Sauber F1 Switches to Honda Power for 2018 SeasonFormula 1

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Sauber F1 Switches to Honda Power for 2018 Season
Swiss F1 outfit reveals a surprising new engine supplier for its silver anniversary in the sport

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on April 30th, 2017 in the Formula One category.

 

[Windfire1010]

Oh dear.

 

[AudiMan2011]

Now Mclaren can have friends joining them at the back of the grid.

 

[Windfire1010]

Now Mclaren can have friends joining them at the back of the grid.

Sauber is already back there with them.

 

[SVX]

Great idea. Honda gets extra development/testing/trialing. Most likely was cheap - so good for financial concerns. Hope to see a good improvement with extra testing now.

 

[Grayfox]

Lets just hope that these engines dont have VTEC that kicks the back end out.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Lets just hope that these engines dont have VTEC that kicks the back end out.

Nope, doesn't work in F1-type engines and wouldn't give any advantage over compressed valve control.

 

[karelpipa]

Hmm, seems that Sauber is in deep trouble financially.

 

[Robin]

I suppose they have nothing to loose, already running at the back and it could safe them quite a bit of dosh.

 

[Dennisch]

Rumour has it that Sauber will become the Honda factory team. So expect Sauber to dissappear from the grid.

 

[Bram Turismo]

For the sake of both McLaren and Dauber, I hope this deal can give Honda the ideal opportunity to progress.

 

[PsuPepperoni]

 

[DriveSpark]

Hmm, seems that Sauber is in deep trouble financially.

They've been in trouble for some time. They would have gone bankrupt last year - they weren't paying staff, I believe Eccelstone covered a few bills for them. The company that now owns the team is owned by the family that own TetraPak (they make plastic containers for food). I believe they are associated with Ericsson.

This is kind of a win for Sauber really, they currently run year old Ferrari engines, because they can't afford the newest ones. If they are paying anything for the Honda engines at all it will be a very small amount.. Honda are currently at a low point - it can only get better.

 

[Whodoyouthink]

I used to like Sauber when I first got in to F1 back in very late 2012. Their videos, like the one that shows a F1 car cut in half, were always incredibly informative. Plus there was always that Sauber-Mercedes C9 heritage in the back of my mind. But besides Caterham and Murussia/Manor, I feel they have been the team that has fallen the farthest.

Hard to say, but I see the Honda engine maybe making their performances even worse. Maybe they will be absorbed and turned in to a works team, or at least a support team similar to Toro Rosso. I mean that's what every F1 team would like, isn't it?

 

[DriveSpark]

Go back a few years to when Perez and Kobayashi were driving for them they were doing well.

It might just be coincidence, but Kaltenborn becoming senior management coincided with the beginning of their downturn. Peter Sauber took a back seat and it all started going bad.

Frankly, Kaltenborn's conduct at times has been astonishing, she deliberately signed three drivers for the 2015 season, then broke contract with Van Der Garde (he later successfully sued the team), she trained and practiced as a lawyer by the way!

With the team devoid of income and desperate for money last year she was telling journalists that if she were a major company she wouldn't invest in F1. When asked questions about the team, their status, the performance of the car she just smiles stupidly and doesn't answer. Why the new owners have kept her on I do not know.

Next season is a very long time away, who knows what state Honda will be in by that time. You are right though - they are trying to chase reliability and performance at the same time - that never ends well because you think you fixed a failure but then stress components more for performance, which causes them to break.

To my mind there is no point in going fast if you can't get to the end of the race. They need to make that thing hang together and then worry about performance.

 

[RACECAR]

Well at this point, what else can they do? Everyone is saying "Rip Sauber" when even without honda engines they were doing bad, even worse then McLaren Honda at times.

They're in financial desperation AND their pace is non existant so really, was their ANYTHING better they could've done?

At least their cars look nice (minus the thumb nose)

Now Mclaren can have friends joining them at the back of the grid.

Technically, they were already there anyway so...

 

[vrossi]

McLaren is going back to Merc. Sauber will become Honda werks team.

 

[RACECAR]

McLaren is going back to Merc. Sauber will become Honda werks team.

Where exactly are you getting that idea, or is that what you think will happen or want to happen?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Now Mclaren can have friends joining them at the back of the grid.

I think we'll be looking at quadruple retirement.

 

[ScottPuss20]

This is a death sentence.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Rumour has it that Sauber will become the Honda factory team. So expect Sauber to dissappear from the grid.

The only way that makes sense is if Honda want an official presence on the grid.

