McLaren to use Renault Engines

[rubystone]

Dermot O'Logical said:

They're part owned by the Bahraini Royal family's sovereign wealth fund. The other part is owned by Mansour Ojjeh. But I read recently that these two majority shareholders have yet to make the payment to Ron Dennis for his shares. Which may mean that they feel that they have enough of an investment in McLaren, and might not feel inclined to keep throwing money at a Formula 1 team which is desperately trying to claw its way back to respectability. The team needs a major sponsor, but have to prove themselves an attractive proposition after a disastrous three years, so the 2018 season is important.

Under-funded, behind the development curve with a new power unit to integrate, with their star driver yet to commit for another term and a recent history of under-achievement (we know the excuse for being the worst of the Mercedes engined teams in 2014, but the fact remains that McLaren haven't built a consistent front-running car since 2012). The senior management team will have their work cut out - the Renault is the second weakest engine package after Honda, so the chances of them competing with Red Bull or even the Renault works team seem remote.

I predict that following the RD buyout, the shareholding will be 75/25 in favour of Mumtalakat. They are not underfunded. There were reasons why RD didn't want to approach them for more cash to support the F1 team. With his departure, that is no longer an issue.

[GPH]

Buzz84 said:

Supersam83 said:

Will the deal include the Renault engines to be re-branded as something else? Just like Red Bull with Tag Heuer.

Could we see McLaren-Infiniti for example.

McLaren-Nissan?

McLaren-Dacia?

McLaren-Lada?

There are a few to choose from!

Err you missed the obvious one McLaren Alpine with the re-launch of the brand this year.
rendering as re tweeted by Alonso yesterday

[sgtBerbatov]

GPH said:

Err you missed the obvious one McLaren Alpine with the re-launch of the brand this year.
rendering as re tweeted by Alonso yesterday

As a Celtic fan there is absolutely no way I can get on board supporting a team with those colours.

[CraigyMc]

sgtBerbatov said:

As a Celtic fan there is absolutely no way I can get on board supporting a team with those colours.

But are you a fan of Irn Bru though?

[sgtBerbatov]

CraigyMc said:

But are you a fan of Irn Bru though?

Well yes, but that's only because it's made from Iron girders hence the colour!

[CraigyMc]

sgtBerbatov said:

CraigyMc said:

But are you a fan of Irn Bru though?

Well yes, but that's only because it's made from Iron girders hence the colour!

StgBerbatov disnae like the colours cuz they're lik the wans the teddy bears huv an he's a Tim.
Fue folk frae uthur countries whae dinnae ken whit wur talkin aboot, may ah present Scoatlind's uthur national swallae:

[GPH]

rubystone said:

hairyben said:

Mclaren never really blamed the merc engine though - well they couldnt really - more the fact they themselves weren't a works team. And it seemed a fairly amicable divorce, compared say to the noises coming out of red bull over the renault PU (which is maybe why renault haven't exactly been hyper keen to provide engines to another top team)

You dont know the ins and outs of course, but to me it simply feels like its mclarens hangup rather than mercs.

Actually, Zetsche and the board killed the deal. Nothing to do with McLaren.

Yes. Toto Wolff said several months ago on channel 4 that he did not want to supply McLaren with engines as they were a major competitor and he wants the Mercedes team to continue winning.
And of course Eric Boulier was the Renault F1 Team Principal in 2010 before moving to McLaren in 2014 so it's all come around in a circle nicely.

[sgtBerbatov]

CraigyMc said:

StgBerbatov disnae like the colours cuz they're lik the wans the teddy bears huv an he's a Tim.
Fue folk frae uthur countries whae dinnae ken whit wur talkin aboot, may ah present Scoatlind's uthur national swallae:

Made from the finest of Iron girders on the Clyde, and outsells Coca Cola year in year out.

Great for the hangover too.

[CraigyMc]

What's a little bit weird is that I grew up in Cumbernauld (where the Irn Bru factory is, in fact, in Westfield, which is the exact part of Cumbernauld it's made in). I now live in MK, and there's a fecking great Irn Bru factory about half a mile from my place in MK. I can't get away from the stuff.

[2fast748]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-wont-ha...

Obviously the Irn Bru deal was wishful thinking.....

[Leroy902]

So now they're turning to Renault. They'll never be a team that can compare with the red bulls, so the best they can hope for is 5th & 6th in every race... At best.

[HighwayStar]

Leroy902 said:

So now they're turning to Renault. They'll never be a team that can compare with the red bulls, so the best they can hope for is 5th & 6th in every race... At best.

Why? What do you know?

[boyse7en]

I think he's got a fair point (although I realise that it is probably because no company wants to plough millions into a potentially disastrous year or two if the car doesn't work out).

When i were a lad we had Marlboro McLaren and JPS Lotus, so the sponsors name was always parts and parcel of the promotion.

Now, nobody refers to the Petronas Mercedes.

[CraigyMc]

2fast748 said:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-wont-ha...

Obviously the Irn Bru deal was wishful thinking.....

There are two new deals for next year. One is with Petrobras, via Sergio Camara. The other is TBD.

[rev-erend]

McLaren had a good handling chassis this year and hopefully next years should be even better.

I know a few things about it but cannot say it on an open forum.

[suffolk009]

Oh, and Toro Rosso have Honda power next year. Red Bull have Honda power in 2019.

Of course they may find that by then Honda have made up their performance gap, and added some extra bhp.

[HighwayStar]

CraigyMc said:

2fast748 said:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-wont-ha...

Obviously the Irn Bru deal was wishful thinking.....

There are two new deals for next year. One is with Petrobras, via Sergio Camara. The other is TBD.

Only the one year with BP/Castrol?

[Vocal Minority]

Leroy902 said:

So now they're turning to Renault. They'll never be a team that can compare with the red bulls, so the best they can hope for is 5th & 6th in every race... At best.

You should do motivational speaking

[CraigyMc]

HighwayStar said:

CraigyMc said:

2fast748 said:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-wont-ha...

Obviously the Irn Bru deal was wishful thinking.....

There are two new deals for next year. One is with Petrobras, via Sergio Camara. The other is TBD.

Only the one year with BP/Castrol?

Apparently - either that, or both makers will be on the car, which would be weird, I agree.

It doesn't really matter what logo is on the side of the car, of course - the engine will run on whatever the manufacturer put in it, which may be totally different than the sponsorship deal.

I'd not be surprised if there were fuels /oils from industrial specialists rather than the sponsors in various cars today. When BMW were running their turbo engines in the '80s, the fuel (toluene/n-heptane mix) was being made by Wintershall (a division of BASF) rather than any well-known retail fuel maker.

The Brabham-BMW of the time had Castrol sponsorship...

[HustleRussell]

suffolk009 said:

Red Bull have Honda power in 2019.

Source?