Formula 1 engine supplier Honda has criticised McLaren’s static way of operating in their first comments since it was confirmed the two parties would split at the end of the year in Singapore.
The deal, which sees Renault tie-up with the British team in a wide-ranging partnership while the Japanese manufacturer switches to Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, brings to an end a difficult three years for the once-dominant collaboration with competitiveness and reliability failing to improve since Honda rejoined in 2015.
Now free to be more vocal about why the much-anticipated reunion didn’t work, Honda’s Motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto insists some blame does lie with McLaren who were uncompromising in the boundaries they set for the partnership to work in.
“Working with McLaren, I’ve realised that they are a very big company which is very systematic,” he said. “It’s obviously very strong because of that but at the same time, they can find it hard to adapt to change.
“Compare that to Toro Rosso, it is a company that is growing. It is very important for us to work in partnership together, heading towards the same goal,” he claimed.
“Take this for an example: If we compare both teams with different cuisines, let’s say McLaren is a very sophisticated French cuisine, that’s the way it is. Then Toro Rosso is more like a countryside, homemade delicious stew where you can add new ingredients. We’re excited to do that.”
Yamamoto would accept, however, Honda’s inability to meet the required standard set by the Woking outfit was also significant and ultimately led to what many have dubbed the divorce.
“Honda would have preferred to stay in partnership with McLaren but we were not able to reach the performance and reliability targets set by the team,” he said. “This created tension between us and unfortunately separation was the result. In the world of Formula 1 it’s important to get the results, it’s part of the deal.
“Our motto as McLaren-Honda is ‘One Team’ – working together to get performance. However, we didn’t perform as well as we hoped in the pre-season tests, so from the beginning of the season onwards we were unable to deliver as much power as we wanted, and McLaren expected.”
There’s already talk that the supply deal with Toro Rosso could expand to both Red Bull-funded teams for 2019 and, looking forward, Chief Officer of Brand and Communications Katsuhide Moriyami insists the F1 dream is still alive.
“It is true that we have gone through a tough situation now and nobody was satisfied with the current results, especially the board,” he said in Singapore. “We have gone through many discussions but quitting F1 was never an option for us.
“It is our goal to overcome this tough challenge and get back to fighting the frontrunners of the sport, and Honda’s spirit is to come back and next year our goal is to fight for the top three at the top of the grid.”