 

[RACECAR]

This is a death sentence.

How is this any more of a death sentence then the crappy people they have managing them now and the financial situation they face, or the non existant pace that already has them in the back WITH McLaren anyway? If this doesn't help and they finally quit, I guarantee it won't be because of what's in the back of the car.

 

[Dan Hill]

Where exactly are you getting that idea, or is that what you think will happen or want to happen?

Eddie Jordan was saying on Channel 4 on Saturday that for 2018 he was expecting, Sauber would have Honda engines, Mclaren would be Mercedes powered and he's expecting Alonso at Renault.

From previous years, he normally seems quite on the ball with his predictions.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Eddie Jordan

He might have been right about Hamilton leaving McLaren for Mercedes, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. He has a tendency to make outrageous predictions and hope that the law of averages means that sooner or later he will get something right. He's like that weird uncle that you invite to your wedding because you have to, knowing full well that he'll show up drunk and do something embarrassing - but even that anticipation can't spare you when he insists on giving a speech full of racist jokes, hits on a bridesmaid and throws up in one of the floral centrepieces.

This is a death sentence.

You're assuming that they won't get any better, even though they're getting outside assistance.

 

[Pupik]

Will Sauber get the same-spec engines McLaren receives, or will they be a year behind? What about the ERS? And I don't see Honda making a works team right off the bat; I think they'd need to have a consistent measure of success before justifying that.

On one hand, Sauber doesn't have much to lose, they will no longer be hampered by a year-old lump, and Honda can benefit by having a second team for development.

But by the other, it's one of the weakest powerplants on the grid and hopefully this doesn't spread Honda too lean, though they have the resources; it's not Cosworth.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Will Sauber get the same-spec engines McLaren receives, or will they be a year behind?

Who says McLaren will have Honda engines? Until very recently it's seemed that McLaren are trying to avoid that prospect.

And I don't see Honda making a works team right off the bat

Agreed. It's fewer than 10 years since they unexpectedly folded their works team, I can't see a Japanese company going back so soon.

 

[Famine]

Who says McLaren will have Honda engines?

That would seem to be Katsuhide Moriyama, Chief Officer, Brand and Communication Operations at Honda Motor Co., Ltd:

In addition to the partnership with McLaren which began in 2015, Honda will begin supplying power units to Sauber as a customer team starting from next year. This will be a new challenge in Honda’s F1 activities. In order to leverage the benefits of supplying to two teams to the maximum extent, we will strengthen the systems and capabilities of both of our two development operations, namely HRD Sakura and the operation in Milton Keynes. We will continue our challenges so that our fans will enjoy seeing a Honda with dominant strength as soon as possible.

 

[TenEightyOne]

That would seem to be Katsuhide Moriyama, Chief Officer, Brand and Communication Operations at Honda Motor Co., Ltd:

The McLaren PR officers are saying much the same thing - no change at McLaren Honda in 2017 or 2018. However, some decent F1 rumour-mongers (including the sadly-often-right Eddie Jordan) continue to think that McLaren may well be a Mercedes customer team again in 2018 and may even exercise a performance clause to use the spare Manor engines during 2017 on a "B-Spec" chassis.

 

[Dan Hill]

He might have been right about Hamilton leaving McLaren for Mercedes, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. He has a tendency to make outrageous predictions and hope that the law of averages means that sooner or later he will get something right. He's like that weird uncle that you invite to your wedding because you have to, knowing full well that he'll show up drunk and do something embarrassing - but even that anticipation can't spare you when he insists on giving a speech full of racist jokes, hits on a bridesmaid and throws up in one of the floral centrepieces.


You're assuming that they won't get any better, even though they're getting outside assistance.

I will admit tha

He might have been right about Hamilton leaving McLaren for Mercedes, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. He has a tendency to make outrageous predictions and hope that the law of averages means that sooner or later he will get something right. He's like that weird uncle that you invite to your wedding because you have to, knowing full well that he'll show up drunk and do something embarrassing - but even that anticipation can't spare you when he insists on giving a speech full of racist jokes, hits on a bridesmaid and throws up in one of the floral centrepieces.


You're assuming that they won't get any better, even though they're getting outside assistance.

I will admit that he does have that effect (he was saying some pretty stupid things yesterday).

I'm not sure on Alonso to Renault but can see the Mclaren and Mercedes story being true.

 

[Mike458]

So more smoke coming from more cars? Yaaaay!

Soon we'll be having a 24-way retirement the way things are going...

And the VTEC kicking in will just be the engine exploding into a million pieces.