Honda & McLaren 2014 Formula 1

[05XR8]

Couldn't they still go Mclaren Orange and championship white similar to malboro colours?

 

[Liquid]

Or a Marlboro-esque livery using Honda's Japanese heritage as an excuse.

Although I'd love to see a white and orange version instead. Very intriguing.

 

[Ardius]

Nah, Super Aguri colours ftw

Ditch Perez and bring back Sato for a BAR re-union. Or even better, get Sato and Kobayashi as drivers. That would be the Japanese dream-team!

 

[05XR8]

Hmm, wonder what Adrian Newey is thinking...

 

[Lizard]

Hmm, wonder what Adrian Newey is thinking...

What as in where he wants to work?

The answer to that is money. The reason he left McLaren in the first place is because they wouldn't give him a pay rise IIRC.

 

[SagarisGTB]

Jenson must have thought his Honda days were behind him, but they pull him back in (assuming he's still with the team in 2015).

Ditch Perez and bring back Sato for a BAR re-union. Or even better, get Sato and Kobayashi as drivers. That would be the Japanese dream-team!

There are better Japanese drivers than Sato.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Vodafone are also rumoured to be ending their partnership as well, aren't they? White could well be the dominant colour but the second could is probably dependent who they have lined up as new title sponsor.

Yes and they claim they have a new title sponsor to replace them, so I'm guessing whoever that is, will be critical of what their livery looks like.

 

[Bobert power]

I'm feeling very happy right now. I would love to see McLaren bring back the Papaya Orange paint (I really wish they could bring Marlboro back). Oh, replace Whitmarsh for someone like Gerhard Berger (I guess...), and replace Perez for Bianchi or Kimi (He better not go to Vettel-Land).

 

[05XR8]

Gordon Murray WOULD have been sharpening his pencils yesterday! And 2015/2016 would be about right for an NSX-R, wouldn't it? I'm sure McLaren wouldn't pass on placing ANY new engine Honda would construct in the next McLaren road car THIS time!

 

[Crash]

Oh good, I'm glad that this is finally announced.

I've always wondered about the thing with Mercedes being an engine supplier and a constructor. Are the engines between the McLaren and Mercedes cars the same? Are they physically the same but with just different tunes? How does Mercedes balance their desire to win as a constructor and their obligation to provide McLaren with good engines?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Although I'd love to see a white and orange version instead. Very intriguing.

I think a Yardley-inspired design would work very well.

Firstly, McLaren's orange might be iconic, but it's an absolute headache to match to a sponsor's colours. And since there is no guarantee that McLaren could find a sponsor willing to have their logo presented in different colours, they cold easily end up with something horrible if the orange was too dominant. The Yardley design, on the other hand, implements the orange quite well without letting it dominate.

Secondly, Honda have typically run white liveries or liveries with white as a base colour in the past, with 2007 being the only real exception. They have also used red as a secondary colour, usually in the form of a rising sun motif. White is also very easy to match to any corporate logo.

Finally, Claro have been tipped as one of McLaren's major sponsors next season, and red is their major colour. Their logo is also a red spot, which fits in nicely with Honda's use of red in the past.

 

[Third Reign]

I believe Honda would have been a great choice if F1 would have used the I-4 Turbos for the next season. Honda would have had a headstart on engine development as they already use the I4s in Formula Nippon and development for SuperGT.

I find the criticism funny of people believing Honda will build an unreliable engine if it would reenter F1. Honda's engines have been running quite well in other series as well. The development might not have been for F1 directly, but every racing engine has basically the same prerequisites.

 

[Samus]

Of course they may just not use Honda colours at all, it isn't a necessity. Force India aren't silver and Toro Rosso aren't scarlet red.

 

[-Fred-]

I find the criticism funny of people believing Honda will build an unreliable engine if it would reenter F1.

They pretty much own the record for the most wins during F1's turbo era, and they utterly dominated CART back in the late 90s, who, if you remember, used turbo V8s. Their turbo record speaks for itself, really. Granted, technology moves pretty fast in that segment, but I think they'll do just fine. At any rate, it's probably teams like Ferrari people should worry about.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

They pretty much own the record for the most wins during F1's turbo era, and they utterly dominated CART back in the late 90s, who, if you remember, used turbo V8s. Their turbo record speaks for itself, really. Granted, technology moves pretty fast in that segment, but I think they'll do just fine. At any rate, it's probably teams like Ferrari people should worry about.

While this is true, Merc have a pretty great turbo record of their own in Sport car racing and Indy. So I somewhat understand the reason for Merc to not want Honda to see their info. More so I think they are doing it because they know how well Honda can grasp turbo engines and make them better even when there isn't much margin to do so.

 

[05XR8]

We all know Honda is sooo smart for jumping back in. The info they gain from F1 is definitely making it into their road cars. Not to mention when they see what they get from Super GT( albeit different size engine).

 

[sumbrownkid]

I have feeling Honda may have HPD supply the engines.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I have feeling Honda may have HPD supply the engines.

Why? HPD is in the U.S. and is fairly small for an F1 venture even if it is just engines. Since it is Honda America, they are far too busy I think with IZOD and ALMS/Rolex and again too small, but I may be wrong on the size of their factory.

I know the factory is a good size, but when you have everything under the sun already there and then want to add the peak of motorsports (f1)...I just am not sure.

 

[sumbrownkid]

HPD has actually kind of taken over Honda Racing in the international racing scene with their LMP1, P2s, and engine supply. For a small outfit they have expanded quite a bit the past few years, especially in the customer racing side of things.

Who knows, maybe they'll reuse the Mugen name.

 

[Ardius]

People should just treat this as a blank slate for Honda - the expectation should be that as a manufacturer they should produce a good engine but that's all.

Drawing conclusions based on previous F1 performances and performance in other series is silly really as very little of it carries over. In some cases, Honda didn't even produce the engine (e.g. pre-2011 Indycar engines were actually Ilmor).

I see nothing to stop them producing one of the best engines in F1. Equally they could produce the worst. McLaren has gone through flirts with manufacturers before with disastrous results (Peugeot).

Who knows, maybe they'll reuse the Mugen name.

Mugen is a separate company to Honda. When Mugen appeared in F1 in the 90s, it was a separate venture from Honda.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Hopefully Honda's hi-tech spods are having more luck with their new hybrid than the road division.

EDIT: And mods, sorry for the necro-post... there IS a thread with "Honda 2015" in the title but it's hardly got anything in...

 

[Robin]

Or a Marlboro-esque livery using Honda's Japanese heritage as an excuse.

You mean like this.... yes please!

Posted by Wardez a while back.

 

[Liquid]

Superb.

 

[GTPorsche]

They wouldn't be able to get away with that exact livery. If Ferrari couldn't have the box or barcode or whatever it had turned into a few years back, there's no way McLaren would get away with the Marlboro shape.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Yay, let's all get carried away by nostalgia!

 

[TenEightyOne]

Yay, let's all get carried away by nostalgia!

Yes, Mr. Grumpy, let's!

I think a Yardley-inspired design would work very well.

Ahem.

 

[mikeerfol]

First photos of the McLaren-Honda!

 

[MHPALA]

 

[DK]

So, do we have any idea how good the engine is, relative to Mercedes?

 

[mikeerfol]

So, do we have any idea how good the engine is, relative to Mercedes?

Αccording to BBC, insiders say that it's matching the 2014 Mercedes PU but Mercedes (according to rumors) will find around 1 second in 2015 so the question is how better will the Honda engine become until February.