Breaking news
Formula 1
Prost: Don't write off Honda on F1 return
Alain Prost thinks it is too early to write off Honda's 2015 campaign, despite the Japanese manufacturer's difficult return to Formula 1 with McLaren.
Adam Cooper
Edited: May 18, 2015, 8:47 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Although there were big ambitions for what McLaren and Honda could achieve this year, the renewed partnership has yet to score a point and has been beset by early struggles.
But Prost, who won the title with McLaren-Honda in 1989, thinks that the situation inside the team may be very different from how it looks.
“It's very difficult to judge from the outside, it's not easy,” the Frenchman told Motorsport.com. “You can see Renault, they were winning, and with the new technology it's very different. Maybe in a few months or next year they'll come back very strong.
“You don't know what Honda has in its pocket in terms of development. It looks like the chassis is not too bad, but we are talking about one second, one second and a half. It looks a lot.
"But where are they with the engine and all the systems? We don't know, only they know what they have as a target.”
History may not repeat itself
Prost does concede, however, that the fact that McLaren and Honda were so successful in the past does not guarantee future victories.
Asked if he thought Honda would ever regain the sort of form it had 25 years ago, he said: “Very honestly I don't know, that's was a long time ago.
"That is why it's very dangerous to go back to the past, because sometimes it's completely different, and it doesn't work...”
Reasons for F1 to be positive
Meanwhile Prost said that Nico Rosberg's win in Spain, and Ferrari's strong form this year, were both useful boosts for the sport.
“It's good for Nico, it's good for the championship. In a way it was the right time for him to do it. It's good for the interest of the fight.
"It's also good for F1 that Ferrari is back. Renault are having problems, McLaren is not ready yet with Honda, so it's a different game.
"But it's going to change again, so we have to wait a little bit. Maybe there will be a fight between three teams, or especially two with Ferrari and Mercedes. It's part of the cycle sometimes of F1.”
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 Force India aims to "spring a surprise" at Monaco
Next article Maldonado says Lotus not far behind Williams
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
"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Latest news
Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
50 min
Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
2 h
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
George Russell tips Frederik Vesti for F1 2027 Cadillac seat
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
George Russell tips Frederik Vesti for F1 2027 Cadillac seat
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