McLaren and Honda agree to terminate F1 partnership

McLaren and Honda agree to terminate F1 partnership

McLaren has reached an agreement with Honda to end their partnership from the 2018 Formula One season, according to a report by Motorsport.com.

The move comes after a string of performance and reliability issues, which is a stark contrast to dominant partnership between the two in the late 1980s. Prior to the engine deal with Honda in 2015, McLaren was engaged with Mercedes-Benz from 1995 to 2014.

Moving forward, it is reported McLaren has established a three-year deal with Renault, which will continue to the end of the current F1 engine regulations cycle in 2020.

The power units supplied by the French brand will be similar in specification with those used in Renault Sport and Red Bull Racing cars. With the McLaren-Renault deal, the team hopes to retain the services of Fernando Alonso beyond 2017, who has been pretty vocal about the team’s lack of competitiveness.

Honda will not be leaving F1 despite McLaren’s decision, as Toro Rosso is said to make the switch from Renault to the Japanese supplier next season.

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • arowana on Sep 14, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    finally.. such a relief!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
    • Honda engines were so bad that even F1 make fun of their misery with help from Alonso, their own driver.

      Their engines fail so much that it becomes a joke. Very funny if you are not a fan of Honda but it must hurt a lot for Vtec AhBeng and Rempits who follow F1.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 6
  • Hok Aloh on Sep 14, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    FINALLY!!!
    Hopefully the new partnership can make McLaren more competitive, and fight for the title.
    Enough of the sentimentality from the past, McLaren-Honda second coming already doomed from the first race already.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • Honda copied Porsche’s winning engine and basically cheated their way to many wins during their stint with McLaren in the 80’s. This time they were found out and failed miserably….cheaters and conman will always fail in the end.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 7
      • But basher says its better to copy and success than try ownself and learn.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • Not Toyota Fan on Sep 14, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    Not surprising. Honda is no longer the engineering innovative company that it was back in the 80s. The corporate culture of stifling R&D these 2 decades has decimated what engineering edge they had.

    It’s only with this new CEO that Honda is trying to get its mojo back.

    There is a good article by Reuters “How Honda lost its mojo”. Read that to understand how Honda got to where it is today.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • Jimmy on Sep 14, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    Thumbs up for McLaren.

    Imagine Aston Martin partners with Toyota, and we suddenly see James Bond starts using Supra.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • Karma binti Kamelia on Sep 14, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    Maybe this is karma….for cheating lots of Malaysian from their hard earned money for buying their low spec and expensive Honda City, CRV, etc ??

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 2
  • Leonardo on Sep 15, 2017 at 8:24 am

    I remember Alonso shouting “F3! F3!” into his team radio. He was referring to the engine powered Honda compared to the other F1 teams. Such was his frustration. And no one can blame the 2 times world champion.
    Given a good car and engine, he could give Hamilton and Vettel a run for their money. Let’s hope he still wants to stick around next year.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • ex-VGM staff on Sep 15, 2017 at 9:27 am

      the reason Alonso became world champion in 2005 and 2006 is due to only reason – FIA new strategy back then of not allowing tyre change during the race unless it rained. It was Michelin which was superior (against Bridgstone) and not Alonso alone (nor Alonso and Renault). all F1 drivers are almost as fast as each other provided they have a good car. For example look at Jensen Button – he had raced for years and was nothing. many times spent his life as backmarkers too. but suddenly became world champion in 2009

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
      • You mean to say Micheal Schumarcher had a lousy Ferrari car in 2006 when Alonso beat him at Bahrain on the way to become world champion?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
 

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