Honda to walk the aisle in 2015 with McLaren only

[wsrgo]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

Are you saying you think Honda will be their title sponsor as well, or something more permanent?

[wsrgo]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

Are you saying you think Honda will be their title sponsor as well, or something more permanent?

Erm....read the article?

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

Are you saying you think Honda will be their title sponsor as well, or something more permanent?

Erm....read the article?

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

[wsrgo]

Are you saying you think Honda will be their title sponsor as well, or something more permanent?

Erm....read the article?

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

Er, no, I meant that they're not going to supply engines to anyone else.

[kevinbotz]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

To answer your question, some of the prevailing rumors at the beginning of the year regarding McLaren's sponsorship circumstances did suggest that Honda had been aggressively lobbying McLaren to forego a traditional title sponsor and allocate more sponsorship space to Honda themselves instead. It's likely that Honda wish to avoid the brand identification problems that Renault have suffered with regard to Red Bull, with the Renault brand marginalized firstly by Red Bull themselves, then by the inclusion of Infiniti as a title sponsor.

In addition, considering that Honda's financial package, purportedly valued at 100 million GBP with driver's wages and engines included, is effectively tantamount to a major title sponsor in itself, the notion that McLaren may yield to Honda's pressure and run without a title sponsor for the duration of their partnership is far from implausible.

[Salamander]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

... we already knew this, did we not?

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

To answer your question, some of the prevailing rumors at the beginning of the year regarding McLaren's sponsorship circumstances did suggest that Honda had been aggressively lobbying McLaren to forego a traditional title sponsor and allocate more sponsorship space to Honda themselves instead. It's likely that Honda wish to avoid the brand identification problems that Renault have suffered with regard to Red Bull, with the Renault brand marginalized firstly by Red Bull themselves, then by the inclusion of Infiniti as a title sponsor.

In addition, considering that Honda's financial package, purportedly valued at 100 million GBP with driver's wages and engines included, is effectively tantamount to a major title sponsor in itself, the notion that McLaren may yield to Honda's pressure and run without a title sponsor for the duration of their partnership is far from implausible.

Yes, this is what I was wondering about. I haven't been up on the rumors about this partnership, so I thank you for your input.

[wsrgo]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

... we already knew this, did we not?

Honda did not categorically rule out supplying other teams at the time. They have done so now.

[kevinbotz]

Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai has said that McLaren will be their only partner in 2015.

I hear wedding bells.

... we already knew this, did we not?

Honda did not categorically rule out supplying other teams at the time. They have done so now.

It was public knowledge from the announcement of the partnership back in March that Honda held an exclusive contract with McLaren for 2015. Note that Mr. Arai also did not rule out customer teams for 2015 in the FIA press conference.

"If teams want to use our engine or power unit, we can deliver after year 2016 but right now there are no plans."

[mario]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

To answer your question, some of the prevailing rumors at the beginning of the year regarding McLaren's sponsorship circumstances did suggest that Honda had been aggressively lobbying McLaren to forego a traditional title sponsor and allocate more sponsorship space to Honda themselves instead. It's likely that Honda wish to avoid the brand identification problems that Renault have suffered with regard to Red Bull, with the Renault brand marginalized firstly by Red Bull themselves, then by the inclusion of Infiniti as a title sponsor.

In addition, considering that Honda's financial package, purportedly valued at 100 million GBP with driver's wages and engines included, is effectively tantamount to a major title sponsor in itself, the notion that McLaren may yield to Honda's pressure and run without a title sponsor for the duration of their partnership is far from implausible.

Yes, this is what I was wondering about. I haven't been up on the rumors about this partnership, so I thank you for your input.

The Infiniti branding deal is a bit strange though, because in a roundabout way Renault does still benefit from the marketing (through Renault's partnership with Nissan, who in turn are investing in Infiniti).

The deal with Honda, though, does seem to be what McLaren have been angling for over the past few years - a manufacturer partner they can ally with who is prepared to pump money into the team. McLaren's financial statements have already mentioned in the past that the deal would "transform" McLaren's accounts, and it is something they badly need.
After all, the withdrawal of support from Mercedes has hit their finances (their accounts showed a fall in income as Mercedes withdrew its backing and instead asked McLaren to pay for engines) and their driver line up (given Hamilton's reported belief that the new engine format would benefit manufacturer teams, a belief that seems to be coming true). You also have to wonder whether they would be in a position to lure Prodromou across if they weren't receiving backing from Honda - would he have been prepared to take the gamble on switching teams?

[CoopsII]

I like this move, it suggests they're mega serious about launching an attack on the titles and dont wish, at the moment anyway, to be distracted by supplying other teams.

