Sauber seal Honda deal for 2018

[Evangelion]

London424 said:

It means they can continue racing!

At the back, next to Mclaren. Sounds like fun.

[MissChief]

Evangelion said:

At the back, next to Mclaren. Sounds like fun.

They're at the back anyway. This way they can save some of that engine budget and put it into improving the car. Win/win?

[London424]

Evangelion said:

London424 said:

It means they can continue racing!

At the back, next to Mclaren. Sounds like fun.

Where they often are. Would you rather race at the back (with the hope of development) or go out of business?

[Crafty_]

belleair302 said:

Mansour Ojjeh and his Bahraini business partners I am sure are talking to M-B. Am certain they hold a stake Daimler Benz are will be wanting their share in McLaren to not be worthless.

Merc sold their stake in McLaren after buying the Brackley team.

I think Ojjeh is starting to get an inkling about just how hard this business is when you're at the coal face.

Unless he's willing to throw a whole bunch of money at the team I don't think that McLaren can't afford to leave Honda.


Meantime, I think its a win for Sauber. Running year old engines isn't a long term solution. Sure Honda are at a low point but they can only get better from here on. Sauber are probably going to get the engines for free, giving them money to spend elsewhere.
With Merc offering Honda help, FIA willing to bend rules to let them catch up they might be able to put something together for next year that at least holds together.

I did wonder if Honda are keen to get input from another chassis maker, so they have a bit of ammunition when McLaren start making technical demands.

[Andy Allenton]

The way I see the McLaren Mercedes thing, Eddie Jordan's making a lot of sense. We could all predict how long Honda will take to make a decent PU but McLaren can't wait forever. Ditching the dream of a sole works deal would be a bitter pill, but after 3 years Honda are seemingly no further forward.
As other people have commented, Sauber going over to Honda power (or lack of) is a no brainer as a team with no finances. They get a cheaper engine, plus the dream of power (pun intended). Besides, Honda have nobody to run their motors without McLaren.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

If McLaren did ditch Honda, would Sauber take their Factory Team status and the 100M per annum?

[slipstream 1985]

What would be funny is if honda made it work for the 2018 season and sauber become a top 3 team.

[HustleRussell]

McLaren aren't divorcing Honda for 2018. That McLaren are rumoured to be supplying Sauber a gearbox for their Honda engine all but confirms this.

[anonymous-user]

slipstream 1985 said:

What would be funny is if honda made it work for the 2018 season and sauber become a top 3 team.

McLaren should ask Alonso what to do and then do the complete opposite.

[MissChief]

HustleRussell said:

McLaren aren't divorcing Honda for 2018. That McLaren are rumoured to be supplying Sauber a gearbox for their Honda engine all but confirms this.

Rear suspension too I heard.

[HustleRussell]

MissChief said:

HustleRussell said:

McLaren aren't divorcing Honda for 2018. That McLaren are rumoured to be supplying Sauber a gearbox for their Honda engine all but confirms this.

Rear suspension too I heard.

IMO this is beginning to look like a canny move for Sauber. The cost saving they're achieving vs. the Ferrari deal will free up a lot of man hours and cash to spend elsewhere, and I'm not sure the 2018 Honda unit will be significantly worse than the 2017 Ferrari.

[thegreenhell]

The motorsport.com announcement of the McLaren deal said that it includes gearbox and ancillaries but excludes rear suspension components.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sauber-to-use-m...