McLaren and Honda split expected this week

  • Published on 04 Sep 2017 10:09
  • comments 20
  • By: Fergal Walsh

A divorce between McLaren and Honda is imminent this week after yet another shocking display at the Italian Grand Prix. During the weekend at Monza, word got around that McLaren was set to split from its current engine supplier Honda, with the Woking team confirming it had held talks with Renault.

McLaren-Honda reformed in 2015 with the hope of returning to the front of the grid and relive the success of the same partnership of the late 80's. However, Honda has failed to produce a competitive engine resulting in growing tensions over the last two and a half years.

This week, it appears that the official announcement will come, but it is not known whether McLaren's new engine partner will be revealed at the same time. Ferrari and Mercedes have both closed the door to McLaren, while Renault has recently admitted it is unwilling to supply a fourth team.

With F1's bosses also involved in the situation, one solution may be that Toro Rosso will take up a deal with Honda to make sure the Japanese manufacturer stays in the sport. This would free up an engine slot for Renault, allowing McLaren to fill in the spot.

Toro Rosso and Honda recently discussed a 2018 deal, but talks descended into nothing as the Red Bull junior team felt it was too late in the year to switch manufacturers, as development for its 2018 car is in the latter stages. It is also believed that Fernando Alonso will only remain with McLaren if the team drops Honda for next season.

Speaking after the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, Alonso admitted it was a very difficult race: "Our bosses were here today and, unfortunately, we could not deliver a good result. It’s very disappointing to have a double DNF," he said. "I had problems with upshifting from the very early stages of the race, which at some points was costing me a lot of time – almost a second a lap.

"We tried to fix the issue by changing some settings, but the shifting never worked as it should have, and it hampered my race. Starting from the back of the grid was never going to be easy here. We made up a few places during the race, but there was little chance we could make it into the points today. Now we are looking forward to Singapore, which is a more suitable track for us."

 

Fergal Walsh

kngrthr

Posts: 203

Ricciardo came from 16th to 4th at Monza using a customer Renault engine.

its better then you think

  • 1
  • Sep 5 2017 - 01:46

Replies (20)

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  • Harryw

    Posts: 107

    Renault is short term boost BUT longer term they need another Honda or build their own with a specialist

    • + 0
    • Sep 4 2017 - 12:01
  • mbmwe36

    Posts: 533

    I think we can close the chapter on McLaren being a top team for the foreseeable future if they switch to Renault. Honda is finally starting to get some traction, and THEN they switch.
    It's probably to keep the unibrow diva happy, but Stoffel seems to be stepping up, so maybe they should just look for someone else.

    • + 0
    • Sep 4 2017 - 15:12
    • I agree.

      • + 0
      • Sep 4 2017 - 18:59
    • kngrthr

      Posts: 203

      Ricciardo came from 16th to 4th at Monza using a customer Renault engine.

      its better then you think

      • + 1
      • Sep 5 2017 - 01:46
    • Hardly down to the Renault PU though, innit? Red Bull's chassis isnt optimal this year, but they've certainly nailed the low downforce configuration. And looking at it, the Renault teams has on average retired more times from races due to PU reliability woes than McLaren.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 06:59
    • mbmwe36

      Posts: 533

      kngrthr - I know right, just look at Toro Rosso and Renault, they are really setting the world ablaze. Like calle is saying, Renault power is not the most reliable, they are probably a little up on power compared to Honda, but they have been in F1 far longer, and it's frankly embarrassing that they have been so far behind in the PU era, especially considering that they've had six cars to gather data from the last two years, and four cars before that. Red Bulls success is mostly down to their chassis.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 22:19
  • Im not as sure that it'll happen, and even less sure of whether its a good move.

    • + 0
    • Sep 4 2017 - 19:00
  • Barron

    Posts: 625

    Don't do it McLaren. Stick to your guns.. Let Ferdie slide if he wants to, and start letting the dog wag the tail for a change...

    • + 0
    • Sep 4 2017 - 23:52
    • It's idiots like you who have brought down Mclaren from within, Honda has had plenty of time they are just a huge pile of incompetence after incompetence. Any engine other than Honda will be good for Mclaren. No one can be this dense unless you have an agenda to see Mclaren brought down for giggles and shit. You even suggest Mclaren let go of Alonso. While Alonso can be a diva many a time he is one of the Best out there who can take it to the likes of Vettel. Turd boy at Mercedes doesn't amount for much, Alonso already destroyed him in 2007 even with the entire Mclaren team going against Alonso.

      So one of the worlds best drivers you want to see gone and also wanting Mclaren to be doing bad with a dog engine, hmm now who can benefit from something like that I wonder? Oh yes Mercedes and Turd shitboy. You must be a Hamilton fan. Figures.

      You must be have had sleepless nights at every rumor that suggested Mercedes might take on Alonso a while back.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 10:39
    • Barron

      Posts: 625

      Oh dear. Had a bad day at the office?

      • + 1
      • Sep 5 2017 - 13:25
    • Ah, McLarefan, you fill our hearts eith rainbows. :3

      • + 1
      • Sep 5 2017 - 14:25
    • @CALLIE.ITW: Well what can say man, I aim to please B-)

      @BARRON: Let's see now, nothing related to the subject matter, typical diversionary tactics detected. Seems like I hit the points hard and you don't have much in a way of a worthy rebuttal. Rekt confirmed.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 17:55
    • Thing is dear: you say its bad that Honda hasnt gotten it straight in 3 years. I can agree that that is bad, but if you take a look on the French side of life, Le Renault 'as 'ad feaur yers tu complete zeir engine. And vere are zey? As of noi, onli toi suppliérs are gud, zi other toi, no.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 20:01
    • fzrniko

      Posts: 11

      @calle - agreed. Renault has only had 3rd place pace; and with one team. If that is what McLaren thinks is more competitive, then go for it.

