Belgium driver Stoffel Vandoorne has become the latest McLaren employee to slam the efforts of Japanese engine manufacturer Honda.
The disappointing ‘two test’ form of the McLaren-Honda collaboration, highlighted further reliability issues which threaten to ruin Stoffel’s long awaited return to the grid.
Stoffel has waited patiently for his opportunity in Formula one, after winning the GP2 series back in 2015. This year was to be his big break, after impressing last year when he stood in for an injured Fernando Alonso. Vandoorne’s second coming, also comes at a time when the Honda power unit is under even more scrutiny than ever.
After being part of the McLaren-Honda partnership from the start, the frustration is now starting to show.
“It is true I have been with McLaren-Honda since the beginning and the last two years were difficult for us and we have seen some progress in that time which has been encouraging,” he said.
“Everybody came to testing expecting with a definite step forward so to see the problems we are facing now was a bit unexpected which is far from ideal.
“This is the situation as it is now so we can’t sit still and do nothing we have to work very hard together and make sure we push everybody in the right direction to make sure we move on.”
Spanish team-mate Fernando Alonso has already spoken of his frustration over the Japanese firms lack of progress, on the back of a major engine design change over the winter. However, Vandoorne insists the two of them are working hard to move the team forward.
“We’ve spoken a lot together which is normal because it is winter testing at the start of the season. We know the situation is not ideal yet and we are pushing very, very hard together to make the team move forward.
“I think the team has been very, very professional in difficult moments. All the mechanics and the guys back at the factory have kept their head down being professional and trying to get the most out of every lap we do.”
All eyes are on Honda to make the step change many expected in 2016. If this fails to materialise then we will most certainly be in for some fruity radio chat, aiming straight for Honda HQ.
And it looks like Boullier has gone begging to M-B for an engine………
Or they could hire Mario Illen he just left Renault and has lots of spare time…
the struggle of honda underscores the amazing job mercedes and ferrari did. renault seems to be back at track as well – 3 almost equal PU will be good for the sport! i pity mclaren. they have a big history in f1 and deserve definitely better. the best one can hope is that honda can get its new PU running decently within a couple of races!
I just read that too! Unbelievable!!! Mercedes dumped McLaren as soon as they could extrapolate themselves from all the prior contracts that were in place in 2007, and it still took Mercedes 6 years to finally be free of McLaren. There is no chance they will supply power units to them now. After the Ron Dennis management fiasco of 07 Mercedes decided there and then to set up their own team with the added bonus of leaving McLaren up 5hit creek without a paddle. Fernando will have left McLaren before Mercedes power units are in the back of them! #:/
Yes, but there is the Renault engine, supposedly it’s the only option behind the scenes, that or Honda producing a miracle
I bet you a custard doughnut they would be willing to supply Mclaren this year – and if it does happen, I bet you another custard doughnut that Honda will be paying for them
The best solution would be to sell McLarenF1 to Ferrari, who could then re-brand it as Alfa Romeo / Maserati / Fiat / Dodge / Chrysler , and run it as Ferrari’s B team.😝
Ooooo harsh
Considering their last three years I’d offer rebrand them as Iveco…
Lol…Oh the humanity. The only way they McLaren could run a Ferrari motor is if they supply the company cars😇 i did ponder the Maserati angle a few years ago, it made sense for Ferrari to run the Maserati in sports cars and test any engine or component and so skip the testing ban. Manor would have been a great buy this year, running as a feeder team for the top crew, it would have been great to see new blood in the pits/back room plus a test bed for the upcoming parts… Sadly this never happened.
The cynic in me thinks they just want to check if Stoffel is really as good as Alonso. And if he is, they won’t solve their problems until Fernando leaves.
Which would mean lots of extra cash 💰
Seriously, moderation for a fucking smiley?
What was the story with gilles simon??? What sort of advice was he giving?? I find it hard to understand how Honda could forget so much about F1. But do they have something like Mahle’s Turbulent Jet Ignition like presumably Mercedes and Ferrari that could be responsible for an extra 30% output from the ICE?
Or is the problem withe the engine output that Honda just doesn’t burn 5kg of oil during the race???
I found it was reported in 2013 that Gilles Simon was working for Honda on he new F1 engine. Losing him should free up Honda engineers to do what Honda does best.
People are saying the turbulent jet ignition is a lot like Hondas CVCC that dates to 1971. The public version of Mahle’s Turbulent Jet ignition has a separate injector for the pre-ignition chamber and combustion chamber. Only allowed one injector under F1 rules, there must be something clever going on to get the fuel to the preignition chamber. Perhaps all fuel goes through the prechamber in the first instance and the part in the prechamber just ignites first.