Confirming what F1 insiders have known for months, Honda has announced it is returning to F1 Grand Prix racing from 2015 as engine supplier to the McLaren team.
This means the British-based team will run one season (2014) with all-new turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engines from current engine supplier Mercedes-Benz before switching to the new engines from the Japanese manufacturer.
Of course the partnership rekindles past glories for McLaren-Honda which date back to the Ayrton Senna era.
And in related news, German giant BMW has rebuffed claims from F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone that it too will be joining the field as Grand Prix racing returns to the forced-induction, small-capacity V6 powerplants.
While victorious in the previous turbo-V6 era (ironically in Ecclestone’s own Brabham team), BMW quit F1 in 2009 after four unsuccessful years with its own team (purchased from Swiss enthusiast Peter Sauber). Four years which are said to have cost BMW £505-million (approximately $787-million Aussie dollars) but failed to deliver one single race victory.
Currently engine suppliers in F1 for 2014 will be Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Renault.
But there’s trouble there too with reports the French brand is at loggerheads with F1’s commercial rightsholder. If Renault quits expect – as it has done frequently over the decades – Cosworth to save those teams left-out with rushed development of a turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engine.
