Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Honda set for a new beginning as F1 return gets closer

(Youtube.com)

The McLaren Mercedes partnership has just three race's left following an extremely successful which yielded three driver's and one constructors championship since their partnership began in 1995. The McLaren Honda partnership was extremely successful winning every championship from 1988 - 1991.

In 2015, Honda will supply just McLaren in what has been described as a 'works' partnership but the Japanese manufacturer has confirmed that they could be open to supplying more then one team but that for now they are focused on their partnership with McLaren and working on thier new 1.6 litre V6 turbo charged power unit.

Honda's last stint in Formula One ended in 2008 when they decided to sell their team as they felt that for the investment that they were putting into the team they were not getting the return in terms of results that they were hoping for.

It is widely expected that Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will occupy one of the seats in McLaren Honda next season. It would be the Spaniard's second stint with the Woking base outfit as he drive for them alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

Honda's investment as a power unit supplier has been huge as the Japanese manufacturer have moved into a purpose built power unit assembly facility. The power units will be built in Japan before they they are transported to their plant in Milton Keynes where they the engines will be prepared for and maintained after each Grand Prix of the season.

It is possible that Honda may run their new power unit in McLaren's MP4-20H at the season ending Abu Dhabi test session following the conclusion of the 2014 Formula One world championship.

© Ben Johnston 2014

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