Ten years on from the collapse of the McLaren-Honda partnership, Formula 1 fans are still debating whether it was due to engineering shortcomings, cultural clashes or simply impatience. However, Franz Tost, the long-serving and frequently outspoken former Toro Rosso team boss, believes that the real problem did not lie in Japan. Instead, he points the finger squarely at Woking.

McLaren and Honda are in very different places today. The British team has returned to the sharp end of the grid with Mercedes power, finally capturing another Constructors’ Championship title in 2024. Meanwhile, Honda has become synonymous with Red Bull’s dominance, powering Max Verstappen to four consecutive drivers’ titles and delivering the success that McLaren once believed was theirs for the taking.

Given their respective success, it’s remarkable how little their previous partnership achieved. From 2015 to 2017, McLaren’s proud chassis department’s collaboration with Honda’s ambitious engine programme yielded nothing but embarrassment.

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When Honda walked through McLaren’s gates

The story began with optimism. McLaren believed that Honda would return to Formula 1 and recreate the legendary glory of Ayrton Senna’s era. Instead, the cars were painfully slow and unreliable. In 2015, the term ‘GP2 engine’ became infamous thanks to Fernando Alonso’s scathing outburst over the team radio during Honda’s home race in Suzuka.

The public narrative was clear: Honda had let McLaren down. Every failure, every lack of power and every retirement was blamed on the Japanese. Fans, the media and even McLaren’s own personnel were quick to point the finger of blame at Honda. But not everyone in the paddock agreed.

 

Tost remembers things differently

Speaking to ServusTV, Franz Tost shed light on what really happened. His Toro Rosso team would later welcome Honda with open arms in 2018, but he recalls how dismissive McLaren was when other teams showed interest in the manufacturer.

“There was a show run in London,” Tost explained. ‘We were already in talks with Honda. Then the McLaren people said to me: ‘Tell me, what do you want with them?’ Then I said: Stay calm; we’ll talk about it in five years.”

He delivered this prediction with a grin because, of course, five years later, Honda power was winning races and titles with Red Bull, while McLaren was still searching for redemption.

 

From Toro Rosso to Red Bull dominance

Honda’s partnership with Toro Rosso began humbly, but Tost says it worked because both sides embraced hard work and mutual trust. He convinced Honda to commit to a trial year in 2018, promising that if they proved themselves, Red Bull would also adopt their engines. That is exactly what happened.

By 2019, Red Bull was a Honda-powered team, and the victories began to roll in. The Japanese manufacturer provided Verstappen with the tools to topple Mercedes, eventually establishing a dynasty of championships.

Tost described his experience with Honda in positive terms, highlighting their discipline, meticulousness, reliability and innovation. He insists that their expertise was never in question. The supposed lack of ability was an illusion created by a toxic partnership elsewhere.

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Why did McLaren fail where others thrived?

So why did it all collapse at McLaren? According to Tost, the explanation is simple, yet devastating. It wasn’t the engines, Honda’s engineering or their fabled conservative culture. It was McLaren’s own behaviour.

Tost argues that the British team was far too arrogant. In his view, McLaren treated Honda as a supplier rather than a partner, maintaining a distance rather than embracing full collaboration. “It didn’t work at McLaren back then because there was no cooperation at all,” he said. “The English simply didn’t share any information with the outside world. With us, everything worked really well right away.”

This failure to work together, pool knowledge and build trust doomed the project before it had even begun. By the time McLaren realised what they had lost, Honda was already on the road to world titles with Red Bull.

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A bitter lesson in hindsight.

History has a cruel sense of irony. The partnership that should have resurrected the McLaren-Honda legend instead became one of the sport’s most famous cautionary tales. McLaren eventually regained competitiveness with Mercedes power, but their return to title glory did not come until 2024, by which time Honda had already secured its place at the top with Red Bull.

For Tost, the conclusion is obvious: Honda was never the problem. It was McLaren’s arrogance and unwillingness to integrate properly that was the real culprit. It is a painful reminder that, in Formula 1, technology is only half the battle — teamwork and humility matter just as much.

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