2017 Mclaren F1 Team - Honda

[Andres125sx]

... It´s not only Alonso who is becoming impatient, it´s the whole McLaren team, or they would have never had meetings with different PU manufacturers to evaluate if it would be worth a switch

it is an age old tactic to get a better deal from your business partner by showing other options, it is entirely possible that they didn't even have any real notion to really go ahead with any switch, they just used the situation to their advantage to get a better deal with Honda, this is business after all...

It may, or it may not. Actually it doesn´t matter, McLaren can´t loose anything by talking with Renault or any other PU manufacturer, they can make some numbers when they know what the options are, and add to that those conversations will put some pressure on Honda, so it doesn´t matter if McLaren is considering a switch seriously or not, it´s a win-win for McLaren.

Heck it might even be a strategy just to gather some info about the PU of their rivals for 2018 but a meeting is all media needs to throw dozens of articles stating McLaren will stop using Honda PU next season, wich will cause a cascade of fanboyism all around the internet

[Phil]

No way McLaren will walk from Honda. No way will Honda let McLaren walk. No way will Honda break the contract for Torro Rosso.

McLaren cant afford to walk away just like that. By staying with Honda, they remaim a high budget works-team...

[ZakB]

No way McLaren will walk from Honda. No way will Honda let McLaren walk. No way will Honda break the contract for Torro Rosso.

McLaren cant afford to walk away just like that. By staying with Honda, they remaim a high budget works-team...

Haha, you probably don't know who their shareholders are. McLaren will still be a high budget team, with or without Honda (hopefully without). Those 50 million pounds can be quickly earned back by getting back on the podium.

[RS200E]

No way McLaren will walk from Honda. No way will Honda let McLaren walk. No way will Honda break the contract for Torro Rosso.

McLaren cant afford to walk away just like that. By staying with Honda, they remaim a high budget works-team...

Haha, you probably don't know who their shareholders are. McLaren will still be a high budget team, with or without Honda (hopefully without). Those 50 million pounds can be quickly earned back by getting back on the podium.

This is true and something a lot of people even on here forget or just don't know.

[BeardedAce]

No way McLaren will walk from Honda. No way will Honda let McLaren walk. No way will Honda break the contract for Torro Rosso.

McLaren cant afford to walk away just like that. By staying with Honda, they remaim a high budget works-team...

Haha, you probably don't know who their shareholders are. McLaren will still be a high budget team, with or without Honda (hopefully without). Those 50 million pounds can be quickly earned back by getting back on the podium.

You Probably don't know but Honda contributes a lot more than 50 million pounds. The Bahraini owners would've bought Honda out of their contract long ago if they wanted to invest that much money in this F1 team. 200-300 millions are nothing in the oil rich world. Why are McLaren looking to extort 200million out of Honda if they are so flush with cash? Hell, they even had to pay Dennis with "Historic" cars.

This is McLaren, not PSG or Manchester city.

[ZakB]

No way McLaren will walk from Honda. No way will Honda let McLaren walk. No way will Honda break the contract for Torro Rosso.

McLaren cant afford to walk away just like that. By staying with Honda, they remaim a high budget works-team...

Haha, you probably don't know who their shareholders are. McLaren will still be a high budget team, with or without Honda (hopefully without). Those 50 million pounds can be quickly earned back by getting back on the podium.

You Probably don't know but Honda contributes a lot more than 50 million pounds. The Bahraini owners would've bought Honda out of their contract long ago if they wanted to invest that much money in this F1 team. 200-300 millions are nothing in the oil rich world. Why are McLaren looking to extort 200million out of Honda if they are so flush with cash? Hell, they even had to pay Dennis with "Historic" cars.

This is McLaren, not PSG or Manchester city.

Actually they don't. Tell me, why would they have done that? They have money, no crystal ball. Nobody expected that Honda was going to this crappy. I suggest you take a business class and learn to read. Because you clearly have no idea how much money has gone wasted because of that engine.

IF the manufacturer at Woking fails to pay Dennis back his shares, then he could end up with 13 of the company's most valuable cars from its history, according to Motorsport

"We can't afford not to be on the podium. It's a big decision that has lots of elements to it and economics are one. But fortunately we have extremely committed shareholders which means we can make a sporting decision and deal with the economics." - Zak Brown.

[godlameroso]

There's no guarantee that Renault can give them an engine that can get them on the podium either. Neither Red Bull, nor the works Renault team can get podiums unless something happens to the two top teams, not to mention Renault is as reliable as Honda. Ditching Honda would be a foolish knee jerk reaction, regardless of the economics involved, if the goal is to win, it'll happen with Honda before it happens with Renault.

[Mad]

I wonder if the situation would be this intense if Fernando wasn't there? His desperation for title has transferred into McLaren and all they are thinking right now is short term gains. I would've understood if it was Mercedes but Renault? 3 of the 6 Renault cars will take Power unit penalty at Monza, fantastic right? so much better than that crappy Honda.

If Torro-rosso gets the Honda deal then as soon as Honda improves Redbull will clinch that magical "works' team deal. Anyway since Honda already has good partnership with Redbull outside of F1 it might not be a bad deal for Honda either. Alonso's gone in 2 years anyway, McLaren will be left to rue their knee-jerk decision.

Have fun paying for those grid penalties! At least Honda pays you for grid penalties.

[Schuttelberg]

I wonder if the situation would be this intense if Fernando wasn't there? His desperation for title has transferred into McLaren and all they are thinking right now is short term gains. I would've understood if it was Mercedes but Renault? 3 of the 6 Renault cars will take Power unit penalty at Monza, fantastic right? so much better than that crappy Honda.

