Toro Rosso-Honda talks fall through
- Published on 17 Aug 2017 16:53
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Talks between Toro Rosso and Honda have collapsed as it is believed the two parties could not come to an agreement. Talks between the two had been ongoing for weeks regarding an engine deal, despite the fact Toro Rosso had a contract in place with Renault for next season.
Honda has been looking for a second team to supply engines to after Sauber canceled the deal that was originally in place for the 2018 season. Currently, Honda only power McLaren who are feeling the pain of the slow and unreliable power unit of Honda.
The Japanese manufacturer believes that a second customer would allow them to analyze even more data and make progress on a much faster time scale. However, it seems that most options are out the window as the troublesome partnership between McLaren and Honda continues.
McLaren themselves have been evaluating options over who to run with for next season, with Mercedes and Ferrari both declaring that they have no interest in partnering the Woking based team. A deal with Renault is not impossible but unlikely as the French manufacturer is unwilling to supply to a fourth team.
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (9)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Pity, could have had big benefits
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
A deal with Renault would be as good/bad as another year with Honda. Might aswell stick to what you've got. With Honda you are at least a works team, with Renault you are yet another team they can screw over by giving up early and refusing to release any more decent upgrades.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Honda needs to show something first. I don't understand why anyone would go with them at this point. Even if they are significantly cheaper than Merc engines.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
That is because getting factory support behind you will give the change of becoming wc. The independent was brawn which lucked into the double diffusor otherwise it is nigh impossible to become wc in front of your factory team. Look at the improvements that renault made this year. Next year they will be better again against their teams that they supply engines to. Honda will improve and their rate is impressive.
Barron
Posts: 625
I don't think Brawn "lucked" into anything at all. Other teams also saw the potential of the double diffuser - but only 3 teams ran with it (Brawn, Williams & Toyota) and only 1 team was successful. Brawn also "lucked" into a chassis that had millions spent on the development by Honda. Brawn is a wily old fox, seized the opportunity, won the championship & a ton of cash when he sold the team to Mercedes as a championship winning team. Luck had nothing to do with any of it. He's just a very clever bloke.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Isnt that sort of lucking in though? They bought a team, modified the chassis to fit a Mercedes engine and hoped the chassis Honda had produced would be good? The previous two Honda chassis had not been optimal, to say the least.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Correct, they were lucky about the performance of the chassis in relation to others and the engine being so strong. That car was in its own league. If they kept the honda engine then most likely they would not have been world champs. So yes ... very lucky.
talktohenry
Posts: 362
I'm guessing Honda wanted big bucks for a slow engine, you need to give it free first, then you can charge big bucks when it's a race winner......
boudy
Posts: 1,168
My guess is that mcLaren is retaining the honda so it doesn't make sense to have the torro's switch because a factory deal would never materialise for redbull.