‘Honda deal keeps McLaren among F1 elite’

Managing director excited after powerhouse’s return as engine supplier.

LONDON: McLaren’s Formula One engine deal with Honda from 2015 is a vital step to ensure they can keep punching at the same weight as rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, said managing director Jonathan Neale.

The Woking team have used engines provided by former shareholders Mercedes since 1995 but the German carmaker bought the title-winning Brawn GP outfit in 2009 and has made that its focus.

McLaren now have to pay Mercedes close to $10.29 million a year for engines that they previously received for free, with that figure set to increase significantly in 2015.

“Mercedes have clearly focused their efforts around Brackley [where their works team is based] and that’s completely understandable,” said Neale. “If we are going to be compete at the upper echelons, then we need to be punching at that weight. Getting together with a powerhouse like Honda enables us to do that.”

Honda and McLaren have a glorious past together, winning eight drivers’ and constructors’ titles between 1988 and 1992 when the Japanese carmaker provided the engines that allowed the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna and Frenchman Alain Prost to dominate.

Neale described the revived Honda partnership as a ‘conventional works team type arrangement’ that he said was ‘absolutely vital.’ The sport is ditching the old 2.4 litre V8 engines at the end of this season for a new 1.6 litre V6 turbocharged power unit with energy recovery systems.

Honda will be competing against Renault as well as Mercedes and Ferrari from 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.