SAUBER-HONDA

Honda set for Sauber deal despite McLaren struggles as team EXPANDS F1 operation | F1 | Sport | Express.co.uk

 

Sauber going from Ferrari to ... Honda ?

Jumping out of the frying pan into the fire !

Really hard to believe.

 

Oh good! Someone for Alonso to race with in 18th place!

 

Thats a complete 180 from an engine perspective......Now the money aspect....free engines, money for payroll, all the perks that come lets say ala Ron Dennis's masterstroke deal with Honda????

 

A different take from another source:

Sauber has held talks with Honda about 2018 - Formula 1 - Eurosport British

 

Lol

 

Honda seeing that the Mclaren is showing signs of improvement,go with Sauber to ensure they finish last one way or another.

 

Why not? They can't drop further back. A 2018 Honda surely permits more opportunity than a last year's Ferrari motor.
And ontop massive backing from Honda or at least not paying for motors for a while.
Add to that, that they will be direct partners to Honda, not purchasing what was built for another car.

All promising, if you ask me. Sauber could benefit big time from Honda being so miserable for the last to years. If Honda is committed to a future in F1, they surely are committed to one day building a suitable PU.

I would like to see Sauber with a strong partner and I would like to see a strong Sauber team with a strong Honda PU. I would also like to see a strong McLaren back with the front of the pack.

 

+1 good points.

 

Kaltenborn at Sauber tries to deny the deal, saying nothing will change in 2017.
Maybe there won't be no engine swap this season, and Sauber will start to be Honda-powered (and financed) only in 2018.

Where will that leave McLaren is the big unknown at the moment. Will they "share" the Honda engine with Sauber after suffering 3 years of development with it, or will they have another engine.

 

What are they smoking? Now they will also have to worry about engine problems in addition to chassis and aero.

 

I have to say Monisha appears to be clueless, how and why she is running a F1 team is beyond me. Perhaps she could replace Todt?

 

Let them have each other. Both equally inept, they're a match made in heaven.

Motorsport says Honda and Merc are both on the table for Sauber.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sauber-considering-honda-mercedes-engines-for-f1-2018-887902/?s=1

 

The Sauber - Honda deal has been confirmed today: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-confirms-sauber-f1-engine-deal-for-2018-900064/

Interestingly, there's no mention of any thanks to Ferrari, who in the last couple of years have at least made it possible for Sauber to remain in F1, despite their financial problems due to a lack of sponsors.

Whilst this deal will allow Sauber to run a more up to date power-unit, if Honda keep struggling with their power-units into 2018 and beyond (as they have since 2015), then this deal could actually spell the end of Sauber.

I wonder if part of this situation has come about because Ferrari are tired of having to spend time and energy on having to keep running out of date power-units for Sauber? Apart from some small revenue, supplying year old power-units is of little real interest to Ferrari as they are no longer of any relevance to their own power-units.

 

Has to be free engines from Honda.

Reckon Honda wants their boy Matu****a in the seat.

 

Totally agree.

It may be that Honda get their act together and it turns out to be a great deal for Sauber.

By the same token though, there is a massive gamble element to it for the Swiss team, where, if the Honda power-unit continue to be as poor as the 2015~2017 power-units have been, then they will be guaranteed to be "out of the points also-rans", who then struggle to get sponsors on-board, and they will become F1's new Manor Racing.

The harsh reality is, without some sort of special engine deal being in place (discounted year old engines, or a free supply of engines), Sauber cannot really afford to compete in F1 any more!

Their performances were poor even when they had an up to date engine in the car, and have got worse with cheaper year old engines, the sponsors have been leaving the team in their droves, new sponsors aren't interested in being linked with the team, and now they are hoping Honda will give them a life-line to remain in F1.

Today's announcement is being hailed by Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn as though this Honda deal is the second coming of Christ, the answer to all their prayers, but based on Honda's recent record, all I can see is the vultures starting to circle up in the sky!

 

The way RBR thanked Reno?

 

Honda simply have to get their **** together. They cannot grow the number of teams they supply if they continue to be below par.

I've heard they are now hiring external resources so by 2018 they should be considerably better, but I am not expecting any great improvements this year. I see this only happening after they start again with a completely new engine. I believe this is part of the problem with this years PU, ie. they have kept trying to make a piece of **** work well. Scrap it Honda, scrap it and start again.

Pete

 

Without Ferrari agreeing to supply year old engines a couple of years back, Sauber were gone!

They were desperate, with no money to spare and Ferrari threw them a life line to keep going.

They didn't have to do it for Sauber, but they gave the Swiss team their only chance to remain in F1, so a little thank you to Ferrari wouldn't have gone amiss.

I'm sure there will be some sort of thank you later on, but it could have been included in today's statement because Sauber owe Ferrari a lot as I see things!

 

It wasn't Monisha that typed that article, it was a journalist. She may well have explicitly thanked Ferrari but they didn't bother to fill it into the article...

 

Sink or swim isn't it. Sauber can't afford finishing last much, Mclaren sort of can (more money).

Every since Monisha has come at the helm of that team they've been leaping from disaster to disaster...

 

More like into the kiln!

This will end in tears....

 

Poor Sauber.

 

this is exactly what I was thinking...I wouldn't be surprised if Honda is *giving* them money to take their engines at this point.

 

From a 1 year old Ferrari engine to a fresh new Honda one, every other session. Seems a pretty good deal to me!