Sauber and Honda cancel planned F1 partnership

BUDAPEST: Sauber’s planned Formula One partnership with troubled Japanese engine maker Honda from next season has been cancelled, both parties announced at the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday.

Sauber, which currently uses a yearold Ferrari power unit, later said it had signed a multiyear deal to continue using the Ferrari units.

Honda, which risks having no team to supply next season if McLaren also decides to end their rocky relationship, said in a separate statement that its ‘‘strong commitment’’ to Formula One remained unchanged.

‘‘It is very unfortunate that we have to discontinue the planned collaboration with Honda at this stage,’’ said Sauber’s new team principal Frederic Vasseur.

‘‘However, this decision has been made for strategic reasons, and with the best intent for the future of the Sauber F1 Team in mind,’’ added the Frenchman, who was boss of the Renault team until January.

‘‘We would like to thank Honda for their collaboration, and wish them all the best for their future in Formula One.’’

Honda currently has an exclusive agreement with former champion McLaren, which is last in the championship after scoring two points in 10 races.

McLaren is also considering its options and the Sauber deal would have given Honda a continued presence in the sport, at worst, and two teams to work with on improving the power unit at best.

The Honda engine has been beset by reliability and performance problems and McLaren’s patience has been stretched to breaking point by the lack of straight line speed compared to rival teams.

Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari are the other manufacturers.

Honda said Sauber, which is ninth out of 10 teams, had made the initial approach but the project had been called off due to ‘‘differences in the future direction between Honda and Sauber’’.

The partnership was agreed, but reportedly not fully completed despite being announced as a done deal, by former Sauber principal Monisha Kaltenborn.

The first female team boss, Indianborn Kaltenborn left Sauber in June.

‘‘We had built a good relationship with Sauber, and had been looking forward to entering the 2018 F1 season together,’’ said Masashi Yamamoto, general manager of Honda’s Motor Sports division.

‘‘However, during discussions after management changes at the team, we reached a mutual agreement to calloff the project due to differences in the future directions of both parties.’’ — Reuters