F1 News
"McLaren did not want to get rid of Honda, they were looking for an extension!"
A podium in Australia and a victory in Austria: 2019 seems to be the year which everything is going well again after a troubling return to the sport earlier this decade. McLaren's relationship with the Japanese manufacturer wasn't strong and resulted in Fernando Alonso describing the power as a GP2 engine. For a long time, it was presumed that McLaren forced Honda through the exit door, but the Japanese Number (largest sports magazine in Japan) claims the opposite: McLaren wanted to sign a three-year contract extension!
Back to 2017: Three years into Honda's partnership with McLaren, and things weren't getting any better. Right from the start of the 2017 Formula 1 season, it was clear a decision had to be made. Either a contract extension or termination.
Number (the largest sports magazine in Japan) says "McLaren's contract with Honda was for three years, with a two-year option for extension. We had to make a decision on whether to exercise that option at that time. We wanted to renew the contract, but wanted a 3-year extension rather than the original two years. This was because we viewed 2017 as a wasted season, with Honda failing to fulfil their contractual commitments. We viewed the extra year as compensation for the low performance."
Helmut Marko then went undercover ahead of the British Grand Prix visited the local McDonald's with Masashi Yamamoto, the motorsport director for Honda at the time.
Two months after this conversation, McLaren announced that it wouldn't continue racing with Honda engines for the 2018 Formula 1 season and beyond. Simply because the Japanese manufacturer didn't want to sign a contract extension and Toro Rosso moved in. This plan was seemingly always in place to gather data and determine if the Honda engine would work with Red Bull.
"Yes McLaren helped us learn a lot about the sport, and it's true that the power unit we supplied them was lacking in competitiveness. However, to win in F1, you need performance from both the PU and the car the PU is installed on. When considering the technical ability to build a competitive car, and management that can attract great talent to build such a car, Red Bull was our only option moving forward."
One year later, Red Bull announced that they would ditch Renault and put the Honda engine in the back of their car. Something that seems to be a brilliant choice to date. Seemingly only because McLaren didn't settle for two years instead of three-year paid engines...