha wrote:Usually where there is smoke there is a fire!
Mclaren is own by three groups and one is very ill and the other been stating they were not happy with leadership(that was fixed with Dennis back at the wheel) and their return on investment(Mclaren Automotive was in the red until the P1 but what happens next year with the P1 gone).
Without Honda's money this year,Mclaren would be hurting!
The Japanese doesn't give money freely unless their getting something in return!
1)Looks like they got Mclaren to go to Le Mans.
2)Working on future production cars(becoming Honda's Tier 1 performance branch) but Honda would want equity.
So money always comes with a cost!
There have been plenty of occasions when engine manufacturers have had works deals with teams without having any ownership or "getting something in return" as you put it. Williams, for instance, had such deals with Honda and Renault. The reason they do it is marketing - if they're successful, they hope to sell more cars.
As for McLaren Automotive only making a profit because of the P1 - do you have the slightest evidence of this?
They're a new startup business. It's the nature of new businesses that they make a loss at first. That's why they were making a loss, and now they're making a profit. They continue to expand into new markets and new product lines.
Finally, McLaren at Le Mans will be a GT car, and therefore almost certainly powered by a McLaren engine. That's got nothing to do with Honda. If you think it does, again could you provide some evidence?
You do realise that Honda have already denied any intention to buy into McLaren, don't you?
Where's there smoke, there's a desperate journalist making up a story.
