GoranF1 wrote: ↑25 Feb 2019, 23:59
diffuser wrote: ↑25 Feb 2019, 13:41
GoranF1 wrote: ↑25 Feb 2019, 01:44
B team is not what they need, what they need is a works deal whit a serious company like Porsche, Audi, BMW or Toyota and significat financial injection.
In my personal opinion a Toyota deal would be perfect considering usage of their wind tunel and Alonso(who needs to come back)
Sounds like a repeat of Honda. Only you want to perpetuate the most painful years...
I said serious, not Honda.
looking ahead while looking back, F1 always has been about having the right engine. Even during the most restricted period of F1, when RedBull reigned with the Renault V8, they were lucky that Renault made mistakes with Enstone and teamed up with RedBull. They wouldn't have been this successful with Cosworth or even their Ferrari deal from the days before (Ferrari wouldn't have allowed it)
So, being race/championship winning with Renault/Mercedes/Ferrari is out of the question. All three teams have nothing to gain winning in the back of the McLaren.
A good new partner has to have a few trades: a very modern racing department with possibilities to craft this new way of building a racing engine (more towards endurance racing/efficiency then high revving big power). At the moment a few companies come into mind: Toyota and Volkswagen Group (Porsche, VW, Audi, Lambo, etc) and a few with the technical possibilities to set something up or buy into a company who can do that: General Motors, Kia/Hyundai and Ford.
Volkswagen is out, they have too much direct models within the McLaren range. If they would enter they would just buy a factory.
Ford and Toyota are a bit the same with their GT and LFA. Both are also large enough to do a Renault route (again) and take all the marketing instead of just the PU deal.
Leaves GM and Hyundai.Both without a history in F1.
Looking at the amount that Daimler, Fiat/Chrysler and Renault are investing into F1 compared what the extra costs are for owning the team vs just a PU deal, supplying only a PU (like Honda does) doesn't make a lot of sense, as a team you can get prize money, sponsors, use those sponsors to have extra exposure for your brand, etc etc.
So... what could be the "way out"? In my view the best way for McLaren to return to power again is to be taken over (again) by a large other brand to be their high-tech sports car division, like they were with Mercedes (and how Ferrari is part of Fiat, Lambo of VW, AMG-Daimler, etc).
McLaren at the moment is relative cheap, around 2.2 billion and got most of that already in outstanding debt. Ford and GM of course just sold most of their extra brands (Volvo, opel/vauxhaul, Jaguar) so they aren't in the market... but... Geely? Kia?