McLaren: No more Indy

If that is the case, good for them. But I don't understand why they would not announce it before the car is unveiled.

But its good for them and good for the sport.

 

You assume Honda won't, can't or doesn't want to improve. I don't buy it. The Japanese are all about saving face. They will work 3 times harder now after last year.

Last year's engine was a complete new design. AND -- McLaren gave them the technical packaging and performance specs. Now they are free from McLaren's demands. I'm guessing you'll see a big improvement this year simply because Honda cannot endure it anymore and leaving F1 as a failure is not an option.

Honda wants to be in RB cars eventually. The only way to do this is get TR competitive and punching above their weight.

McLaren was more interested in keeping Alonso than they were their best sponsor.

 

Please spare me.... how long did Ferrari sit in the wilderness? All of the 80's? Should they have quit?

Honda hadn't made an F1 engine since the Senna era. Surely Ron Dennis would have believed it would take them 2 or 3 seasons to get competitive when he signed that 10 year deal of FREE ENGINES and half of his driver's salaries being paid.

Now McLaren has to buy the 3 best engine on the grid themselves and pay for their drivers themselves. They are going backwards.

WHY? Because Alonso was going to quit. McLaren gave up 7 more years of a Honda contract to keep Alonso happy for one or 2 years.

Dumb....

Alonso is already saying he's not sure he "will win" this year. He is just promising to "do better". Such confidence!

Then again, he's running in another series to make himself happy. So much for focusing on the job at McLaren...

 

I think Ron Dennis felt Mercedes would never allow McLaren to beat their own team so he had to go elsewhere. The situation with Renault is different. Even now Renault is saying McLaren will be better than their own team this year. They aren't expecting much.

If you watch the Amazon video on the last Mac / Honda season, it's pretty clear that neither McLaren nor Honda were ready for the season to start. Having a completely new engine (at the insistence of McLaren) really put them behind.

Honda didn't decide to completely make a new engine last year and then "tell McLaren". McLaren told them it was a dead end and they had to start over.

Everyone likes to put 100% of the blame on Honda, including McLaren. The truth is -- they were both at fault.

And it was Honda's failure in their second season that set up all the problems, including Alonso's last year in his McLaren contract and his desire to leave.

 

What we all forget is that when the Honda deal was first announced, EVERYONE on Fchat said McLaren was going to do great.

They got free exclusive engines for 10 years -- no one else could run with them unlike the other teams. They got 100% of the technical support from Honda and half of their drivers salaries paid (including the highest paid guy in Alonso who Honda wanted even if Ron Dennis didn't), and Honda has outstanding success with McLaren in the past in the "turbo" era. The McLaren /Honda team seemed invincible to the point where the other teams complained Honda was getting around the testing rules by not officially announcing their joining F1.

To kill that contract after only 2 and half years seems foolish. Honda failed but it wasn't from a lack of trying or money being spent. It's just not easy to make an F1 engine against the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari or even Renault.

And to say "Honda screwed up 3 year therefore they will always screw up" defies logic. If that's the case, no F1 team can ever win again other than Mercedes. Ferrari was dead in the water for so long they were considered just another mid-pack team