Breaking news
Formula 1
McLaren-Honda like marriage with "irreconcilable differences"
McLaren co-owner Mansour Ojjeh says that the Woking team's split with Formula 1 engine partner Honda will be good for both parties, likening the situation to a marriage that didn't work out.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Oct 17, 2017, 10:41 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ojjeh, who has been a key player behind the scenes at McLaren since the early eighties, believes that Honda tried as hard as it could to make the partnership work.
"I don't think I have to explain it's been tough," he told Motorsport.com in an interview with Motorsport.com's GP Gazette. "It's been tough for them also. I don't think it was a lack of effort, and I don't think it was a lack of effort on our part. It just didn't work.
"It was obviously not good for them, and not good for us. So in that case we each have to try something else. I hope it works out for them, and I hope it works out for us.
"Don't forget, they could be great competitors. I'm happy that they're staying in the sport. But sometimes things just don't work out between partners.
"It's like irreconcilable differences in a marriage or something. I think it's the right decision that we go our ways. But as a team, we're looking forward to a change.
"They've done as much as they could. And we've done as much as we could, and it didn't work. What happens as the consequences is for them and us. We're both a little bit in the same predicament, if you want."
Renault deal provides chassis benchmarks
Ojjeh says he's looking forward to the new relationship with Renault, and especially the fact that Red Bull Racing and the works team share the same engine. McLaren has spent three years as Honda's only partner, making it hard to properly assess the chassis.
"Put it this way, it's a different motivation," he said. "It's something where we have a benchmark to compare ourselves to, so that makes things also more challenging if you want.
"You want to be at that benchmark, or better than that benchmark, we have to make sure we get it right. So it's a new challenge that we look forward to taking on.
"But what's going to happen next year, you never know. Next year is next year. Next year we have three engines [for the season], next year we have to work on reliability. There's a lot of things that change. It's a constant moving ground, nothing stays still."
Ojjeh says it's too early to discuss how the new partnership will be exploited in marketing terms.
"We'll have to see. We are committed to Renault, we want to be great partners. I think they're looking at us for what we represent, and they've been an F1 manufacturer for a very long time.
"Don't forget what they did in the turbo years. I remember because I was a competitor of theirs. They've been here for a long time. We're very happy, and I think they're very happy to be with us, which is important. Both want each other, which is great."
He remains convinced that the team can return to winning form: "We have to get this on the rails. As a sports enthusiast, and as a sports man being here for so long, jeez, we want to win.
"This is our DNA, we're here to win. We've been here before, and don't forget Ferrari stayed 20 years without winning a championship. People forget that. But we'll be back."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Renault ready for new approach to unleash 'magic modes'
Next article Ricciardo's overtakes in 2017 "sublime" - Horner
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
McLaren
McLaren to use final 2026 developments to test 2027 F1 car concepts
Formula 1
Formula 1 18 h
McLaren to use final 2026 developments to test 2027 F1 car concepts
McLaren retains Leonardo Fornaroli in F1 as Italian adds WEC programme for 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1 23 h
McLaren retains Leonardo Fornaroli in F1 as Italian adds WEC programme for 2027
Latest news
FIA ratifies key 2027 WRC sporting regulations
WRC
WRC WRC 1 h
FIA ratifies key 2027 WRC sporting regulations
Toprak Razgatlioglu to miss the rest MotoGP season due to shoulder injury
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Toprak Razgatlioglu to miss the rest MotoGP season due to shoulder injury
MotoGP teams told Qatar Grand Prix expected to go ahead
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
2 h
MotoGP teams told Qatar Grand Prix expected to go ahead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe