Mclaren Honda heading for a divorce for 2018

+1

 

A front engine car doesn't compare with a mid engine one; not in my book anyway; therefore the McLaren 570S and the Mercedes AMG GT aren't competing in the same market.

It would be better for McLaren to get Customers Mercedes engine for the moment, and climb back in the teams ranking, rather than languish another year with the tail ender.

Of course McLaren has to put itself in a position where it has parity of engines, but that won't probably be before the next formula.

 

There is no correlation to road cars and what engine a branded F1 car uses.

If Mercedes don't want McLaren to use their engines, it is because of potential competition on the race track, not road car sales.
Pete

 

Bingo --- which is why McLaren wanted out of the Merc engine deal way back when.

 

At one time, McLaren was on its way to become the Mercedes team!

The relation between Mercedes and McLaren soured when Ron Dennis turned down their offer to buy a bigger stake in the team, whilst he intended to launch the road car business.

Mercedes dumped its shares in McLaren and give them notice they would be ending the F1 engine supply.

Now RD is out of the picture, so is Norbert Haug, and the obstacles to a renewed collaboration are gone.

 

Hard to see? Maybe part owner and multi-billionaire Mansour Ojeh would pony up a few hundred million dollars... or maybe owners of the other part, the Bahraini Investment Fund, could toss in a spare billion or two without even affecting their spare cash balance. It's actually very easy to see where the McLaren ownership group could come up with the funds to carry the team for many years if they wanted.

I'd bet McLaren would be very happy to move up the results and be fighting for the third podium position for the next couple of years, after their sabbatical at the back of the grid courtesy of Honda. They could spend the remaining 3 years of this engine formula with "2nd rate" Mercedes engines that will still be infinitely better than the crap Honda is giving them, while sorting out their engine solutions for the new 2021 rule set.

 

I think McLaren is losing money sticking with Honda.

They may well receive $100M from the Japanese, but with their bad performances they can't surely get much from the redistribution money pot.

They have also lost sponsorship and damaged their earning potential in that field.

The partnership with Honda has really been catastrophic by all accounts.

 

So the Porsche 911 has no competitors then? Engine location does NOT define a market segment, and that's a fact. But I get the main point, that F1 decisions don't really affect their road car business.

 

Formula one

The only sport in the world where you can get $100 million for free and still lose money!

 

Well, as a long time Porsche owner, I would say that you are right: the Porsche 911 and its derivatives have no competition! The cars are unique by their engine characteristics (flat 6), and their engine layout; there is absolutely nothing to touch them on the market and they give a completely different experience to the driver than anything else.
I am not saying they are best, or faster, or more enjoyable, or sporty, etc.., but they are completely different than any mid-engine cars, and I am not even talking about the front engine ones.

Many people just don't have a clue about cars, and chose them according to their price, image, aura, reputation, or influence by road test reviews, etc...

I had 5 different 911s over 40 years, and I am a fan of the Porsche. I don't fancy anything else, even cars 2, 3 or 4 times the price.

 

Do you prefer 2wd or awd 911's ?

 

Not to hijack this thread but I love 911's as well, the greatest post-war sportscar.

 

Never has an awd 911.

I don't see the need for it.

 

Certainly the one with the most continuous career .

Today's Carreras have still in them the DNA of the first 911 from circa 1961.

That more than 55 years ago!!

 

Yup

 

Arab countries are in a world of hurt financially.

 

If at Mclaren they're so clever and so rich then why can't they build their own engines?

And Mercedes never denied them a supply, they simply told Dennis that as he wasn't their own work team anymore they would have to pay for the PUs like everybody else. To which Dennis reached out to Honda for fresh new free engines...

 

Why should they when they have someone like Mercedes or Honda do it for them?

 

Because they want to win again.

 

Follow the MONEY

 

I did. They don't seem to go to Woking much.

 

Ron Dennis wanted to win. The current group wants to make money. Winning is only one way to make money.

 

It's a matter of resources, and McLaren is a small company compared to the big manufacturers.

 

If this is true Mayor, McLaren will be following Williams into field filler territory. You must have winning as your purpose IMO ... and it is obvious Williams just has survival, sad.
Pete

 

McLaren has lost its way in F1. I am rather pessimistic about its chance to climb back from where the team is now.

The association with Honda was maybe inevitable, but it has resulted in complete oblivion from the leader board, and a very uncertain future for the team.

McLaren may become after Ron Dennis, what Lotus became after Chapman.

If the team doesn't get back to the winners circles in the next 2 to 3 years (I don't know how they can do that), it will stop attracting big sponsors money, will not receive much from FOM money pot.
I expect the McLaren owners, Ojjeh and Co will pull the plug rather than see the team being a tail ender.