      • + 0
      • Sep 6 2017 - 13:00
  • Kean

    Posts: 692

    I would love it if McLaren became competitive again next year, with Alonso in one of the cars. It would be awesome to see Alonso battle with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull and short term I think that the Renault PU will be better than the Honda PU, but long term I think a split from Honda is the wrong way to go. Red Bull has proven that with a good car you can win races with a Renault PU, however you can’t win championships. So a McLaren-Renault deal would mean that McLaren have lowered their ambitions. And I really hope they’re not splitting from Honda on the sole basis of keeping Alonso at the team. If Alonso is the one pushing for Renault, then that is a clear sign to stick with Honda. Any decision made by Alonso is bound to be a jinx. I wouldn’t be surprised, should the Toro Rosso – Honda deal become a reality, that Honda gets their act together during 2018 and in 2019 Red Bull uses their PU’s and wins the championship.

    • + 0
    • Sep 5 2017 - 11:27
    • It's hilarious and amusing at the same time you arm chair experts have crystal balls into 2018 and 2019 already. While in the real world Honda had 3 years and did jack diddly squat, that's what. There is no evidence to suggest Honda will do anything in 2018 similar to what was proclaimed in the prior years. Toro Rosso are well come to rot in a corner with these engines if it can help Mclaren get far better Renault engines.

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2017 - 11:57
    • fzrniko

      Posts: 11

      @McLaren fan - thing is, goober, that McLaren has pooed all over Honda from the get go and has continued to sabotage their development, from ridiculous "size zero" and forcing Honda to change their architecture, to forcing to enter f1 earlier than Honda wanted, to changing oil supplier, to restricting supplying of teams and gathering data at 1/3 the rate other teams did. Add to that the at least 2 year head start other manufacturers has in developing their PUs and it's no wonder the deficit, sizzelchest. And to suggest no development, well, that is just a stupid comment because although Honda McLaren is still behind, the gap is closing. Look at the numbers. FIAs rules and McLaren have hindered Honda more than anything. So good luck with that Renault PU.

      • + 1
      • Sep 6 2017 - 13:11
    • @FZRNIKO, thing is, you obviously have no clue about development on automotive side especially in racing. The chassis is designed around the engine. The engine homologation happened well in advance before Honda started their first year in F1 on their return. 'Size Zero' is pure marketing, there was nothing "zero" about it. Did you clowns expect a car with no bodywork and no side pods just because it was called "size zero"? LOL what an idiot you are, I mean really man grow some brain cells. FIA regulations are very tight on how much you can push. This is small window for every box in the regs, the box being the segment portion of a car in the development regs. The Box has both minimum and maximum size. Yeah not exactly size zero now is it? This size zero is as good as any 3rd rate commercial on TV. Really, you need to be very stupid to buy into all that marketing speak. There was nothing impressive about the chassis, it was a subpar chassis designed around a subpar engine. Engine developments directly impact the packaging and how much you tailor the front end and then the backend for the whole project. This is why if your engine is a turd your chassis is also a turd as a result. What Mclaren are confident about is that they have enough ideas to implement to make their car much better than it actually is at the moment. There is a reason why Alonso keeps saying he'd win races with the Mercedes engine. Sure he wont win races but he can actually put up a decent fight for podiums had they switched to a better engine before the season started because it directly impacts on their development process in the following races after race 1.

      FIA rules have not hindered infact have been relaxed so much to the point that the Token system effectively scrapped to allow total development before the season 2017 and still Honda are upto their old excuses. the problem is not with Mclaren, FIA or F1 as it is at the moment, the problem is deep inside Honda back at home base. If they can't sort their shit out then they don't deserve to be in F1. The F1 division of Honda being an embarrassment to the rest of Honda is one thing but ruining the image of F1 is another and right now they are a disgrace to F1 and shouldn't be allowed to compete anymore. Toro Rosso must be getting some sizable cash compensations to take this turd off of Mclaren ROFLMAO. No one in their right minds will want to accept a crippling blow like that. I honestly expect Toro Rosso to accept common sense looking at the long term and say F***off to Honda and Mclaren. Mclaren will be stuck with Honda turds until the contract runs out or Honda voluntarily quits to end their misery.

      The gap is closing? By 'closing' you mean retiring both cars on a regular basis due to various failures? The only reason why they are getting into Q3 sometimes is due to the engine changes and penalties that don't affect them anymore than meaningless 56 -64 grid penalties they incur at a race weekend. Honda are throwing money at the problem and nothing is changing. Zero progress.

      Arm chair experts will advice Mclaren to stick with Honda, that's because its not their time or money being burned. When you learn to run a business you will know the pains.

      • + 0
      • Sep 7 2017 - 06:51
    • fzrniko

      Posts: 11

      McLaren fan are you a douche bag all the time or just sometimes? By the sound of it you must be like lead chassis design engineer with McLaren or are you just as your name suggests, just a fan? The latter no doubt. Wrap your tiny head around this, dumbshit, "size zero" played a huge role in the design of the PU. It was squeezed to limit space and the turbo was made smaller than they planned to accommodate the tight confinement.

      • + 0
      • Sep 10 2017 - 05:07
  • fzrniko

    Posts: 11

    As the adage goes, be careful what you ask for. If FIA would allow, like motogp does, unlimited testing to help develop less-successful teams, Honda would catch up quicker than they are and would compete for podiums. I hope Honda can go to STR and FIA can give them unlimited testing. That would be ideal. Honda will figure something out, but it can't given current testing rules.

    • + 0
    • Sep 6 2017 - 13:15

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