[go_Rubens]

Honda is playing the game very smart. Although I actually expected this, as in the past, when they returned with different teams, they started out with 1 team to build a good engine and then started selling engines to more customers. This seems to have always been quite a good tactic for them. Look at their 80s return, and the 00s return to a certain extent, based on engine improvement.

[Wallio]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I read the article and I thought you might have been implying something more than a works supplier relationship.

To answer your question, some of the prevailing rumors at the beginning of the year regarding McLaren's sponsorship circumstances did suggest that Honda had been aggressively lobbying McLaren to forego a traditional title sponsor and allocate more sponsorship space to Honda themselves instead. It's likely that Honda wish to avoid the brand identification problems that Renault have suffered with regard to Red Bull, with the Renault brand marginalized firstly by Red Bull themselves, then by the inclusion of Infiniti as a title sponsor.

In addition, considering that Honda's financial package, purportedly valued at 100 million GBP with driver's wages and engines included, is effectively tantamount to a major title sponsor in itself, the notion that McLaren may yield to Honda's pressure and run without a title sponsor for the duration of their partnership is far from implausible.

This is also why they have no sponsor this year as well........

[Jocke1]

Having just watched the Japanese Grand Prix Friday press conference I can officially announce that Yasuhisa Arai is one cool cat.
He's hilarious in his mannerisms and replies to the media

[Nin13]

New rumours say that Honda are 3 months behind schedule

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns29015.html

The report claims Honda is about three months behind schedule in the development of
its first turbo V6 'power unit', having encountered problems even greater than those
struck by Renault as the troubled French marque prepared for 2014.
The specialist Autosprint said Honda's development V6 currently consumes too much
fuel and produces too little power.

If this is true Mclaren will walk away from best engine Mercedes to into one which is not so good.

You would expect Mclaren to use their smart people from 2007 spygate scandal to help Honda copy Mercedes engine.
Neither they can do that or make good car. Beaten by factory Mercedes and Williams and being matched by Force India. Honda will have to make something spectacular to get mclaren back.

[Salamander]

You would expect Mclaren to use their smart people from 2007 spygate scandal to help Honda copy Mercedes engine.

Yes, because Mercedes will just let them do that.

[Nin13]

You would expect Mclaren to use their smart people from 2007 spygate scandal to help Honda copy Mercedes engine.

Yes, because Mercedes will just let them do that.

I'm standing up. who else joining me in a conspiracy theory.

[roblo97]

You would expect Mclaren to use their smart people from 2007 spygate scandal to help Honda copy Mercedes engine.

Yes, because Mercedes will just let them do that.

I'm standing up. who else joining me in a conspiracy theory.

Just no

[Jocke1]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ville ... aces-in-f1

FORMULA 1 BREAKING NEWS
Villeneuve: Alonso "may not win any more races" in F1


2015-04-25
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Fernando Alonso might have blown his chance of ever winning a third title by switching to McLaren-Honda this year.

The 1997 world champion said that Alonso's decision to walk away from Ferrari, for the burgeoning McLaren-Honda project, was an error.

Alonso's replacement Sebastian Vettel has already won a race for Ferrari in only his second start with the team, and is currently third in the championship standings. Alonso's best result has been 11th.

"Leaving Ferrari was clearly a mistake," Villeneuve told the Spanish sports daily AS.

"I think Alonso would have fought for the title with this Ferrari. With this move, Alonso may have ended his career – he may not win any more titles or even races.

"He could have spent three or four more years with them and then retired or gone to McLaren, if he wanted to win with them as he did in 2007."

Doubts over 'slow culture' at Honda

Villeneuve, who raced in F1 with Honda power for four years, says he has little faith that the Japanese manufacturer can quickly rise to the front of the grid.

"I worked with them," he said, "and know it can be a very slow culture and one that prevents them from doing certain things."

[watka]

Do we still think that there is a chance that Alonso will only be with McLaren for a year? Given his comments after the testing incident, he's not exactly busting a gut to fit in with the McLaren brand, which in turn is not exactly conductive to a long term relationship. Pure speculation, but with Rosberg maybe underperforming at Mercedes, he could be eyeing up that drive? Lauda and Wolff made big noises last year about being able to manage 2 stars in 1 team. If Hamilton continues to dominate Rosberg this year, will Mercedes really want to establish clear number 1 and number 2 driver slots or would they want someone to challenge Rosberg?

A lot of "ifs" and "buts" there, ha!

