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Toro Rosso-Honda talks fall through

Published on 17 Aug 2017 16:53
9
By: Fergal Walsh

Talks between Toro Rosso and Honda have collapsed as it is believed the two parties could not come to an agreement. Talks between the two had been ongoing for weeks regarding an engine deal, despite the fact Toro Rosso had a contract in place with Renault for next season.

Honda has been looking for a second team to supply engines to after Sauber canceled the deal that was originally in place for the 2018 season. Currently, Honda only power McLaren who are feeling the pain of the slow and unreliable power unit of Honda.

The Japanese manufacturer believes that a second customer would allow them to analyze even more data and make progress on a much faster time scale. However, it seems that most options are out the window as the troublesome partnership between McLaren and Honda continues.

McLaren themselves have been evaluating options over who to run with for next season, with Mercedes and Ferrari both declaring that they have no interest in partnering the Woking based team. A deal with Renault is not impossible but unlikely as the French manufacturer is unwilling to supply to a fourth team.

Fergal Walsh

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804

Pity, could have had big benefits

1
Aug 17 2017 - 17:06

F1 News McLaren Renault Ferrari Sauber Mercedes Honda

Replies (9)

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804
Pity, could have had big benefits
- + 1
- Aug 17 2017 - 17:06
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
A deal with Renault would be as good/bad as another year with Honda. Might aswell stick to what you've got. With Honda you are at least a works team, with Renault you are yet another team they can screw over by giving up early and refusing to release any more decent upgrades.
- + 0
- Aug 17 2017 - 17:31
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
Honda needs to show something first. I don't understand why anyone would go with them at this point. Even if they are significantly cheaper than Merc engines.
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- Aug 17 2017 - 22:12
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  That is because getting factory support behind you will give the change of becoming wc. The independent was brawn which lucked into the double diffusor otherwise it is nigh impossible to become wc in front of your factory team. Look at the improvements that renault made this year. Next year they will be better again against their teams that they supply engines to. Honda will improve and their rate is impressive.
  + 0
  
  Aug 18 2017 - 07:08
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  I don't think Brawn "lucked" into anything at all. Other teams also saw the potential of the double diffuser - but only 3 teams ran with it (Brawn, Williams & Toyota) and only 1 team was successful. Brawn also "lucked" into a chassis that had millions spent on the development by Honda. Brawn is a wily old fox, seized the opportunity, won the championship & a ton of cash when he sold the team to Mercedes as a championship winning team. Luck had nothing to do with any of it. He's just a very clever bloke.
  + 0
  
  Aug 18 2017 - 09:39
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Isnt that sort of lucking in though? They bought a team, modified the chassis to fit a Mercedes engine and hoped the chassis Honda had produced would be good? The previous two Honda chassis had not been optimal, to say the least.
  + 0
  
  Aug 18 2017 - 09:47
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  Correct, they were lucky about the performance of the chassis in relation to others and the engine being so strong. That car was in its own league. If they kept the honda engine then most likely they would not have been world champs. So yes ... very lucky.
  + 0
  
  Aug 18 2017 - 17:26
talktohenry

Posts: 362
I'm guessing Honda wanted big bucks for a slow engine, you need to give it free first, then you can charge big bucks when it's a race winner......
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- Aug 18 2017 - 11:47
boudy

Posts: 1,168
My guess is that mcLaren is retaining the honda so it doesn't make sense to have the torro's switch because a factory deal would never materialise for redbull.
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- Aug 18 2017 - 17:22