Abu Dhabi: Last three seasons have been short of a nightmare for Honda at the Formula One. Their engines have not been able to power the McLaren enough to give them any chance to take a shot at the Championship.
To put them back where they belong, the McLaren has already made announcement of ending their partnership with Honda at the end of this season.
Though it is a blow for Honda’s aspirations, the final race will be a milestone for the Japanese motor giant as they will be making their 400th Grand Prix start at the Eithad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
They first appeared in F1 as a constructor from 1964-68, returned as an engine supplier from 1983-92 and again from 2000-08 (as a constructor from 2006-08) and finally from 2015 till date. This will be the last of 140 starts with the McLaren team from 1988-92 and 2015-2017.
McLaren currently have one more point than what they scored in the 2015 season, but they are the team’s worst two seasons in F1 since 1980, the season before the team was bought by Ron Dennis.
Ironically, Fernando Alonso was fastest in Q1 at Silverstone — the only time in the entire 2017 season that any session has been led by anyone outside of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
By the Mexican Grand Prix this season, McLaren had used a staggering 109 engine elements across their two cars and while champions Mercedes had used just 44, four inside the permitted season allocation.
In Brazil, Alonso used one power unit on Friday and changed to another on Saturday without penalty, and he was able to start sixth and run without problems through the race to an eventual seventh place. He is going into the final race placed 15th in the driver’s standings with 15 points while his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne is one behind with 13 points.
Takahiro Hachigo, President & Representative Director of Honda Motor Co, Ltd had expressed earlier that parting ways with McLaren was unfortunate as it has left their ‘ambitions’ unfulfilled.
It is, however, not the end of the road for Honda as new doors have opened. Next season will see McLaren running power units from Renault to revive their fortunes and Honda will instead supply Scuderia Toro Rosso, who are currently using Renault engines.
Toro Rosso have struck a multi-year agreement to put Honda’s power units in the back of their cars from 2018, having used Renault engines this year as well in 2014 and 2015. In that period they scored 137 points together, with two fourth places being their best results.
The task won’t be that easy as Toro Rosso has faced many difficulties with timing in the past. They will have to work hard with Honda not only to re-design the PU installation but also ensure that this has minimal or no effect on the ongoing development work for 2018.
“We are excited to start this new chapter in our Formula 1 journey. I would like to express our appreciation to Liberty Media and the FIA for their cooperation toward the realisation of this partnership. Honda and Toro Rosso will work as one team to strive for progress and a successful future together. We appreciate the support of our fans as we begin this challenge,” Hachigo had said.
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost too will be hoping that their new Japanese partners will be able to provide them with the much-needed push.
He firmly believes in Honda’s capabilities and was of the view: “Ever since the founder Soichiro Honda entered his motorcycles in events, racing has always been a central part of the company’s ethos. It’s a very exciting challenge and I hope that both parties will gain a great deal from it as we develop together.”