[DemocalypseNow]

Do we still think that there is a chance that Alonso will only be with McLaren for a year? Given his comments after the testing incident, he's not exactly busting a gut to fit in with the McLaren brand, which in turn is not exactly conductive to a long term relationship. Pure speculation, but with Rosberg maybe underperforming at Mercedes, he could be eyeing up that drive? Lauda and Wolff made big noises last year about being able to manage 2 stars in 1 team. If Hamilton continues to dominate Rosberg this year, will Mercedes really want to establish clear number 1 and number 2 driver slots or would they want someone to challenge Rosberg?

A lot of "ifs" and "buts" there, ha!

I've been unwavering in my position that he will give up and leave. Look at the typical lead time between the beginning of a new "project" and a world championship to pay for it. For Mercedes, it took 5 years. For Ferrari (Schumi era), it took 5 years. For Red Bull, it took 7 years. 5 years from now he will have turned 38. If he sticks with this project and it doesn't deliver a WDC, then he isn't getting another one. Given the rocky start to his McLaren career, it wouldn't surprise me if he bailed out and went for a more short-term outlook, as long as the Mercedes seat opened up. He has said time and time again that his issue in 2007 was not with Hamilton, but with a perceived McLaren bias towards their homegrown talent. Of course, this may be a barefaced lie, we can't know for sure, but I don't think there's any "fear" that he would be defeated by Hamilton on his end.

I'm pretty certain he'd rather retire at 35 with an extra WDC on his CV than keep going until almost 40 without another title. He will move to Mercedes next year if circumstances allow it. He wouldn't have bothered going to McLaren in the first place if he'd been able to displace Rosberg at the end of last season.

[mario]

Do we still think that there is a chance that Alonso will only be with McLaren for a year? Given his comments after the testing incident, he's not exactly busting a gut to fit in with the McLaren brand, which in turn is not exactly conductive to a long term relationship. Pure speculation, but with Rosberg maybe underperforming at Mercedes, he could be eyeing up that drive? Lauda and Wolff made big noises last year about being able to manage 2 stars in 1 team. If Hamilton continues to dominate Rosberg this year, will Mercedes really want to establish clear number 1 and number 2 driver slots or would they want someone to challenge Rosberg?

A lot of "ifs" and "buts" there, ha!

I've been unwavering in my position that he will give up and leave. Look at the typical lead time between the beginning of a new "project" and a world championship to pay for it. For Mercedes, it took 5 years. For Ferrari (Schumi era), it took 5 years. For Red Bull, it took 7 years. 5 years from now he will have turned 38. If he sticks with this project and it doesn't deliver a WDC, then he isn't getting another one. Given the rocky start to his McLaren career, it wouldn't surprise me if he bailed out and went for a more short-term outlook, as long as the Mercedes seat opened up. He has said time and time again that his issue in 2007 was not with Hamilton, but with a perceived McLaren bias towards their homegrown talent. Of course, this may be a barefaced lie, we can't know for sure, but I don't think there's any "fear" that he would be defeated by Hamilton on his end.

I'm pretty certain he'd rather retire at 35 with an extra WDC on his CV than keep going until almost 40 without another title. He will move to Mercedes next year if circumstances allow it. He wouldn't have bothered going to McLaren in the first place if he'd been able to displace Rosberg at the end of last season.

The thing is, unless a space were to open up at Mercedes, where else can Alonso go that realistically offers him a chance of being competitive? He can't really go back to Ferrari, Williams are beginning to drift away from the leaders and Red Bull are in something of a downward spiral given that their engines have gone from bad to worse, whilst the remaining midfield teams cannot afford him and do not offer him a competitive seat.

Furthermore, what is to say that either Hamilton or Rosberg will be going anywhere for the near future? Mercedes seem confident that Hamilton will sign on - Lauda has indicated that he thinks it is as good as a done deal, and so has Hamilton - so it would seem that his seat may be secured fairly soon.

As for Rosberg, well, Mercedes can afford to wait with him - his contract expires in 2016, so unless Rosberg either has a disastrous dip in form or his working relationship with Mercedes turns incredibly sour, Mercedes can afford to simply wait it out until his contract expires before signing a replacement. It'd be a lot cheaper for them - they wouldn't have to pay Rosberg any compensation for breach of contract - and there would be a sense of continuity for the team too.

Realistically, I think that the soonest any driver can hope for a seat at Mercedes would be 2017 - in other words, hope that Rosberg's contract isn't extended and Mercedes are willing to hire a new driver.

Alonso probably knows that he's at McLaren for the medium haul at least, and there is the interesting question over whether Honda's engine will come good in the longer term - the layout does seem to have some very interesting packaging choices that could make it very competitive as the team develops it. We'll see what the big upgrade package McLaren are planning delivers in Barcelona, but if the team can make a large step forward, perhaps it might not be such a bad thing to be at McLaren after all.