2017 Formula 1

[goldnsx]

I just don't understand how a company who have been a hybrid engine pioneer can get it so wrong again and again.

I guess that has to do with the underlying approach and the different cultures. Honda wanted to built the engine in Japan and refused to get help from the outside in the first two years. 30 years back, they revolutioned F1 but things were much simpler back then. Nowadays, the car manufacturers in F1 show Honda where the hammer hangs. I guess that they do have the engineers for that demanding task but I think the downside is the organisation not being up to date with todays needs. As long as this is the case they better quit F1 before ending like Toyota.

I'd even expect a better working F1 engine from Hyundai (South Korea) than from Honda because Hyundai lives its demand 'beat or be better than Japan'. Hyundai's car line is far more tempting than Honda's and I'd choose a new i30 over a new Civic.

[Pride]

It's just a shame Honda doesn't put all their money and energy into developing a winning F1 engine instead of seeming to sponsor every film appearing on the likes of film4, channel 4 and many other channels and that's just in the UK, I'm sure they also do that worldwide.

The F1 world stage is surely more important than film sponsorships.

[gcon45]

It could be a case of spreading themselves too thin too.

Honda are heavily involved in (and in a lot of cases dominating in) MotoGP, Moto3, World Superbikes, Endurance road racing, World Motocross, Trial world championships, World touring car championships, Indycar etc and as important as it is for the brand to be involved in so many fields of motorsport, you'd feel that Honda's suffering in F1 is hugely damaging.

[britlude]

i can't say my sources, but lets just say Mclaren aren't happy with Honda, Honda determined to do it 'their way', keeping everything in house, ignoring McLarens requests, suggestions and inputs....


add in mclaren contacting merc for engine supply options, unbranded to help everyone save face... much the same as renault and red bull....


add to that, pretty much everyone doesn't think the cars will even finish in Australia...


add on to all of that... Alonso, despite what he says publicly, not being a happy bunny at all, could walk.....


better get Button in the simulator!




... roll on the weekend!

[goldnsx]

I think the main point is that Honda pays most of the bills. They pay for Alonso, they pay the engine and maybe some of the staff at McLaren. McLaren is not happy but all bills get payed, so what? The desaster does make Honda look bad, not McLaren. McLaren earns a lot with the software all the teams use.

I would not overstress the news by journalist who wrote that McLaren was contacting Mercedes about engines. The teams are speaking with each other from time to time. As long as Honda pays McLaren won't switch to Mercedes. But the risk for McLaren is that Honda could pull the plug like back in 2008 after a third catastrophic season. I guess that's why they asked Mercedes just to avoid having no engine the following year.

Looking forward to the next weekend. I hope we see less monotony than in the recent years. Ferrari looks strong, maybe Red Bull too. I also hope that tires-saving driving is less pronounced now with more aggressive driving (and some crashs ) on the track.

[britlude]

i didn't get my info from a journalist......

[WhyOne?]

My understanding tallies extremely closely with Jonathan's account above.

To suggest a racing team...a once pre-eminent racing team...will be content to continue with a partnership which pays plenty of bills but delivers a woefully unreliable and underpowered engine is utter nonsense. I saw, and continue to see the stated logic when McLaren entered their latest relationship with Honda that you are not going to beat the Mercedes works team by using one of their engines. However, 3 years in for people within Honda to be blaming the lack of performance on the other manufacturers having had a head start is unacceptable. I really can see McLarn doing a Lotus, Ligier or Brabham and disappearing from F1 if things don't improve.

As for the season ahead, hopefully there will be at least 3 teams with a realistic chance of winning. If Red Bull are up there (and despite testing, I think they will be) I think things could get very interesting between Max and Danny Ric. What I do not want to see is anyone getting hurt, and I really don't want to be seeing crashes.

[goldnsx]

Don't get me wrong on this but there are millions of people risking their life in their job everyday, at a very small fraction of the income of a F1 driver. Crashes are good for the show as long as noone gets hurt. The way he drives the flying Dutch (Max) is prone to have his first heavy crash. If he was in an non-carbon chassis like back in the 70ies he wouldn't drive like this (or not that long).

[gcon45]

No on track break downs and P12 for Alonso in P2 (albeit due to a few faster cars having issues).

Not a disastrous start but a lot of work to do obviously.

I expected McLaren to be plum last with little to no running.

[WhyOne?]

True, but I don't think McLaren or Fred will be seeing too many positives in 12th fastest.