Because Honda isn't that at all. They admitted earlier this year that being stuck in their ways had caused their cars to become even more stale and that they were working to change it. Then you have Formula 1. They fibbed about power increases. They also fibbed about reliability improvements. They also didn't deliver on upgrades. They admitted more than once that they greatly underestimated this whole undertaking. When the track suits the McLaren, the McLaren shows it is a chassis that isn't half bad. When the track suits the powerplant, the McLaren fumbles, falters, and DNFs. Honda should focus on shutting their mouth and actually delivering an engine that isn't an international embarrassment. They have no ground to stand on right now.
When it comes to time lines and schedules and culture, I would take Mclaren over Honda in this current formula. Honda's been outta-da-loop. Honda should conform to Mclaren and not the other way around. I realize Honda pays most of the bills but at what cost; they are an embarrasement right now. Also realizing that Honda came into this formula with nothing......but 3 years already.
I'm sure McLaren is glad to see the back of Honda. Renault may not be on the same level with Ferrari and Mercedes, but Red Bull don't seem to do too bad with it. We will see next year if Woking is able to regain some ground on the opposition and finish with a better ranking.
If anything, Honda will finally have better livery, even if they're not at the front end of the grid. I do hope for their sake, that PU makes more power and has more reliability
My guess is Alonso will stay with McLaren but they will cut half of his salary. It's the half Honda was paying for. I still think this is the dumbest and most short sided move in F1 ever. Renault wants to rebuild its own team. Every time a McLaren finishes ahead of them it's going to be completely embarrassing in France. McLaren is now paying for the third best engine in the grid. I won't disagree Honda has had reliability problems. But Renault hasn't???? Does McLaren seriously believe their chassis is that much better than RB? If it isn't then they are now competing with Force India instead of Toro Rosso. Wow. Gee and it only costed them $100 million from Honda who are now their competitor!
Renault doesn't expect to become a top team for a few years anyway, so getting beaten by McLaren (if and when it happens) will not be seen as a humiliation.
Pretty sure oil companies have played a major role in this swap of engines. Exxon was with Honda until last year and with Red Bull Toro Rosso from this. BP is is already with Mclaren and Renault at the same time.
I can't believe these changes and now having Aston be the sponsor for RBR. They don't have any money! What are they really going to add?