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[Marklar]

Motorsport.com‏Verified account @Motorsport  43s44 seconds ago

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Breaking: McLaren and Honda agree to end partnership http://www.motorsport.com/all/article/?id=952183 … #F1

 

 

Sources close to the deal have confirmed to Motorsport.com that McLaren has agreed a three-year deal with Renault, taking it to the end of the current F1 engine regulations cycle in 2020.
It is understood McLaren will get parity on power unit specification with the works Renault team and fellow customer Red Bull, while Toro Rosso's deal to switch from Renault to Honda – freeing up a supply for McLaren – has also been signed.

Not official yet, but multiple sources are expecting confirmation shortly. So time to finally move it into its own thread.

Edited by Marklar, 12 September 2017 - 16:53.

[TheRacingElf]

#BelieveinMcLarenHonda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wait...

[RedBaron]

Expecting Honda to definitely get it right in 2018 then.

[dau]

Wow! What a shock! Who would have expected that?

[Raziel]

I don't know what to say...

[Ellios]

Can we get a poll going on this as well ?

 

Good for McLaren ?

 

Wrong decision ?

 

Will Renault be any better for McLaren ?

 

Personally I'm sad it didn't work out, I'm sure many others are as well

Edited by Ellios, 12 September 2017 - 16:56.

[MastaKink]

Damn shame but had to happen at this point.

[Sonic2k]

I feel sad and happy at the same time..  

[kevinracefan]

Expecting Honda to definitely get it right in 2018 then.

torro rosso climbs into podium land, LOL...

[PedroDiCasttro]

Good for McLaren, naturaly. Especially if the engines get simpler by the introduction of the new engine regulations in 2021, which will allow McLaren to build their own.

[Maustinsj]

I never saw that coming.

[FullThrottleF1]

Good for McLaren if they parity.

[Requiem84]

I guess we now all hope Honda builds a Merc killer in 2018, leaving Mclaren with a dire and unreliable Renault PU. 

 

At the same time, will be interesting to finally see whether the Mcl chassis can keep up with the RB chassis. No more excuses from the design team. 

[Stephane]

So we went from "imminent annoucement" to "annoucement to come" ?

[genius83]

So Alonso's rambling works and they move from the "GP2 Engine" to what??

[Alfisti]

Expecting Honda to definitely get it right in 2018 then.

 

You watch them release a ****ing rocketship engine. It'd be hilarious. 

[CSF]

So long term... thinking?

 

To keep a 36 year old driver happy.

 

To stop being a manufacture team.

 

To go from the 4th best engine to the 3rd best.

 

I just don't get it. 

[RainyAfterlifeDaylight]

[VolvoT5]

So I presume Alonso will also resign for another 2 or 3 years?

 

It would be absolutely hilarious if Honda now finally get their act together and it is Red Bull sitting pretty with a works engine deal come 2019..... can't be totally out of the question given McLaren and Alonso's history when it comes to making good long term decisions. 

 

But really... McLaren are losing a lot of money to jump from a terrible engine supplier to a merely bad one...   and they will have nowhere to hide if they are not competing with Red Bull / Renault next year. 

[PedroDiCasttro]

So Alonso's rambling works and they move from the "GP2 Engine" to what??

They move from a "GP2 engine" to a "F1 winner engine", of course. Did you forget that Red Bull has won in this season already, as it did last year?

Edited by PedroDiCasttro, 12 September 2017 - 17:10.

[CSF]

They move from a "GP2 engine" to a "F1 winner engine", of course. Did you forget that Red Bull has won in this season already, as it did last year?

 

A Renault engine hasn't won a "normal" Grand Prix since Vettel 2013 Brazil... 

[genius83]

They move from a "GP2 engine" to a "F1 winner engine", of course. Did you forget that Red Bull has won in this season already, as it did last year?

Nope, not forget that but does not know that they are getting their chassis design by RedBull for 2018 too as part of this deal.

[TomNokoe]

1. Merc
2. Ferrari
3. ...
4. ...
5. ...
6. Renault customer
7. Honda

Congrats going from 7th worst engine to the 6th!

And losing factory status!

[Requiem84]

They move from a "GP2 engine" to a "F1 winner engine", of course. Did you forget that Red Bull has won in this season already, as it did last year?

 

Who knows - perhaps RB would have won with a Honda engine this year. 

[Owen]

Massive sense of relief.

[Maustinsj]

I feel sorry and elated at the same time.

[AustinF1]

So long term... thinking?

 

To keep a 36 year old driver happy.

 

To stop being a manufacture team.

 

To go from the 4th best engine to the 3rd best.

 

I just don't get it. 

 

Wow...where to begin?

Edited by AustinF1, 12 September 2017 - 17:16.

[Disgrace]

Expecting Honda to definitely get it right in 2018 then.