If Torro-rosso gets the Honda deal then as soon as Honda improves Redbull will clinch that magical "works' team deal. Anyway since Honda already has good partnership with Redbull outside of F1 it might not be a bad deal for Honda either. Alonso's gone in 2 years anyway, McLaren will be left to rue their knee-jerk decision.

Have fun paying for those grid penalties! At least Honda pays you for grid penalties.

Absolutely top class post!

[jesa7271]

go with Renault en they can compete with Redbull in 2018 but no title for Mclaren nor Alonso. In 2019 Redbull with Honda wil be in front of Mclaren and crises at Mclaren with Alonso.

[McL-H]

There's no guarantee that Renault can give them an engine that can get them on the podium either. Neither Red Bull, nor the works Renault team can get podiums unless something happens to the two top teams, not to mention Renault is as reliable as Honda. Ditching Honda would be a foolish knee jerk reaction, regardless of the economics involved, if the goal is to win, it'll happen with Honda before it happens with Renault.

You are absolutely right. It would be a really stupid decision of McLaren to ditch Honda in favour of Renault. Almost weekly there are Renault powered cars in the field that have engine issues, and they are highly uncompetitive too. And that, with much more recent experience than Honda and with much more data, considering they are supplying three teams.

Honda has been underperforming for sure, but compared to Renault they do an amazing job imo. Look at the massive gains that have been made this season, how does that not show positive perspectives? What on Earth do ppl here expect from Renault engines? That suddenly McLaren will be fighting Mercedes and Ferrari? Not going to happen folks. McLaren is close to ending up like Williams. Personnel will leave if victories stay out of reach, and with Renault, that will surely be the case. With Honda, you have a collaberation that fits engine + chassis + fuel lubricants together. With Renault, you won't have that. McLaren's best bet remains Honda. They can overtake Renault this season and close the gap to the frontrunners during the winter. Renault is not even bringing new engine parts ffs.

[ZakB]

There's no guarantee that Renault can give them an engine that can get them on the podium either. Neither Red Bull, nor the works Renault team can get podiums unless something happens to the two top teams, not to mention Renault is as reliable as Honda. Ditching Honda would be a foolish knee jerk reaction, regardless of the economics involved, if the goal is to win, it'll happen with Honda before it happens with Renault.

Keeping Honda would be foolish. If you bought three Honda's in your life and they all performed badly and were not reliable, would Honda be your 4th car? Honda is pathetic, just like in their last era.

Honda has been underperforming for sure, but compared to Renault they do an amazing job imo. Look at the massive gains that have been made this season, how does that not show positive perspectives? What on Earth do ppl here expect from Renault engines? That suddenly McLaren will be fighting Mercedes and Ferrari? Not going to happen folks. McLaren is close to ending up like Williams. Personnel will leave if victories stay out of reach, and with Renault, that will surely be the case. With Honda, you have a collaberation that fits engine + chassis + fuel lubricants together. With Renault, you won't have that. McLaren's best bet remains Honda. They can overtake Renault this season and close the gap to the frontrunners during the winter. Renault is not even bringing new engine parts ffs.

Massive gains? Yeah, they were massive, because their engine was the biggest piece of crap we've ever seen. What on earth do people here expect from Honda engines? That suddenly McLaren will be fightning Mercedes and Ferrari? Not going to happen folks. You clearly have no idea how far Honda is behind.

[dren]

There's no guarantee that Renault can give them an engine that can get them on the podium either. Neither Red Bull, nor the works Renault team can get podiums unless something happens to the two top teams, not to mention Renault is as reliable as Honda. Ditching Honda would be a foolish knee jerk reaction, regardless of the economics involved, if the goal is to win, it'll happen with Honda before it happens with Renault.

Keeping Honda would be foolish. If you bought three Honda's in your life and they all performed badly and were not reliable, would Honda be your 4th car? Honda is pathetic, just like in their last era.

Toss out a relatively poor performing/unreliable works PU for another one that's similarly unreliable, yet also get rid of millions of dollars in the process. Cross your fingers that the 6 top cars all DNF. Then maybe a podium is possible. Sounds like a great decision.

[ZakB]

There's no guarantee that Renault can give them an engine that can get them on the podium either. Neither Red Bull, nor the works Renault team can get podiums unless something happens to the two top teams, not to mention Renault is as reliable as Honda. Ditching Honda would be a foolish knee jerk reaction, regardless of the economics involved, if the goal is to win, it'll happen with Honda before it happens with Renault.

Keeping Honda would be foolish. If you bought three Honda's in your life and they all performed badly and were not reliable, would Honda be your 4th car? Honda is pathetic, just like in their last era.

Toss out a relatively poor performing/unreliable PU for another one that's similarly unreliable, yet also get rid of millions of dollars in the process. Cross your fingers that the 6 top cars all DNF. Then maybe a podium is possible. Sounds like a great decision.

Six podiums, one win, working on 2018 engine for the whole year, yeah sounds like a terrible option compared to the Honda that is lacking 80BHP in comparison with customer Mercedes.

[Sayeman]

What on Earth do ppl here expect from Renault engines? That suddenly McLaren will be fighting Mercedes and Ferrari?

They will be 4th best team at best, dont see them beating redbull. Redbull have been using those Renault PUs since 2014. If Mclaren thinks Alonso will be happy with that, then they are unfortunately mistaken. Let's see what happens.