Honda bowing and asking for forgiveness ---- Honda: We didn't expect it would be this hard Honda: We didn't expect it would be this hard Honda's return to F1 as McLaren's engine partner has not gone according to plan with the Japanese company admitting they "didn't imagine that it would be this hard". There were hints of nostalgia up and down the paddock when McLaren confirmed Honda as their power unit supplier from the 2015 season onwards with many hoping it would lead to a return to the glory days. Of course there is still plenty of time to rekindle the success the two parties enjoyed during the late 80s and early 90s when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won four titles between them. But Honda is the first to concede that things have not gone according to plan so far this season with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button not only struggling at the back of the grid, but also troubled by reliability woes. Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai admits they have underestimated just how much the sport has changed. "Expectations were always going to be high because of our illustrious history with McLaren," he said. "Most of the fans have a great image of McLaren-Honda's heritage so they expected us to return to Formula One and be competitive immediately. Obviously this has not been the case.
The new McLaren-Honda F1 project looks like it reinforces the old saying...That was then, this is now.
Wasn't Mercedes struggling not too long ago too? And look at them now... Ferrari has recently improved, but they're still not winning any titles, and they've been in this game since the beginning pretty much... Time to see how things pan out...
I think it's respectable for Honda to admit it. They are not being egoistic about the situation. I just hope they can pull themselves together and have a better 2016.
Honda is interested in F1 for the R & D aspect, to showcase its technology. McLaren is in F1 to race and to win. Those are 2 different philosophies. If at the end of their cooperation, it proves that it wasn't the success they expected, Honda will say "But we learn so much", whilst McLaren will dismisss it as wasted years.
+1 Good point! That's how I see it, too. I remember watching Michael Schumacher struggle. At that time, Merc was telling us how much valuable information MS relayed back to the technicians which we see in much of the results today.
Culture clash stops Honda from poaching engineers from F1 rivals Culture clash stops Honda from poaching engineers from F1 rivals - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com "Also, we as Honda want our employees to work together with us for a long time, so when someone comes along for six months and then leaves, it is very difficult. It's not how we work." - Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai I must say that I fully agree with that.
Yeah - Battling along trying to figure out new technology that you have absolutely no experience of whatsoever by yourself is always far more sensible than employing people who already have experience of it! What's that old saying again?......Ah yes: "Pride comes before a fall!"
IMO a 2017 Redbull-Honda might be in the cards and it might be successful as Redbull have already quite a lot of resources and PU technical know-how
Meh, I think all this culture crap of "we want to do it by ourselves" really is PR crap. Does anybody remember the Hondola? Or their latest (ex-BAR) F1 team? Sooner or later they will buy the know-how if they need to.
I agree, it's not like Japanese are not known to "take inspiration" from others. OTOH I would love to see the look on Dennis' face if Honda go with Redbull and start then winning straight away with them
It possibly can happen. Let's face it, lots of parties are throwing Honda under the bus, but, in fact Mclaren's chassis isn't really great. Even with Merc power, they were mediocre at best. IIRC, the last time they won the WCC was like 1998?