 

I think we can rest easy. They are out of their depth and bolstering expenditure won't help. They burned half a billion in 2008 for 14 points. Even when engine regulations were less complex, they couldn't compete as Brawn found out when he switched to Mercedes for 2009.

 

Honda can count themselves lucky that Red Bull are in the uniquely privileged position of owning a second team they can deploy as a test mule. Nobody serious would touch them otherwise. I feel sorry for the Toro Rosso mechanics though - having Honda engines is an effective pay cut given the work they'll have to do from next season.

[Diablobb81]

Make a thread when it's confirmed.

What an abject failure for 3 years.

Edited by Diablobb81, 12 September 2017 - 17:20.

[ViMaMo]

And Honda will be amazing from 2018, mark my words.    It will be so amazing, just spectacular. Pitch forks out for FA. 

Edited by ViMaMo, 12 September 2017 - 17:22.

[VolvoT5]

They move from a "GP2 engine" to a "F1 winner engine", of course. Did you forget that Red Bull has won in this season already, as it did last year?

Yeah but come on, those wins came in unusual circumstances... races that Mercedes/Ferrari threw away rather than Red Bull winning on outright pace. 

[AustinF1]

So, iirc it was last Tuesday that Minardi said the deal would be announced within 1 week. Kudos to him...

[Stephane]

be careful, no deal has really been anounced.

[AustinF1]

Yeah but come on, those wins came in unusual circumstances... races that Mercedes/Ferrari threw away rather than Red Bull winning on outright pace. 

...and where did McLaren & Honda end up in those races?

[GrumpyYoungMan]

So long term... thinking?

To keep a 36 year old driver happy.

To stop being a manufacture team.

To go from the 4th best engine to the 3rd best.

I just don't get it.

Honestly?

[Boing 2]

Could go either way but could work out OK. I think Renault will get its engine right before Honda and if they have genuine parity with the works team then you're good to go. They have a chassis baseline with a known top-tier car in the Red Bull and Renault now have 3 top flight teams feeding data to the engine dept. 

[superden]

Is anyone still defending Honda's effort?

[dierome87]

Understandable decision. This was rapidly becoming a threat to McLaren's survival.

 

The McLaren Honda deal seemed in theory like an excellent plan to bring McLaren back to the top.  It's dissapointing that it didn't work out.

 

Now, with what is basically a three year transition period, I would be surprised if McLaren is in contention for a WCC (or even the top 3) within the next 5 years. McLaren must start the hunt now for a new works PU deal or to develop a plan to build its own engines. 

 

It will all become more painful if/when Honda comes good with Red Bull...

Edited by dierome87, 12 September 2017 - 17:34.

[smr]

Possibly the saddest partnership I've ever seen in any Sport, ever, then. Really sad the once mighty partnership couldn't be realised.

 

The one good thing though about having a Renault engine is equal engine parity with Renault and Red Bull - so a straight pure fight between Red Bull and McLaren in the chassis stakes, that's gonna be an immense aerodynamic development war. Newey vs Prodromou!  

 

[kevinracefan]

Is anyone still defending Honda's effort?

indefensible...

 

but I see improvement..  not sure the Ren-No will be an upgrade..

[Vielleicht]

I have mixed feelings. I'm glad the McHonda embarrassment is coming to and end, but I have a gut feeling McRenault will be a disappointment.

[ArrowsLivery]

McLaren's descent to midfield obscurity continues.

[FullOppositeLock]

I applaud Renault for having the balls to get in bed with McLaren. Their works team will have their work cut out beating not one but two teams with higher pedigree and similar if not bigger budgets.

[Boing 2]

I've said it elsewhere but Renault have had 38 podiums under these engine regs including 6 race wins. Ferrari, including this years title fight have 42 podiums including 7 race wins by my reckoning.

 

Honda have 0.

 

This isn't a small step forward.

[RainyAfterlifeDaylight]

2018 will have all the answers.

[EthanM]

Wish them well, but can't shake the feeling they are following on Williams' footsteps to permanent mediocrity, just 10 or so years later.

[MasterOfCoin]

Is anyone still defending Honda's effort?

[dau]

So Alonso's rambling works and they move from the "GP2 Engine" to what??

To the manufacturer of the actual GP2 engine.

[GoldenColt]

What are the odds for a Toro Rosso World Championship in 2018, with Renault building an engine that's missing one cylinder? I'm asking for a friend of mine...

[wingwalker]

You watch them release a ****ing rocketship engine. It'd be hilarious. 

My money is on them building monster of an engine for 2018 but the Honda board is going to pull the plug on F1 project so entire thing will be sold for pennies and raced under a different name.

Meanwhile Renault engine is going to suck balls, because Alonso.

Edited by wingwalker, 12 September 2017 - 17:45.