MCLAREN NEARS HONDA DIVORCE
Mclaren chiefs are in talks to secure a supply of Renault engines for next season after deciding to look elsewhere as its relationship with current partner Honda has reached crisis point.
Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne retired from the Italian Grand Prix last weekend, but even before that, the British team had opened talks with Renault to provide its powerplants for the 2018 season.
The team is desperate to secure the supply deal as soon as possible to enable it to press ahead with the design of next year’s chassis.
Mclaren boss Zak Brown underlined the urgency of the new agreement. Brown said: “How long can you wait before you have upset drivers, upset partners, upset fans? Everybody is hanging in there with us at the moment, but that can’t go on forever.”
Mclaren appears to be on the verge of divorcing engine partner Honda this week, with work ongoing to secure a switch to Renault power units for 2018. However, the fate of the entire deal may rest with the Toro Rosso team.
As Motorsport News closed for press on Monday, Mclaren and Honda were locked in talks over the future of their partnership, with crunch meetings taking place across the Italian Grand Prix weekend in Monza.
With Mclaren’s 2018 development schedule creating a deadline for an engine decision this week, Honda’s senior staff flew to Monza for crisis meetings in the paddock. Honda also held a meeting back at its base in Japan, and sources insists it now faces a difficult decision over the future direction of its F1 programme.
Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne suffered difficult races at Monza, with both drivers retiring their cars with technical faults.
Mclaren head Zak Brown admitted the team had to make an engine call early this week if it stood any chance of returning to form next season.
“We need to get more competitive, and this weekend showed we’re not really making any significant progress,” said Brown when asked by Sky Sports if Mclaren was at the end of its tether with Honda.
“How long can you wait before you have upset drivers, upset partners, upset fans? Everybody is hanging in there with us at the moment, but that really can’t go on forever.
“This is the month we decide [on an engine deal], and probably early this month is the time we’re going to take a decision on the direction for next year. But the best thing for Mclaren is to make the best sporting decision possible. We’re here to win, that’s what makes us successful, so we’re going to take a sporting decision.”
Complex deal
Renault bosses were spotted in Mclaren’s motorhome last weekend and MN understands that talks for the French firm to supply engines to Mclaren are at an advanced stage. However, any such deal to split from Honda would involve many complications, and ironically appears to hinge on the future of the Toro Rosso team.
Mclaren has sought advice from F1’s new owner, Liberty Media, and the FIA, as well as consulting with both Honda and Renault.
Outside of trying to secure an 11th hour engine deal elsewhere, Renault is Mclaren’s only viable option should it split with Honda. Both Mercedes and Ferrari have already made it clear they aren’t keen to supply Mclaren.
However, last weekend Renault also suggested that it would not be able to open up a fourth engine supply chain in time for next year, with its parts supply, development and technical workforce already committed to its deals with customers Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Renault’s own works operation.
That brings Toro Rosso into the frame as a key player. The Faenza-based team has already held talks with Honda about running its engines from 2018, with that deal freeing up a Renault engine supply for Mclaren.
Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul stressed that his firm would supply just three teams next year as it strives to further close the performance deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari.
“We have many little things that need to be addressed [on the engine],” he said. “The whole thing has to improve in quality, but I have all the confidence in the management structure to do that.
“And frankly, that is one of the reasons why we do not want to have more customers than we already have. We do not want to dilute the effort that goes into next year and to the fact that next year’s engine will be designed in a very reliable manner. It was very difficult this year because everything was changed. Next year there will be big improvement in terms of performance, but in terms of architecture it will be the same as this year.”
Should Mclaren terminate its engine contract at the end of this year, Honda’s future in F1 would depend on the Toro Rosso deal being struck.
The FIA did have a regulation in place whereby one of the engine manufacturers would be forced to supply Mclaren with engines should it wind up with no deal in place. But the deadline for that to come into effect has now passed, meaning that if Toro Rosso and Honda couldn’t agree terms, Mclaren may be forced to continue with Honda.
“It’s very complicated, so it’s a variety of pieces to the puzzle, some inside our control, some not,” added Brown. “We’re going to sit down with guys that are much smarter on power units than myself and take a view on what we see [Honda’s] plans are, what they have accomplished. Whatever we do is going to have an element of risk associated with it, but that’s Formula 1...
“Right now we have pen to paper for our 2018 chassis, but you can only go so far without knowing what power unit you’ll have in the back of it.
“But we’re not waiting on anyone per se [for an engine decision], as in the decision will be made by anyone else. We’ll make our own call.”
When asked if Mclaren could find a way to progress with Honda should the partnership continue, Brown responded: “Yeah. We need a more competitive engine, which Honda is working on. We need to take a view, which we’ve not finalised yet, on whether they can get to where we need them to be. They’re doing different stuff now. And have acknowledged they’re working with some outside consultants [reportedly Ilmor], and that’s new.”
Honda’s fear
Honda’s Yusuke Hasegawa stressed the firm would not give up on Mclaren, but fears its efforts may fall short of convincing the team to remain as a partner.
Hasegawa said: “I’m still trying to make good performance to convince them [Mclaren], but I’m not sure it will be enough. We Honda will never give up to keep this collaboration.”
Hasegawa also said the pressures were working to accelerate Honda’s development, not distract from it.
“It [the pressure] becomes motivational in the factory,” he added. “Since the Spec 3 engine introduction [in Austria] our development has accelerated and the rate of development is very good. We saw some performance gain with each upgrade, so it’s very encouraging.”
No ultimatum
Part of the driving force behind a move away from Honda is Mclaren’s desire to hold on to star driver Fernando Alonso, who has already got offers on the table for a move away from the Woking team for next year.
Amid speculation the two-time world champion could move to Williams to replace Felipe Massa, Mclaren is prepared to fight for the Spaniard’s signature.
Alonso said after the Monza race: “Many news are coming in the next weeks and hopefully all of them will be useful to me to make a decision. I’ll keep looking at options, but we know what the Renault engine can do – Red Bull did five, six, consecutive podiums, and we know what Mercedes could do as well with Force India this year, Williams was on the front row of the grid here. So we know the options, we need to make a decision.
“It’s an important week, for Mclaren to make some big decisions, and hopefully we’ll all know something before Singapore so we can comment on everything there.”
Brown said the chance of Alonso staying if Mclaren were to be powered by Renault was “very likely”.
“Fernando’s not given us any kind of ultimatum,” added Brown. “Fernando loves this team. There’s been some reports of him going to Indycar or other places, but he wants to be in F1. He just wants to be in a competitive situation, and I also wouldn’t rule him out if things stay status quo [with Honda]. I wouldn’t say it was a foregone conclusion that he doesn’t stay with us if we continue with Honda. He’s not been engine specific in his desires, but he’s also not signed with us yet.
“Negotiations are going well but you have to have a plan A, B and C, and we’ve got those plans too.”